Albert Roux: French-British chef and restaurateur (1935–2021)

He and his brother Michel ran Le Gavroche, the first restaurant in the UK to gain three Michelin stars.

Albert Henri Roux was born on 8 October 1935 in Semur-en-Brionnais, Saône-et-Loire, France.

In 1949, his parents sent him to study to be a pastry cook. He studied there until 1954 and later he started working as a pastry chef and then as a cook for Lady Esther.

In 1967, he opened the restaurant "Le Gavroche" with his brother in London. In 1973, Albert and his brother opened a confectionery shop in Wendsworth, then they began to supply its products to the public. At the same time, the butcher shop "La Busherie Lamartine" was opened.

Roux continued to run a series of restaurants around the world, through his company, founded by his wife Cheryl, Chez Roux Limited, including one at the Greywalls Hotel in Muirfield. There is Roux at the Landau in the Langham Hotel, and Roux at Parliament Square and several Chez Roux restaurants. He collaborated with his son, Michel Roux Jr., to open co-branded restaurants at Inverlochy Castle and Crossbasket Castle in Blantyre in Scotland.

He no longer chased Michelin stars for his restaurants, but instead sought to "...recreate the kind of restaurant I remember from my home town, offering good and honest country cooking. The kind of place you can go to eat without ringing the bank for permission." In 2006, Albert and Michel Roux were jointly given the Lifetime Achievement Award by S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants.

In the early 90's, Albert Roux resigned from the restaurant business, handing it over to his son Michel. In 2002, he was awarded Order of the British Empire.

Roux died on 4 January 2021, aged 85.