Chefs accuse critics of recipe for death
February 27 2003 By�Jon Henley Paris
Chef Bernard Loiseau
Friends and relatives believe acclaimed French chef Bernard Loiseau, killed himself because he was downgraded by critics in a restaurant guide.
France's greatest chefs have angrily decried restaurant critics, blaming them for the apparent suicide of Bernard Loiseau, a Burgundian chef rated as one of the best in Europe.
Since 1991, his restaurant in Saulieu had held three Michelin stars, the highest accolade to which a chef can aspire. But last week the rival GaultMillau guide announced it was downgrading him from 19/20 to 17/20.
Mr Loiseau, 52, was found dead at his home in Saulieu on Monday, killed with his own hunting rifle. A police autopsy has yet to determine the official cause of death, but friends and relatives of the superchef were in no doubt he had shot himself. "He tried to do too much," said his wife, Dominique. "He was worn out; he'd just had enough."
"Bravo, GaultMillau, you've won," declared the legendary Lyon chef Paul Bocuse, 80. "Your verdict has cost a man's life. We cannot let ourselves be manipulated like this: I'll give you a star, I'll take one away; I'll award you two points, I'll deduct them . . ."
Another tri-stellar restaurateur, Jacques Lameloise, said Mr Loiseau had once told him that if he lost a star he would not hesitate to commit suicide. "The critics play with us," Mr Lameloise said. "They mark us up, they mark us down. I think that's what made him crack."
Amid public outcry and blanket media coverage of the tragedy, Government ministers queued up to express their regrets, and the managing director of GaultMillau, Patrick Mayenobe, was forced on TV to say his publication could not be blamed for Mr Loiseau's death.
Mr Loiseau, who once said he wanted to be to haute cuisine what Pele was to football, was a self-made man who trained with the celebrated Frere Troisgros at Roanne. He took over at La Cote d'Or in 1972, picking up his first Michelin star in 1977 and his second in 1981. He bought the old coaching inn the following year, a year that also marked the presidential election triumph of one of his best-known regulars, Francois Mitterrand.
His lightness of touch, perfectionism and endless quest for the most exceptional of ingredients earned him the ultimate accolade of three Michelin stars.
Marc Veyrat, who this year became the first man to be awarded 20/20 by GaultMillau, said chefs at this level were "like fragile little boys, under pressure from all sides: from ourselves, to do better every time; from the public; and then, when we've reached the summit, from the guides and the critics, swords of Damocles hanging over our heads . . . because for us, where we are now, there's only one way to go".
Guardian, Telegraph
Hundreds mourn French chef
Top names in French cuisine have joined hundreds of mourners at the funeral of Bernard Loiseau, the celebrated chef whose suicide on Tuesday was blamed on bad reviews.
Employees walked behind the funeral cortege in the Burgundy town of Salieu, where Mr Loiseau lived, and waved goodbye as they reached his restaurant, La Cote d'Or.
Acclaimed chefs in attendance included Alain Ducasse, who has two three-star restaurants, Guy Savoy, Marc Veyrat, Pierre Troisgros and Paul Bocuse.
Some of Mr Loiseau's fellow chefs caused a furore after his death was discovered when they blamed the pressure of food critics for his suicide.
His death came a week after the renowned GaultMillau restaurant guide cut his restaurant rating from 19/20 to 17/20.
However, his widow, Dominique, said he had been complaining of depression in recent weeks.
'Act of madness' She said her husband had been "totally weary, totally exhausted. Every day he was at work. We had not had a holiday in three years.
Bocuse: Accused the critics of "killing" his friend
"For 27 years he had been doing just this - open every day - and it became too much... it was an act of madness," she said.
Mr Veryat also avoided blaming critics for his death.
"We accepted the guides as part of the system. It would be out of place to criticise them now," he told news agency AFP.
Their comments were in sharp contrast to those of Mr Bocuse earlier in the week, when he said: "I think GaultMillau killed him.
"When you are leader of the pack and all of a sudden they cut you down, it's hard to understand, it hit him hard."
Innovative cuisine
Mrs Loiseau attended the service with their three children, Blanche, Bastien, and Berangere.
A pioneer both in and out of the kitchen
Hundreds of townspeople gathered to listen to the eulogy on loudspeakers outside the church.
Mr Loiseau was famous for his "nouvelle cuisine", which sought to maximise simple flavours and reduce use of heavy sauces.
