Chef at the best restaurant in world ‘shoots himself dead’
A RENOWNED chef has been found dead just weeks after his restaurant was voted the best in the world.
Benoit Violier, who ran the three Michelin- starred Le Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville in Lausanne, Switzerland, was discovered at his home with a gunshot wound.
A rifle was reportedly found by the 44-year-old’s side.
Police said an investigation has been opened but said it appeared the French chef had shot himself.
It came after the deaths of Mr Violier’s father and his culinary mentor within three months of each other. Talking to a magazine about the double tragedy, the chef said he had ‘lost my two fathers’.
The chef, whose body was found on Sunday, was due to attend the launch of the 2016 Michelin Guide yesterday. A minute’s silence was held in tribute at the event in Paris.
Shocked friends and peers said the married father of one had shown no outward signs of suffering from pressure but fear he may have been overwhelmed by the stresses of being at the top of the gastronomic world.
Colleague Pierre Henchoz said: ‘Was there a fear of heights upon arriving at the summit?’ Pierre Gagnaire, head chef of the eponymous restaurant in Paris, added: ‘Benoit seemed, unlike others, so peaceful.’
The death echoes that of top French chef Bernard Loiseau, who shot himself with his hunting rifle in 2003 after the influential guide Gault et Millau lowered the rating of one of his establishments.
Mr Violier was said to be a keen hunter and had been taught in the sport by his father from the age of four. In September, the chef spoke movingly of how hunting reminded him of time spent with his father, who had Alzheimer’s and died last April.
He suffered a further blow three months later when Philippe Rochat, his predecessor as head chef, died aged 61 after falling ill while cycling. His restaurant in the small town of Crissier, near Lausanne, was crowned the world’s best in December by France’s La Liste guide. The accolade makes it the best of 1,000 top eateries across 48 countries.
Mr Violier, who ran the fine-dining establishment with wife Brigitte from 2012, had a reputation as a perfectionist who once described cooking as ‘my life’. Marc Veyrat, another three Michelin-starred chef, wrote on Twitter: ‘ The planet has been orphaned by this exceptional chef.’