Benoît Violier | |
---|---|
| |
Born |
Saintes, Charente-Maritime, France | August 22, 1971
Died | January 31, 2016
Crissier, Switzerland | (aged 44)
Cause of death | Suicide |
Occupation | chef |
Spouse | Brigitte Violier |
Children | 1 |
Benoît Violier (French pronunciation: [bənwa vjɔlje]; 22 August 1971 – 31 January 2016) was a French-Swiss chef .
Violier owned the three Michelin star Restaurant de l'Hôtel de Ville in a suburb of Lausanne, Switzerland from 2012 to his death. [1] The establishment topped the first La Liste in December 2015. [2]
Born in Saintes, Charente-Maritime, France, [3] he went to Paris in 1991 to study with Joël Robuchon, Benoît Guichard and others. [4] Violier moved to Switzerland in 1996 to work with Philippe Rochat. [5] Upon Rochat's retirement in 2012, Violier began running the restaurant. [6] He applied for Swiss citizenship in 2014. [7] He specialised in cooking game. [4]
Violier died at home in Crissier, Switzerland, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on 31 January 2016, aged 44. [4] [8] Violier's suicide prompted shock and confusion, as Violier's restaurant Le Restaurant de l'Hôtel de Ville had been crowned by the French government as the best restaurant in the world only a month before, leading the media to hail Violier as "the world's best chef." It also drew attention to the high-pressure world of haute cuisine. [9]
Swiss media subsequently reported that Violier may have been a victim of a fraud in which individual bottles of wine were sold several times; however, the management of his restaurant denied that Violier had any connection with the fraud. [10]
Benoît Violier | |
---|---|
| |
Born |
Saintes, Charente-Maritime, France | August 22, 1971
Died | January 31, 2016
Crissier, Switzerland | (aged 44)
Cause of death | Suicide |
Occupation | chef |
Spouse | Brigitte Violier |
Children | 1 |
Benoît Violier (French pronunciation: [bənwa vjɔlje]; 22 August 1971 – 31 January 2016) was a French-Swiss chef .
Violier owned the three Michelin star Restaurant de l'Hôtel de Ville in a suburb of Lausanne, Switzerland from 2012 to his death. [1] The establishment topped the first La Liste in December 2015. [2]
Born in Saintes, Charente-Maritime, France, [3] he went to Paris in 1991 to study with Joël Robuchon, Benoît Guichard and others. [4] Violier moved to Switzerland in 1996 to work with Philippe Rochat. [5] Upon Rochat's retirement in 2012, Violier began running the restaurant. [6] He applied for Swiss citizenship in 2014. [7] He specialised in cooking game. [4]
Violier died at home in Crissier, Switzerland, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on 31 January 2016, aged 44. [4] [8] Violier's suicide prompted shock and confusion, as Violier's restaurant Le Restaurant de l'Hôtel de Ville had been crowned by the French government as the best restaurant in the world only a month before, leading the media to hail Violier as "the world's best chef." It also drew attention to the high-pressure world of haute cuisine. [9]
Swiss media subsequently reported that Violier may have been a victim of a fraud in which individual bottles of wine were sold several times; however, the management of his restaurant denied that Violier had any connection with the fraud. [10]