The suicide of Bernard Loiseau, at the age of 52, has highlighted the immense pressure put upon chefs, in these gourmand-obsessed times, to gain and retain their ranking in the guide books. He was one of France's most respected chefs, and his death coincided with the downgrading of his Hôtel de la Côte d'Or by the respected GaultMillau guide. Loiseau had told neighbouring restaurateur Jacques Lameloise that if he lost a star he would not hesitate to commit suicide.

In addition to La Côte d'Or at Saulieu in Burgundy, Loiseau ran three establishments in Paris: Tante Jeanne, Tante Louise and Tante Marguerite. When Loiseau took over the lease of La Côte d'Or as a newly trained chef in 1975, it was a rundown 18-century coaching inn that had fallen from grace. Its glory days, from the 1930s to the 1960s, under Alexandre Dumaine, one of the grand old men of French cuisine, were past.

Loiseau proceeded to display his redoubtable energy. By 1977 he had been awarded his first Michelin star and 17/20 in the GaultMillau. Gradually his hard work and massive financial borrowings bore fruit. There was a second Michelin star in 1981, a third in 1991; accolades in the Hachette, Relais et Chteaux, American Academy of Hospitality and Virtuoso guides. He spent more than £2m on transforming La Côte d'Or into a 32-bedroom hotel, gastronomic restaurant, shop, pool and spa. In 1995 Loiseau was awarded the Légion d'Honneur by François Mitterrand at the Elysée Palace - only the second chef in history to be decorated by a French head of state, the first being Paul Bocuse in 1975.

Loiseau's culinary strength was his innovative use of flavour - "cuisine of essences" - that celebrated and enhanced the natural flavour of foods. Ahead of his time, he used naturally refined fish and meat stocks rather than butter, cream, flour and alcohol. He thickened his sauces by reduction or with vegetable purees; he deglazed using vinegar, lemon or water and he cooked ingredients separately to maintain their flavour. All this, plus his use of fresh herbs and truffles, seems second nature to today's generation of health-conscious cooks, but it was flying in the face of the establishment when the young Loiseau was building up a reputation, along with a ruined barn.

His cooking reflected his history. Born in Chamalières, Puy-de-Dome in the Auvergne, he absorbed the rugged mountain cuisine of the area - stews, strong cheeses and herbs, plus the influence in the kitchen of his Ardèche-born mother. From 1968 to 1971 he trained in the rich Lyonnais cuisine style in Roanne with the Troisgros brothers. After national service he worked as a chef at two Parisian restaurants and then settled in Burgundy. And for good measure, his second wife, Dominique Brunet, a qualified nutritionist, contributed her own influences from a childhood in Alsace. Between them they wrote several recipe books and produced a collection of CD-roms.

In 1995 Loiseau was the subject of Burgundy Stars: A Year In The Life Of A Great French Restaurant by the Wall Street Journal's William Echikson. This highlighted the flak Loiseau attracted from diehard foodies for being too media-savvy. There was an enormous financial cost in such an enterprise. In 1998 the Bernard Loiseau plc Group was the first three-star restaurant to float on the Paris stock market; a year later he endorsed a line of vacuum-packed foods and sauces.

A man possessed of demonic energy - a requirement and peculiarity of most chefs - Loiseau's restoration of La Côte d'Or saw it being awarded the four red turrets for "great comfort" in the 1998 Michelin guide. Yet the necessity - both financial and personal - of winning and maintaining these accolades has become a terrible trap for every chef, most of whom are perpetually on the edge of exhaustion.

Loiseau is survived by Dominique and their three children.

· Bernard Daniel Jacques Loiseau, chef, born January 13 1951; died February 24 2003