Benoît Violier
Born(1971-08-22)August 22, 1971
DiedJanuary 31, 2016(2016-01-31) (aged 44)
Crissier, Switzerland
Cause of deathSuicide
Occupationchef
SpouseBrigitte Violier
Children1

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]

Biography

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]

Death

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]

References

  1. Severson, Kim (2 February 2016). "The Death of a Star Swiss Chef Underscores the Profession's Stress". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  2. Samuel, Henry (12 December 2015). "French chefs take fight to British with new best restaurants list". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  3. Benoit-Godet, Stéphane (31 January 2016). "Le chef Benoît Violier a mis fin à ses jours". Le Temps (in French). Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "'World's best chef' Benoit Violier dies aged 44". BBC News. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  5. Jenkins, Nash (31 January 2016). "Chef Benoit Violier of One of the World's Top Restaurants Found Dead in Apparent Suicide". Time. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  6. "Benoit Violier 'world's best chef' dies at age 44". The Daily Telegraph. Agence France Presse. 31 January 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  7. "'World's best chef' Benoit Violier found dead". The Guardian. Agence France Presse. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  8. Bilefsky, Dan (1 February 2016). "Benoît Violier, Top French-Swiss Chef, Dies at 44". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  9. Miller, Michael (February 1, 2016). "Suspected suicide of 'world's best chef' highlights pressure-cooker of haute cuisine". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  10. Star chef Benoît Violier may have been victim of wine scam, report claims, Jon Henley, The Guardian, published February 8, 2016; retrieved February 8, 2016
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