Albert Roux

Plenty of chefs cook beautifully. A very small number change what an entire country expects from dinner. Albert Roux belongs firmly in the second group. He came to Britain from a village in Burgundy carrying classical French training, a pastry chef’s hands and a stubborn conviction that London deserved far better food than it was being served, and by the time he was finished the map of British restaurants had been redrawn around him.

With his younger brother Michel he opened Le Gavroche in 1967, and that single dining room went on to collect the first Michelin star ever awarded in the United Kingdom, then the first second star, then the first third star. Behind those numbers sits something even more remarkable. The brigade he built became a training ground for Gordon Ramsay, Marco Pierre White, Pierre Koffmann, Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti, which means an enormous slice of modern British cooking can trace its family tree straight back to the man in the whites with his name stitched in red on the chest.

TL;DR

• French chef and restaurateur, born 8 October 1935 in Semur-en-Brionnais in Burgundy and died in London on 4 January 2021 at the age of 85.
• Co-founded Le Gavroche in London with his brother Michel in April 1967, originally at 61 Lower Sloane Street in Chelsea.
• Le Gavroche took Britain’s first Michelin star in 1974, its first two stars in 1977 and its first three stars in 1982.
• Opened The Waterside Inn at Bray in Berkshire with Michel in 1972, a riverside restaurant that reached three Michelin stars in 1985.
• Set up the Roux Scholarship, whose first competition ran in 1984 and which still sends young British chefs to the world’s best kitchens.
• Appointed OBE in 2002 and made a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur in 2005, and shared a World’s 50 Best Restaurants Lifetime Achievement Award with Michel in 2006.

Albert Roux key facts

Albert Roux: career timeline

From a Burgundy charcuterie to the great kitchens of Europe

Albert Henri Roux was born on 8 October 1935 in Semur-en-Brionnais, a hilltop village in Saône-et-Loire so small that the church tower still counts as the tallest thing for miles. His father was a charcutier, which meant Albert grew up surrounded by pork, salt, terrines and the daily arithmetic of a shop where nothing could be wasted. That upbringing never left his cooking. Even at the height of Le Gavroche he talked about food in terms of thrift and respect for the ingredient rather than luxury for its own sake.

The family later moved north, and the young Albert watched the war years shape what was on the table. It is worth pausing on that, because it explains a lot about the chef he became. He learned to cook in a country where good ingredients were scarce and precious, and he carried a deep dislike of waste into every kitchen he ever ran.

The apprentice who almost became a priest

At 14 he seriously considered training for the priesthood. He thought better of it, decided the vocation was not his, and went looking for work instead. What he found was a pâtisserie apprenticeship in Paris in 1949, and that turned out to be the making of him. Pastry is the most exacting discipline in a French kitchen, all weights and temperatures and timing, and it gave him a precision that later separated Le Gavroche from almost everything else being served in London.

His godfather cooked for Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, and used those connections to place the 18 year old Albert with Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, at Cliveden. There is a lovely story from that period about a batch of oeufs en cocotte destined for Harold Macmillan getting comprehensively jammed in the dumbwaiter. Beyond that mishap the apprenticeship went smoothly, and it opened doors. He went on to the British Embassy in Paris, cooked privately for Sir Charles Clore, served his military service in Algeria where he fed the officers’ mess, returned to the embassy as sous chef, and then spent eight years as private chef to Major Peter Cazalet in Kent. By the mid 1960s he knew Britain, he knew British ingredients, and he knew exactly which wealthy Londoners might back a restaurant.

Le Gavroche and the year British dining changed

In April 1967 Albert and Michel opened Le Gavroche at 61 Lower Sloane Street in Chelsea. The name came from the street urchin in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, which tells you something about the brothers’ sense of humour: a tiny scruffy character fronting a restaurant that intended to serve the most serious French food in the country. Six well connected backers put in five hundred pounds each, and the rest was borrowed. It was a genuinely precarious start.

It did not stay precarious for long. London in 1967 had grand hotel dining rooms and it had trattorias, but it had almost nothing that cooked classical French food with real technique and real produce. Le Gavroche arrived into that gap and filled it completely. The Queen Mother became a regular. So did Princess Diana in later years, and the room drew everyone from Charlie Chaplin to the City. Albert ran the stoves, Michel ran the pâtisserie, and between them they set a standard that the rest of the country spent two decades trying to catch.

In 1981 the restaurant moved to larger premises at 43 Upper Brook Street in Mayfair, the address most people picture when they think of Le Gavroche: the dark green walls, the low ceiling, the hush of a dining room that took itself seriously without ever feeling cold.

First one star, then two, then three

The Michelin story reads like a series of firsts, because that is exactly what it was. In 1974 Le Gavroche became the first restaurant in the United Kingdom to be given a Michelin star. In 1977, still on Lower Sloane Street, it became the first British restaurant to hold two. And in 1982, shortly after the move to Mayfair, it became the first in Britain ever to be awarded three. It held all three until 1993.

It is difficult to overstate what those stars meant at the time. Before Le Gavroche, the idea that a restaurant in Britain could compete with Paris or Lyon was close to laughable. Afterwards it was simply a target, and a whole generation of ambitious young cooks suddenly had proof that the target could be hit.

