The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Tributes pour in for French culinary king
Legendar y French chef Albert Roux has died at the age of 85, prompting an outpouring of praise and gratitude from those he influenced during his illustrious career.
Together with his brother Michel, Albert was credited with revolutionising London’ s dining scene when they opened Le Gavroche in 1967.
It was the first restaurant in the UK to gain the hugely coveted three Michelin stars, instantly earning the brothers iconic status in the culinary world.
But Albert’s influence was felt in Scotland too, where he owned six restaurants in Scottish hotels, including Cromlix in Perthshire, owned by Andy Murray, Inverlochy Castle in Fort William, and Rocpool Reserve in Inverness.
And beyond the excellence he served diners, Albert Roux was equally admired within the industry for his work in helping to develop new talent.
Together with Michel, he founded the Roux Scholarship, with the late Scottish chef Andrew Fairlie the very first winner in 1984.
As par t of his Roux Scholarship prize, Fairlie, who died of a brain tumour in 2019, spent three months working under Michelinstarred chef Michel Guerard at Les Pres d ’ Eugenie in Gascony, France.
He later went on to become head chef at the eponymous Restaurant Andrew Fair lie at Gleneagles which was awarded two Michelin stars, a source of great pride for Albert and Michel Roux with whom Fairlie was said to be very close.
Leading Scottish chef Tom Kitchin, from Kinrossshire, who owns The Kitchin in Edinburgh and who became the youngest chef to be awarded his first Michelin star at the age of 29, paid tribute on Twitter, praising Albert Roux as having influenced an ‘army of chefs’ and sharing a picture of the two together.
In 2015, Roux delighted pupils at Charleston Academy in Inverness when he visited to open the Albert Roux kitchen there as part of his Adopt a School programme which he started in 2011. Through the scheme he mentored secondary school pupils and brought many through into the industry.
Former pupils from Charleston have gone on to work in Roux’s own Le Gavroche, as well as Greywalls, near Edinburgh.
An inspiration to chefs across the country, it was his passion and drive to educate the younger generation that Graham Mitchell, head chef of the New ma char Hotel in Aberdeenshire, said was one of Albert’s best traits.
Paying tribute to the chef, Graham said: “He was the Scottish Chef Association patron and any time we hosted fundraisers he would always come up to Scotland for them. He was always the star attraction and would pull more guests to want to attend the fundraisers.”