Chef Benoît Violier of One of the World’s Top Restaurants Found Dead in Apparent Suicide

Benoît Violier, the celebrated chef whose restaurant in Switzerland was deemed the world’s best eatery by French critics less than two months ago, was found dead at his home on Sunday. Violier, who was 44, apparently took his own life, police told the BBC.

Violier and his wife Brigitte ran the Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville outside of the city of Lausanne. He had worked there since 1996 and took it over in 2012; it holds three Michelin stars and earned the top position in France’s La Liste ranking of the top thousand restaurants worldwide.

Violier’s mentor and predecessor at the Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville, Philippe Rochat, died six months ago while cycling.