Albert Roux, influential UK chef and restaurateur, dead at 85

Jami Ganz

Influential chef Albert Roux has died, according to his family.

The restaurateur died Monday after a lengthy period of being unwell, according to a statement his family released Wednesday, The Associated Press reports. Specifics about where and how Roux died were not released.

Roux and his late brother Michel significantly influenced the dining habits of the British through their successful restaurants, including London’s Le Gavroche — the first U.K. restaurant to boast three Michelin Stars — and the Waterside Inn, which in 1985 earned its third Michelin star and outside of France is the only restaurant on Earth to have retained the coveted rating ever since.

FILE - In this May 16, 1997 file photo, Albert Roux poses for a photo. Roux, the French-born chef and restaurateur who along with his late brother Michel had a profound influence on British dining habits, has died. He was 85, it was reported on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. The brothers are widely credited with revolutionizing Britain’s staid and old-fashioned culinary scene, notably with their opening of Le Gavroche in London in 1967, a restaurant that was frequented by a loyal clientele that included many of the icons of the Swinging Sixties in London.


FILE - In this May 16, 1997 file photo, Albert Roux poses for a photo. Roux, the French-born chef and restaurateur who along with his late brother Michel had a profound influence on British dining habits, has died. He was 85, it was reported on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. The brothers are widely credited with revolutionizing Britain’s staid and old-fashioned culinary scene, notably with their opening of Le Gavroche in London in 1967, a restaurant that was frequented by a loyal clientele that included many of the icons of the Swinging Sixties in London. (PA/)

Le Gavroche, now run by Roux’s son Michel Jr., was visited often by Swinging Sixties icons and eventually trained chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Marco Pierre White and Marcus Wareing.

The Mayfair restaurant is still regarded as one of the British capital’s most desirable places to eat.

The Michelin Guide UK took to Twitter Wednesday to pay tribute to Roux and his brother, who died last year at 78.

“Albert Roux OBE, along with his late brother Michel, was a father of the UK restaurant industry and his legacy will live on through the many chefs who passed through his kitchen,” the account tweeted. “All of us at the Michelin Guide send our heartfelt condolences to the Roux family.”

Queen Elizabeth II awarded the brothers the Order of the British Empire in 2002.

With News Wire Services

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