Ferran Adria explains it this way (from memory/loose translation): "In gastronomy, between 1900 and now, there were only 3 movements. Cuisine classique, nouvelle cuisine, and techno-emotional cuisine". From 1900 to more or less 1970, it was the cuisine classique, which was not about interpretation. You had a recipe and you carried it out. Then in the 70's, as it has been rightfully explained in various posts before mine, Bocuse, Troisgros and the like came up, aided by influential food critics Gault & Millau, with an extraordinay way to break up from the conventionality. In other words, they started to think outside the culinary box. At that time, granted, Nouvelle went crazy. Most diners ended up with a very pricey, large white plate with stuff like a 2 oz of unilaterally grilled rare beef tenderloin, 3 bright-green Correze peas and a tiny drizzle of balsamic reduction. It was ridiculous. But the only reason it was ridiculous for the diner, it's because Nouvelle was not about the diner. It was about the chef. They needed, at that point in time, to break away and explore their own creativity instead of following Escoffier. And thank god it was about them, because Nouvelle deeply transformed gastronomy and utterly modified the way chefs thought about their food. It wasn't about Escoffier anymore, it was about them! I started chef school in 1986 in France. And let me tell you, it was ALL about Nouvelle Cuisine. Sure, we had to learn Escoffier and cuisine classique, and know what a sauce Espagnole or a potage St Germain was. But mainly, it was about techniques and creativity. It was a great time . A very similar time, in fact, as right now, where we observe that techno-emotional cuisine supplants the last remains of Nouvelle (it can be argued that nouvelle is dead but really, fine dining in America or in Europe, with the exception of chefs practicing techno-emotional cuisine, is a re-calibrated, time-tested, better and more satisfying version of Nouvelle). Note that it was at that time that the way culinary students were taught completely changed. Being a chef was not anymore about learning classic recipes by rot; it was about learning techniques, and finally have the liberty to create. Before my time at chef school, students had to learn recipes. The problem with that, of course, is that if you know how to make a Bechamel, you don't necessarily understand how to make a Mornay (only difference is the addition of cheese). It was so stupid. With Nouvelle, and the new way of teaching students, a chef knew how to make mother sauces (it's the same technique) and could come up at every stage of the elaboration, with additions or omissions of his own. Very liberating. In my humble opinion, what we are seeing now with techno-emotional cuisine, and the way Grant Achatz, Ferran and others revolutionize the world of gastronomy, has just a very familiar air of deja-vu. Aided by food critics, these great chefs are the new Bocuse and Troisgros. They are finally breaking with the ground rules of Nouvelle, and take diners to unexplored territory. This is as exciting as the birth of Nouvelle back then. To conclude, the phantom of Nouvelle still lingers in virtually ALL fine dining restaurants today. But yeah, the term "Nouvelle" is so obsolete and somewhat gives us tired, tacky flavors reminiscent of the Bee Gees and Saturday Night Fever.