The term "haute cuisine" is a French term which translates literally to "high cooking." It is a term used to define food that is artfully plated, uses high quality ingredients, is served in luxury, gourmet restaurants and has a exceedingly high price point. The term itself was coined in 17th century France and was used as a class distinction; only the rich upperclass and gentry would eat haute cuisine as it was time consuming to cook, required great culinary skill and used many ingredients that were imported, hard to obtain in French regions or out of season. Haute cuisine has been ushered into modernity by several highly skilled French chefs who proliferated the movement all over Europe, the Americas and beyond. Haute cuisine itself is still a part of global stratification, being that it is inaccessible to those who cannot afford its inflated price.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haute_cuisine)