Born in Charolles on 19 April 1941 and passing away on 11 March 2020, Michel Roux OBE co-founded Le Gavroche (1967) and The Waterside Inn (1972). They became Britain’s first restaurants to earn—and, in the latter case, retain for 25 years—three Michelin stars.
Raised between Paris and Saône-et-Loire, Roux began as a pâtissier at the French Embassy in London. After cooking privately in Versailles he returned to the UK in 1967 with his brother Albert, opening Le Gavroche in Chelsea and introducing classic French haute cuisine to a country still ruled by traditional English fare.
Le Gavroche earned one Michelin star in 1974, two in 1977 and became Britain’s first three-star restaurant in 1982.
In 1972 the brothers launched The Waterside Inn in Bray-on-Thames; it gained its third star in 1985 and held it uninterrupted for 25 years—a world record outside France.
Roux’s legacy includes the Roux Scholarship (1984), a competition that has nurtured more than 100 multi-starred chefs, among them Sat Bains, Andrew Fairlie and Simon Hulstone, boosting Britain’s culinary profile.
Awarded an OBE in 2002 for services to UK gastronomy, Roux was hailed by The Guardian as “one of the brothers who revolutionised London dining.” Protégés such as Gordon Ramsay, Marco Pierre White and Pierre Koffmann passed through his kitchens, where discipline, brigade respect and premium produce were non-negotiable.
