- "Anyone can cook."
- —Gusteau's catchphrase
Auguste Gusteau is a major character in Ratatouille.
Ratatouille
He is a renowned and extremely talented chef who wrote the bestseller Anyone Can Cook and founded the restaurant Gusteau's, which merited five stars. His personal motto is that anyone can cook, and is prone to producing recipes with unusual flairs. He was the youngest chef in history to obtain a 5-star restaurant, and was among the finest chefs worldwide.
However, the restaurant lost one of its five stars one after France's top food critic Anton Ego wrote an insulting review (for reasons unknown, as Ego was just one man compared to the masses who greatly admired Gusteau's cooking), and the brokenhearted Gusteau died shortly after this - which, according to tradition, meant the loss of another star. Gusteau's ownership of the restaurant was handed over to his sous chef Skinner, who was not exactly faithful to his boss's ideals. Gusteau later appears as Remy's guide, leading him to Gusteau's.
It is later revealed that Alfredo Linguini is really the son of Gusteau, who was Renata Linguini's boyfriend. Linguini later acquires the restaurant after Remy informs him of this discovery.
Unfortunately, Skinner tries to sabotage Linguini's attempts to please returning customer Anton Ego by kidnapping Remy. Remy talks to Gusteau in his cage and is frustrated because he feels that all this time he has been pretending to be things he is not, like a rat for his dad and a human for Linguini, and that he (Gusteau) is really there for him to talk to. In his final appearance to Remy, Gusteau tells Remy that he doesn't need to pretend, and that he never did. He was being his true self the whole time. Uplifted by these words, Remy is freed and rushes to Linguini's aid, and the two succeed in impressing Ego and start a new partnership in which they remain respected chefs.
Gusteau does not appear again after Remy's kidnapping probably because the eventual closing of his restaurant, However, despite this, his legacy lives on in Linguini and Remy, as they continue to cook astounding meals in a new restaurant appropriately named La Ratatouille.
Trivia
- His name and surname are anagrams of each other: Auguste (gusteAu) and Gusteau (auGuste).
- Auguste Gusteau is a direct tribute to the late Bernard Loiseau, a gourmet French chef and restaurateur. Gusteau's life is fully inspired from Bernard Loiseau.
- In the original screenplay, Gusteau was still alive, but Brad Bird concluded there were too many stories to tell and decided Gusteau would be dead. It would also be difficult for Remy to see Gusteau as an idol if they met in real life without creating a history between the characters like with Linguini. In the final draft, he does still speak to Remy as his "conscience". When Remy asks how a man can communicate with a rat, Auguste admits that he is a figment of Remy's imagination and it is Remy's mind that is channeling him from the great beyond.
Quotes
- "What I say is true, anyone can cook... but only the fearless can be great."
- —Gusteau on TV
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