Co-chef of Le Gavroche took U.K. by storm
Inspired change in British chefs and cuisine
Albert Roux, who has died aged 85, championed excellence in British restaurant cooking for half a century.
With his brother Michel, Roux was responsible for elevating the U. K.’s reputation for food, which, when they arrived in London in 1967, was nothing short of abysmal.
His restaurant, Le Gavroche, was the first in Britain to gain a Michelin star, in 1974, and the first to have won three, in 1982. Le Gavroche held on to all its stars until 1993, when it lost one. Their Waterside Inn at Bray, just west of Windsor, still holds its Michelin honour.
Roux had a head for business, and usually negotiated deals for the Roux empire.
He took to television like duck a l’orange. At Home With the Roux Brothers saw him squabbling affectionately with brother Michel. “Well, zat’s ’ow ’e does it,” he would say, relishing the role of the cheeky Frenchman, “me, ah prefer to do eet like zis.”
In reality he was an exacting taskmaster. At Le Gavroche he would stand with a plate ready for service, counting down from 10. If the right waiter had not collected the plate by the time he got to zero, the soufflé would go crashing to the floor.
Perhaps his greatest contribution to British cooking was that he impressed on a new generation of young chefs — including Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing — his high standards and unmatched knowledge.
Albert Roux was born in Burgundy on Oct. 8, 1935. He went to Britain in 1952, and opened Le Gavroche (“the street urchin”) with Michel in the spring of 1967. The brothers took turns cooking and acting as maitre d’.
Every chef ’s worst nightmare became reality in 1989, after a health inspector handed down 15 summonses for breaches of hygiene and five for alleged health and safety offences. Roux vigorously contested the allegations, embarrassing the inspector by pointing out that he had asked Roux to sign a copy of his cookbook and had discussed bringing his wife to the restaurant. “Perhaps he wanted to poison her,” Roux said. After a long legal action, all the charges were dismissed.
Roux was appointed OBE in 2002, and made a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur in 2005. Roux was thrice married. He had two children with his first wife.