The Waterside Inn and a scholarship that built careers

In 1972 the brothers opened The Waterside Inn on the Thames at Bray in Berkshire, a low white building with a jetty, willows on the water and one of the loveliest terraces in England. It became Michel’s domain, and in 1985 it took three Michelin stars of its own. Two restaurants, six stars between them, both born from the same pair of brothers who had arrived with almost no capital fifteen years earlier.

Alongside the restaurants Albert built something that has arguably outlasted them. The Roux Scholarship, launched with Michel and first contested in 1984, gives one young chef a year the chance to stage in a three star kitchen anywhere in the world, with the brothers’ name opening the door. Hundreds have competed. The alumni list is a who’s who of British cooking, and the competition still runs today.

Then there is the informal school, the one that happened simply by working in his kitchen. Gordon Ramsay, Marco Pierre White, Pierre Koffmann, Marcus Wareing, Bryn Williams, Monica Galetti and Sat Bains all passed through a Roux stove at some point. Albert had a famously sharp eye for who would go the distance. Of Ramsay he said plainly that he recognised straightaway that the young Scot would go a long way, and he was right.

Scotland, Chez Roux and a generous later chapter

Albert never really retired. Through his Chez Roux company he opened and consulted on restaurants around the world, and he fell hard for Scotland, partly for the larder and partly for the fishing, which was the one hobby that could get him out of a kitchen. He described the Highlands and islands as paradise, and said he was happy to spend a whole day catching nothing.

The Scottish projects included Chez Roux at Greywalls near Muirfield in Gullane, and later co-branded dining rooms with his son Michel Roux Jr. at Inverlochy Castle near Fort William and Crossbasket Castle in Blantyre. In London the family opened Roux at the Landau in the Langham Hotel and Roux at Parliament Square. Notably, he stopped chasing stars for these places. What he wanted, in his own words, was to recreate the kind of restaurant he remembered from his home town: good, honest country cooking in a place you could eat without ringing the bank for permission. Coming from the man who won Britain its first three stars, that is a rather wonderful thing to say.

Restaurants

Awards and honours

Watch Albert Roux

See Albert in action in this video.

Signature dishes

The Le Gavroche menu carried a handful of dishes that regulars would have rioted over if they had ever been removed. The most famous is the Soufflé Suissesse, a twice cooked cheese soufflé baked on double crème until the top is burnished and the inside collapses into something between a sauce and a cloud. Then there is Le Caneton Gavroche, a whole duck poached in a clear consommé and served for two with three separate sauces, and the Omelette Rothschild, a sweet souffléd omelette that closes a meal with real theatre. Together they sum up his cooking: classical technique, generous portions and absolutely no interest in fashion.

Cookbooks

Albert is the author of books including New Classic Cuisine, The Roux Brothers on Patisserie, The Roux Brothers French Country Cooking, At Home with the Roux Brothers, My Life in Food: A Memoir.

Personal life

In 1959 Albert married Monique Merle, his childhood sweetheart, and they had two children, Michel Roux Jr. and Danielle. Michel Jr. followed him into the kitchen and took over the stoves at Le Gavroche in 1991, making the Roux family one of the great culinary dynasties in Britain. Albert married Maria Rodrigues in 2018. Away from the pass he was a devoted fisherman who travelled the world casting a line, though Scotland remained his favourite water of all.

Death and legacy

Albert Roux died in London on 4 January 2021 at the age of 85. Tributes came from every corner of the industry, including from the chefs he had trained, and Gordon Ramsay was among the many who called him a legend and a mentor. His legacy sits in three places at once: in the Roux Scholarship, which still opens doors for young chefs every year; in The Waterside Inn at Bray, which continues to hold its three stars; and in the ordinary expectation, now taken completely for granted, that Britain can produce food as good as anywhere in the world. Le Gavroche itself served its last lunch on 13 January 2024 under Michel Roux Jr., after more than 56 years, closing a chapter that began with two brothers and three thousand pounds.

Albert in context

Albert Roux is one of many chefs and food personalities profiled on Pickup Table 4, alongside Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White.

Albert Roux FAQ

Who was Albert Roux?
Albert Roux was a French chef and restaurateur who co-founded Le Gavroche in London with his brother Michel in 1967. He is widely credited with starting the modern British restaurant revolution and trained many of the country’s best known chefs.

When was Albert Roux born and when did he die?
He was born on 8 October 1935 in Semur-en-Brionnais in Burgundy, France, and died in London on 4 January 2021 at the age of 85.

What was Albert Roux famous for?
He was famous for Le Gavroche, the first restaurant in the United Kingdom to win one, two and eventually three Michelin stars, and for founding the Roux Scholarship with his brother.

Which chefs did Albert Roux train?
Chefs who worked in his kitchens include Gordon Ramsay, Marco Pierre White, Pierre Koffmann, Marcus Wareing, Bryn Williams, Monica Galetti and Sat Bains.

What are Albert Roux’s signature dishes?
His best known dishes are the Soufflé Suissesse, a twice cooked cheese soufflé baked on double crème, Le Caneton Gavroche and the Omelette Rothschild.

Is Le Gavroche still open?
No. Le Gavroche closed on 13 January 2024, after more than 56 years, when Michel Roux Jr. decided not to renew the lease.

Sources and further reading

This profile draws on reputable references including Wikipedia: Albert Roux, Wikipedia: Le Gavroche, Roux Scholarship: In memoriam, Great British Chefs obituary, The Guardian obituary.