Word: loiseau
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...selling dreams. We are merchants of happiness," chef Bernard Loiseau once said. The ebullient Loiseau ran one of only 25 restaurants in France awarded three stars by the all-powerful Michelin guide. His Cote d'Or restaurant in Saulieu in Burgundy is a shrine to detail, to perfection on a plate. And like the other markets for dreams and happiness--films, say, or fashion or narcotics--it was a brutal pursuit. Loiseau had not taken a vacation in four years. He had planned one for this winter, but last week another French restaurant guide, GaultMillau, inexplicably reduced his ranking...
...Monday, after presiding over the lunch service, Loiseau went to his bedroom for his customary nap. Soon after, he shot himself in the mouth with his hunting rifle. He left no note, only three children, a wife and a grand business that depended utterly on his existence...
...police have ruled Loiseau's death, at 52, a suicide. But in France, the killer is still considered at large. Last week Loiseau's fellow chefs accused the guidebooks of murder. "Bravo, GaultMillau. You have won," declared Paul Bocuse, the famous dean of French chefs. Bocuse, who spoke to Loiseau the day before he died, says his friend had been deeply affected by the rankings demotion and by newspaper articles speculating that he might lose one of his three Michelin stars, which turned out to be untrue. "He was very anxious. He felt out of breath," Bocuse says. "You know...
Castigating the guidebooks may be a too-convenient way to explain how Loiseau--who was known in France as "Monsieur 100,000 volts"--could have come undone. After all, this was a man who had overcome life's vagaries: with no formal schooling or gourmet pedigree, Loiseau had bought and run four celebrated restaurants. He received France's Legion of Honor in 1995 and three years later became the first chef to take his company public...
DIED. BERNARD LOISEAU, 52, celebrated French chef whose La C?te d'Or restaurant, recipient of three stars from the Michelin guide, was a pilgrimage site for gastronomes the world over; from a self-inflicted shotgun wound; in Saulieu, France. Late last month, La C?te d'Or was downgraded by rival food bible Gault-Millau, which gave it a 17-out-of-20 score, slipping from its previous 19. The only chef in the world to have a public company, Loiseau rose to fame as a pioneer of nouvelle cuisine and operated three other eateries in Paris. His death sparked criticism...