Alain Roux (born 27 March 1968), is a British

Michelin star The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...

red chef, and chef-patron of

The Waterside Inn The Waterside Inn, in Bray, Berkshire, England, is a restaurant founded by the brothers Michel and Albert Roux after the success of Le Gavroche. It is currently run by Michel's son, Alain. The restaurant has three Michelin stars, and in 2010 ...

. He is one of the members of the Roux family, and son of

Michel Roux Michel Roux, OBE (; 19 April 1941 – 11 March 2020), also known as Michel Roux Snr., was a French chef and restaurateur working in Britain. Along with his brother Albert Roux, Albert, he opened Le Gavroche, which subsequently became the first ...

Career

Roux first decided to be a chef at the age of 14, something which his chef father,

described as being equally "over the moon" and "disturbed" about. Alain spent eight years in France training at various restaurants. He was sent first to the Pâtisserie Millet in Paris in 1984 to undergo an apprenticeship as a

pastry chef A pastry chef or pâtissier (; feminine pâtissière, ) is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bistros, restaurants, bakeries, b ...

. He stayed there until 1986 when the apprenticeship was completed, and he moved around a number of different

red restaurants for the rest of his time in France, including three starred Restaurant Pic, Le Domaine d'Orvault, La Bonne Etape, Château de Montreuil and La Côte Saint-Jacques. Whilst in France, he served his period of

military conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

as a chef at the

Élysée Palace The Élysée Palace (, ) is the official residence of the President of France, President of the French Republic in Paris. Completed in 1722, it was built for Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, a nobleman and army officer who had been appointed g ...

. Roux moved back to his family's

Waterside Inn The Waterside Inn, in Bray, Berkshire, England, is a restaurant founded by the brothers Michel and Albert Roux after the success of Le Gavroche. It is currently run by Michel's son, Alain. The restaurant has three Michelin stars, and in 2010 i ...

Bray, Berkshire Bray, occasionally Bray on Thames, is a suburban village and civil parish in the Windsor and Maidenhead district, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire. It sits on the banks of the River Thames, to the southeast of Maidenhead with which it is ...

, at the age of 23 in 1992 where he became a demi-chef de partie. In 1995, he became sous chef and he took over from his father as chef-patron of the Waterside Inn in 2002. Before this, in 2000, he joined Relais Desserts, an international society of pastry chefs. Roux was chef-patron in 2010 when the Waterside Inn celebrated becoming the first restaurant outside France to hold three Michelin stars for 25 years. Alain is one of the judges of the Roux Scholarship, and has appeared as a

celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in Books, printed publications. While telev ...

judge on '' MasterChef: The Professionals''. In 2011, he developed new menus for the Business Premier class onboard

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service in Western Europe, connecting Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The service is operated by the Eurostar Group which was formed from the merger of Eurostar, ...

trains. Roux leads the 1- Michelin-starred French restaurant ''Le Normandie'' of the Mandarin Oriental in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

from 1 December 2021 onwards.

Personal life

Alain is a member of the Roux family. He is the son of

, nephew of

Albert Roux Albert Henri Roux (8 October 1935 – 4 January 2021) was a French restaurateur and chef. He and his brother Michel Roux, Michel operated Le Gavroche in London's Mayfair, the first restaurant in the UK to gain three Michelin stars. He helped t ...

and cousin to Albert's son, Michel Roux, Jr.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roux, Alain 1968 births Living people Businesspeople from London English chefs French Army personnel British people of French descent Head chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants Roux family