Alain Ducasse wins Lifetime Achievement Award 2013

Alain Ducasse has been named the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award 2013, sponsored by Diners Club International, part of the World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards 2013.

Ducasse, who joins an ultra-elite cast of previous winners including Thomas Keller, Joel Robuchon and Michel and Albert Roux, said: “My first thought goes to Paul Bocuse, this award’s very first recipient. Through him, I also think of the generations of chefs who have preceded me and to whom I feel the heir and successor.  At the same time, I still feel like a young man and remain much more interested by the work to be done than by that already accomplished.”

The 56-year-old French chef has scored 14 positions on the World’s Best 50 Restaurants list since its inception – more than any other chef. He is also the first chef in the world to gain three Michelin stars in three different cities and has been an indisputable influence on a whole generation of chefs and restaurateurs.

William Drew, Editor of Restaurant magazine, organisers of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, said: "We are delighted that this prestigious accolade is going to one of the greatest chefs in France, and indeed the world. The Lifetime Achievement Award is voted for by industry experts from across the globe - chefs, restaurateurs, food writers and critics and well-travelled gourmets - and as such this is an acknowledgement from the restaurant world itself of Chef Ducasse's achievements and positive influence.”

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards sponsored by San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna will be held on 29^th April at the Guildhall in London.