HAUTE CUISINE

'''Haute cuisine''' (literally "high cooking" in French) or '''grande cuisine''' refers to the cooking of the grand restaurants and hotels of the western world. It is characterized by elaborate preparations and presentations; large meals of small, often quite rich courses; extensive wine cellars; and large, hierarchical and efficiently run service staffs. The cuisine was defined by the French ''cuisine classique'' until the 1970s, when ''cuisine classique'' was supplanted by ''nouvelle cuisine''. Nowadays, haute cuisine is not defined by any particular style – there are haute cuisine restaurants serving fusion cuisine, regional cuisine and postmodern cuisine – but rather by careful preparations, elaborate service, critical acclaim, and, most importantly, obsessive attention to detail. Culinary guides such as the Michelin Guide and Gault Millau have helped to define modern haute cuisine, although some have suggested that their influence is on the wane.