Benoît Violier

{{Infobox chef

| name = Benoît Violier

| image = File:Le Chef Benoît Violier (bis).JPG

| image_size = 200px

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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1971|08|22}}

| birth_place = Saintes, Charente-Maritime, France

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|01|31|1971|08|22}}

| death_place = Crissier, Switzerland

| death_cause = Suicide

| occupation = chef

| home_town =

| spouse = Brigitte Violier

| children = 1

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Benoît Violier ({{IPA|fr|bənwa vjɔlje}}; 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.{{cite news|last1=Severson|first1=Kim|title=The Death of a Star Swiss Chef Underscores the Profession's Stress|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/03/dining/mental-health-chefs.html?_r=0|access-date=3 February 2016|work=The New York Times|date=2 February 2016}} The establishment topped the first La Liste in December 2015.{{cite news|last1=Samuel|first1=Henry|title=French chefs take fight to British with new best restaurants list|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/12046575/French-chefs-take-fight-to-British-with-new-best-restaurants-list.html|access-date=1 February 2016|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=12 December 2015}}

Biography

Born in Saintes, Charente-Maritime, France,{{cite news|language=fr|last1=Benoit-Godet|first1=Stéphane|title=Le chef Benoît Violier a mis fin à ses jours|url=https://www.letemps.ch/suisse/2016/01/31/chef-benoit-violier-mis-fin-jours|access-date=1 February 2016|work=Le Temps|date=31 January 2016|archive-date=2 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202180522/http://www.letemps.ch/suisse/2016/01/31/chef-benoit-violier-mis-fin-jours|url-status=dead}} he went to Paris in 1991 to study with Joël Robuchon, Benoît Guichard and others. Violier moved to Switzerland in 1996 to work with Philippe Rochat.{{cite magazine|last1=Jenkins|first1=Nash|title=Chef Benoit Violier of One of the World's Top Restaurants Found Dead in Apparent Suicide|url=https://time.com/4201855/benoit-violier-suicide-chef-restaurant-hotel-de-ville/|access-date=1 February 2016|magazine=Time|date=31 January 2016}} Upon Rochat's retirement in 2012, Violier began running the restaurant.{{cite news|title=Benoit Violier 'world's best chef' dies at age 44|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/switzerland/12133117/Benoit-Violier-worlds-best-chef-dies-at-age-44.html|access-date=1 February 2016|work=The Daily Telegraph|agency=Agence France Presse|date=31 January 2016}} He applied for Swiss citizenship in 2014.{{cite news|title='World's best chef' Benoit Violier found dead|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/01/worlds-best-chef-benoit-violier-found-dead|access-date=1 February 2016|work=The Guardian|agency=Agence France Presse|date=31 January 2015}} He specialised in cooking game.

Death

Violier died at home in Crissier, Switzerland, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on 31 January 2016, aged 44.{{cite news|title='World's best chef' Benoit Violier dies aged 44|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35456685|access-date=1 February 2016|publisher=BBC News|date=31 January 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Bilefsky|first1=Dan|title=Benoît Violier, Top French-Swiss Chef, Dies at 44|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/world/europe/benoit-violier-chef-dies.html|access-date=1 February 2016|work=The New York Times|date=1 February 2016}} 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.{{Cite news|url=http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/dining/suspected-suicide-of-world-s-best-chef-highlights-pressure-cooker/article_b1965c07-f12e-5782-8bd7-179e4f17f069.html|title=Suspected suicide of 'world's best chef' highlights pressure-cooker of haute cuisine|first=Michael|last=Miller|date=February 1, 2016|access-date=February 1, 2016|work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204013911/http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/dining/suspected-suicide-of-world-s-best-chef-highlights-pressure-cooker/article_b1965c07-f12e-5782-8bd7-179e4f17f069.html|archive-date=February 4, 2016}}

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.[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/08/chef-benoit-violier-possible-victim-wine-scam-report Star chef Benoît Violier may have been victim of wine scam, report claims], Jon Henley, The Guardian, published February 8, 2016; retrieved February 8, 2016