Award-Winning Chef Found Dead From Suicide, Considered The World’s Best Chef

Benoît Violier, a world-renowned chef with an ever-growing fanbase, was found dead in his home on Sunday due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Violier was considered an exceptional chef by his peers, shooting up in the ranks with his fellow classmates and eventual peers in the business Joël Robuchon, Frédy Girardet and Benoît Guichard.

Violier was born in Saintes, France, where he was raised until he went to Paris in order to study and become a top chef in his field, a feat he accomplished roughly 15 years later after focusing on his trade day in and day out.

In 1996, Violier moved to Switzerland in order to study as an apprentice underneath the famed Philippe Rochat, owner and operator of Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville, in Crissier, Switzerland. Rochat retired in 2012 and decided to hand the restaurant off to Violier. After all, he was basically the Skywalker to Rochat’s Kenobi.

Although we expect the tone and temper of world famous chefs to be loud, obnoxious, rude and discouraging, Violier did not exhibit any of those emotions. According to Forbes Magazine, his coworkers say he was passionate, and likely the biggest perfectionist they have ever met. He kept a sense of serenity around him that relaxingly hung in the air like a hammock.

The Swiss chef’s specialty was gamey foods, with the majority of his dishes reflecting that in one way or another.

The superstar chef’s restaurant was one of only two restaurant’s in Switzerland with a three Michelin star rating, along with being named the best restaurant in the world by La Liste in December of 2015.

The pressure to maintain the three star rating was apparently too much for Violier, ending in a bloody scene involving him and a shotgun. He leaves behind his wife and manager of the restaurant, Brigitte Violier.

Photo Credit: References, Tribune Reporter, FT, Blick