He was the only French chef whose culinary empire was traded on the stock exchange.
He also had a line of frozen foods, a boutique, and three restaurants in Paris.
He had published many books and appeared on television.
Chef Bernard Loiseau
Restaurant: La Cote d'Or Saulieu, France
Tucked into the French countryside beyond Dijon in the Burgundy region, La Cote d'Or is a lovely haven where the dining experience eclipses even the beautiful surroundings. Chef Bernard Loiseau and his wife Dominique acquired the hotel in 1982; it has been accepted by Relais et Chateaux. Using ingredients drawn from local purveyors and farmers, he works his magic for his patrons.
Loiseau seldom travels and is not widely known outside culinary circles, but he is one of France's three-star chefs. Born in Chamalieres, France, he began his apprenticeship at Troisgros in Rouanne at 17. He was responsible for the kitchen during his military service, then returned to La Barriere de Clichy in Paris, working with Claude Verger. Verger, proprietor of La Cote d'Or, brought him to the inn in 1975; Loiseau and his wife took it over in '82 as their own. Enlarging and renovating, they created more bedrooms and a large dining room with a view of a new English country garden. In 1991 Michelin awarded La Cote d'Or three stars � worth a special journey. Loiseau has two books to his credit, L'Envolee des Saveurs , whichwon the Brillat-Savarin prize and the award for best gourmand book, and Trucs, Astuces et Tours de Main , which sold 50,000 copies within five months.
Loiseau, whose first trip to the United States, in 1994, took him to The Inn at Little Washington in a pairing with Relais member Patrick O'Connell (also featured on Great Chefs ), calls his light cuisine "rustic raffine" and "cuisine d'essences." He uses no spices, no flour, no stocks, no cream � the better to emphasize the natural flavors of the ingredients, which he distills to purity. One of his truly unique dishes, Pommes en Fete, is an entire meal of variations on the potato � and it is among his most requested dishes.
All the work, all the refinement of his own special cuisine, all the day-to-day toughing it out to create the best, came together in 1991, Loiseau's 40th year: his first son and three stars. Still working every single day, still obsessing over the quality of his ingredients, Loiseau now has a restaurant in Japan, where the simplicity and purity of his flavors is much appreciated.
Chef 'suicide' after critics' attack
Loiseau was regarded as one of France's greatest chefs
One of France's most celebrated chefs has apparently committed suicide after his flagship restaurant was downgraded in a top restaurant guide.
Bernard Loiseau was found dead at his country home, a hunting rifle by his side.
His death came a week after the renowned GaultMillau restaurant guide cut its rating for his Cote d'Or restaurant in Burgundy.
Now the critics themselves are facing the criticism - accused of exercising too much power, toying with the establishments they assess and ultimately pushing Loiseau over the edge.
"I think GaultMillau killed him. When you are leader of the pack and all of a sudden they cut you down, it's hard to understand, it hit him hard," restaurateur and friend Paul Bocuse said.
But GaultMillau has rigorously defended its decision to reduce the score given to Loiseau's Cote d'Or restaurant from 19/20 last year, to 17/20 this, and insist that the chef had other problems that led to his death.
He said, 'If I lose a star, I'll kill myself Restaurateur Jacques Lameloise
"As early as 2000, he told us that if he went from a score of 19 to 17, he would relish the challenge involved in returning to the peak," said GaultMillau director Patrick Mayenobe.
"This great chef certainly had other problems," he added.
A good rating from GaultMillau, or a maximum three-star rating from its rival the Michelin guide - which together are regarded as France's bibles of fine dining - is certain to ensure massive interest in any restaurant.
In fact there is such interest in the reviews that Michelin has recently begun announcing its star ratings ahead of schedule to curb the massive speculation that accompanies the results.
Playing God But some culinary masters are complaining that the pressure is all too much.
"The critics play with us. They mark us up, they mark us down. I think that's what made him crack," Michelin-starred restaurateur Jacques Lameloise told Le Parisien newspaper.
His restaurant dropped two points in GaultMillau this year
Another three-star chef, Jacques Lameloise, recounted how Loiseau had told him how much his restaurant rating meant.
"He said, 'If I lose a star, I'll kill myself.'"
Now it seems the warning may have come true.
Loiseau was found dead on Monday of a gunshot wound to the head in the bedroom of his home in Saulieu, close to the three-starred Cote d'Or.
Family members and employees have suggested the 52-year-old chef committed suicide.
