Charles Ranhofer (November 7, 1836, Saint-Denis, France — October 9, 1899, New York) was the chef at the famous Delmonico's Restaurant in New York from 1862 to 1876 and 1879 to 1896. Ranhofer was the author of The Epicurean, (1894), an encyclopedic cookbook of over 1,000 pages, similar in scope to Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire.