Benoît Violier
Born(1971-08-22)August 22, 1971
Saintes, Charente-Maritime, France
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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