Albert Roux

Albert Roux OBE (born 8 October 1935) is a French-born restaurateur and chef working in Britain. He and his brother Michel operated Le Gavroche, the first restaurant in the UK to gain three Michelin stars. He helped train a series of chefs that went on to win Michelin stars, and his son, Michel Roux, Jr. continues to run Le Gavroche.

Early life

Roux, the son of a charcutier, was born at 67 Grande Rue, Semur-en-Brionnais, Saône-et-Loire. Upon leaving school, he initially decided to train as a priest at the age of 14, however he decided that the role was not suited for him and sought other employment and instead trained as a chef. His godfather worked as a chef for Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, and arranged for Albert, at the age of 18, to be employed working for Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor.

Career

In one notable incident whilst employed by the Viscountess, Albert managed to jam oeufs en cocotte in a dumb waiter which were due to go to Harold Macmillan, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Otherwise, his apprenticeship at Cliveden went without problems. He moved on to work at the French embassy in London and became a private chef for Sir Charles Clore. He was then called up by the French Armed Forces to serve his military service in Algeria, where he would cook on occasion for the officer's mess. Once he left the military, he worked as a sous chef at the British Embassy in Paris, before returning to the UK to become private chef to Major Peter Cazalet where he worked for eight years.