Benoît Violier (; 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. The establishment topped the first

La Liste La Liste which initially was a list of the 1,000 best restaurants in the world is privately owned and was launched in Paris in December 2015. This French ranking and restaurants guide nowadays lists 20.000 restaurants in 195 countries by aggregatin ...

in December 2015.

Biography

Born in

Saintes, Charente-Maritime Saintes (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Sénte'') is a commune and historic town in western France, in the Charente-Maritime department of which it is a sub-prefecture, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Its inhabitants are called ''Saintaises'' and ''Saintai ...

, France, he went to Paris in 1991 to study with

Joël Robuchon Joël Robuchon (, 7 April 1945 – 6 August 2018) was a French chef and restaurateur. He was named "Chef of the Century" by the guide Gault Millau in 1989, and awarded the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (France's best worker) in cuisine in 1976. ...

, Benoît Guichard and others. Violier moved to Switzerland in 1996 to work with

Philippe Rochat Philippe Rochat (29 November 1953 – 8 July 2015) was a Swiss chef and the owner of the ''Restaurant de L'Hôtel de Ville'' in Crissier, Switzerland. The restaurant, formerly owned by Frédy Girardet, won three Michelin Guide stars, and was vo ...

. Upon Rochat's retirement in 2012, Violier began running the restaurant. He applied for Swiss citizenship in 2014. He specialised in cooking game.

Death

Violier died at home in

Crissier Crissier () is a municipality in the district of Ouest Lausannois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is a suburb of Lausanne. History Crissier is first mentioned in 1199 as ''Crissiaco''. In 1228 it was mentioned as ''Crissie''. Geography ...

, Switzerland, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on 31 January 2016, aged 44. 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 ''Haute cuisine'' (; ) or ''grande cuisine'' is the cuisine of "high-level" establishments, gourmet restaurants, and luxury hotels. ''Haute cuisine'' is characterized by the meticulous preparation and careful presentation of food at a high pric ...

. 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. Star chef Benoît Violier may have been victim of wine scam, report claims
Jon Henley, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', published February 8, 2016; retrieved February 8, 2016

Food gallery

Créations du Chef Benoît Violier a.JPG, Composition verte Créations du Chef Benoît Violier b.JPG, Composition maritime (homard et rouget) Créations du Chef Benoît Violier d.JPG, Symphonie papillaire Créations du Chef Benoît Violier e.JPG, Sonate printanière Créations du Chef Benoît Violier f.JPG, Asperges sauvageonnes sur émulsion Créations du Chef Benoît Violier c.JPG, Structure en équilibre Créations du Chef Benoît Violier g.JPG, Éclat de joies Créations du Chef Benoît Violier h.JPG, Bouquet d'amour

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Violier, Benoit 1971 births 2016 deaths French chefs Swiss chefs French restaurateurs Suicides by firearm in Switzerland People from Saintes, Charente-Maritime Naturalised citizens of Switzerland French emigrants to Switzerland 2016 suicides