In December, Chef Benoit Violier's restaurant near Lausanne, Switzerland, was named the world's best by France's La Liste, which ranks the world's 1,000 best eateries. Swiss police say Violier, 44, was found dead Sunday afternoon in his home in Crissier, the town that also houses Violier's Restaurant de l'Hotel de Ville, rated three stars by Michelin. "It would seem that he has ended his life with a firearm," the police said in a statement. Violier had worked in the restaurant since 1996, and took it over along with his wife, Brigitte, in 2012.
Violier was born to a winemaking family in western France, and moved to Paris in 1991 to study with top chefs. He earned a reputation for inventiveness and perfectionism, especially in preparing wild game, and was named 2013 chef of the year by the influential Gault and Millau guide. Police aren't releasing any more details about his death, but French media speculates that Violier was upset over a slight demotion in the Gault and Millau guide and fear that he was about to lose a Michelin star, The New York Times reports. His apparent suicide also comes just a few months after the sudden death of his mentor Philippe Rochat, the previous head chef at the Restaurant de l'Hotel de Ville.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Kill the Boer: Elon Musk and the anti-apartheid songUnder the radar Billionaire reignites controversy by linking South African 'struggle song' to 'white genocide'
-
Critics’ choice: Restaurants worthy of their buzzfeature A fun bistro, a reservation worth the wait, and a modern twist on Mexican dishes
-
Film reviews: Snow White, Death of a Unicorn, and The Alto KnightsFeature A makeover for Disney’s first animated feature, greedy humans earn nature’s wrath, and a feud between crime bosses rattles the mob
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loomSpeed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panelsSpeed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of businessSpeed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pausesSpeed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
-
Chinese AI chatbot's rise slams US tech stocksSpeed Read The sudden popularity of a new AI chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek has sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor dealSpeed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US SteelSpeed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