Loiseau's widow, Dominique, told a French television station that her husband had recently been very tired and had not taken a holiday in years.
And although the police continue to investigate the cause of death, a post mortem examination later on Tuesday is expected to confirm that Loiseau shot himself.
The news of his death sent shock waves throughout France.
An innovator in haute cuisine, Loiseau was reputed to be one of France's greatest chefs.
Along with Cote d'Or he owned the three famous Tante restaurants in Paris, a boutique in Burgundy and a frozen food line.
In 1998 his culinary group was listed on the stock exchange, making him the only chef in the world to become a public company.
Chef suicide sparks ratings debate in France
- February 26, 2003 -The apparent suicide of a celebrated French chef late Monday has relaunched a debate in France on the pressures of securing -- and keeping -- the coveted acclaims of restaurant guides such as Michelin or GaultMillau.
Popular chef Bernard Loiseau was found shot dead Monday evening at his home in Saulieu, a gastronomic center in Burgundy. A hunting rifle lay beside his body.
His death came after news GaultMillau's 2003 edition had sliced two points from the rating of Loiseau's restaurant, Cote d'Or, from a 19- to a 17-out-of-20 score.
Michelin reportedly considered downgrading Loiseau's rating as well, but finally decided to keep the chef's three stars.
Loiseau's death is the latest instance of fatal despair among French chefs that goes back to 1671 when Francois Vatel was given the task of preparing a banquet in honor of King Louis XIV. Informed that only two baskets of fish had arrived to serve 3,000 people, he went to his room and ran himself through the heart with his sword. The missing supply of fish turned up shortly thereafter.
Commenting on Loiseau's death, Paul Bocuse, a prominent chef, said, 'A fragile man has been killed.'
'You don't understand our lifestyle...this extraordinary man should not have been attacked,' he told the daily Le Monde.
'The pressure to perform all the time is enormous,' agreed food critic Catherine Soulier, head of two training institutes for chefs in France.
Loiseau, was particularly susceptible to the downsides of success, she said.
'He was very sensitive, he really needed to be reassured all the time,' Soulier said in an interview. 'He told me a few years ago, he was very worried, he was a bit depressed. Because he was a bit destabilized in his life -- and the personal and professional lives are linked.'
Dubbed 'Mr. 100,000 volts' in France, the high-energy, hardworking Loiseau rose from a hardscrabble background to become owner or a restaurant chain, and leader of a movement to lighten butter-and-cream wrapped French cuisine. He was a regular figure on the television circuit, and became France's culinary ambassador to Japan, where he was a local star.
But the pressures of keeping his high ratings and high-profile lifestyle took their toll.
'If I lose a star, I will commit suicide,' Jacques Lameloise, a Loire-area restaurant owner, recalled Loiseau as saying, Le Figaro newspaper reported.
This is hardly the first time France's culinary establishment has questioned the problems of satisfying tough-grading guides such as Michelin -- known informally as 'the red Bible.'
French chef Alain Zick committed suicide in 1966, after being downgraded by Michelin. The debate was relaunched when GaultMillau delivered a similar blow to Bocuse, several years ago.
Today, just over 40 European restaurants have been blessed with Michelin's three stars. Critics complain the century-plus restaurant guide unfairly favors French over other cuisines, and that its assessments are sometimes faulty. Nonetheless, chefs face enormous pressures to keep their Michelin and GaultMillau ratings -- not least from their investors and clients.
Those that slip sometimes leave the business altogether. Others slave to regain their lost luster.
'In just about every other profession in the world, they warn you before kicking you out,' said sommelier Cathy Groult, whose husband's Paris restaurant Amphycles, was abruptly downgraded from two stars to zero by Michelin a few years back.
'We had no warning, and to suddenly go from two stars to nothing is very hard,' Groult said.
After removing Amphycles completely from its guide, Michelin restored the restaurant in its 2001 edition -- but only with a three-fork sign, rather than any star. The loss in prestige has brought economic hardships as well, Groult said.
'We still have a loyal following of local clientele, who trust us and come just for my husband's cooking,' said Groult, who is expecting the couple's fourth child. 'But not a single American or Japanese comes here anymore. And the costs of running a good restaurant in Paris are astronomical.'
Soulier says she would prefer a scoring system that draws attention to exemplary chefs, rather than criticizing those that are struggling. Particularly, she noted, since food critics themselves make mistakes.
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