Michel Roux, chef and restaurateur

Michel Roux is the chef and restaurateur who led Le Gavroche, one of Britain’s most celebrated restaurants, for more than three decades, maintaining its two Michelin stars. He’s also a familiar face on television, including six series of the BBC’s MasterChef: The Professionals.

He was born in Kent in 1960, where his father, Albert, worked as a private chef to the Queen Mother’s horse trainer. In 1967, his father and uncle opened Le Gavroche in London, helping to transform the British restaurant scene. For the young Michel, the move brought an abrupt end to an idyllic childhood, as his father’s long working hours left them little time together.

After a rebellious adolescence, Michel left school at 16 to begin a pastry apprenticeship in Paris. He went on to train with the three-Michelin-starred chef Alain Chapel before completing his French national service in the kitchens of the Élysée Palace, cooking for Presidents Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and François Mitterrand.

Returning to Britain, he joined the family business and met his future wife, Giselle. In 1991, the year their daughter Emily was born, he formally took over Le Gavroche from his father. He gradually introduced his own ideas while preserving the classical French cooking at its heart. Michel closed Le Gavroche in 2024, choosing to end its 57-year history on his own terms. Recently he’s stepped away from the pass, but he continues to run restaurants, and food remains central to his life.

Michel Roux lives in London with his wife.

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producers: Hannah Hufford and Christine Pawlowsky

Desert Island Discs has cast many other chefs away to the island over the years, including Michel’s father and uncle, in one of our rare double-header castaway episodes. You can hear their programme if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.