Paris, Aug 6 (IANS): French celebrity chef Joel Robuchon, who is credited with winning the most Michelin stars in the world, passed away on Monday. He was 73.

Robuchon died of cancer in Switzerland, more than a year after being treated for pancreatic tumour, Le Figaro, a French newspaper reported.

Named the "Chef of the Century" in 1989, Robuchon operated a dozen restaurants across three continents and was awarded 32 Michelin stars -- more than any other chef -- throughout his career, BBC reported.

He was renowned for his mashed potato dishes and owned restaurants in cities across the globe, including Tokyo, Bangkok, Shanghai Monaco and Las Vegas.

He first made a name for himself at his Paris restaurant, called Jamin, in the early 1980s, and went on to mentor the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Eric Ripert.

He was renowned for his perfectionism and for using few ingredients, keeping the preparation simple and moving away from the excesses of French nouvelle cuisine.

"The older I get, the more I realise the truth is that the simpler the food, the more exceptional it can be," he told Business Insider in 2014.