Gaston Lenôtre

Gaston Lenôtre was a French pastry chef, restaurateur, entrepreneur, and author born in Saint-Nicolas-du-Bosc, Normandy, on 28 May 1920, and he died in Sennely on 8 January 2009. He opened a bakery in Bernay in 1947, established a Paris pâtisserie in the 16th arrondissement in 1957, expanded into catering in 1964, and founded École Lenôtre in 1971 to train pastry professionals. He is also credited by multiple sources as a possible creator of the opera cake and as one of the founders of Les Chefs de France at Epcot with Paul Bocuse and Roger Vergé.