Chef Michel Roux Jr’s two Michelin-starred restaurant Le Gavroche is closing its doors for the last time after more than half a century.
The French fine dining venue at 43 Upper Brook Street in Mayfair, central London, will run its final service on Saturday, and has been hailed as a “true icon of British gastronomy”.
There will also be a charity dinner in aid of hotel and catering industry charity Hospitality Action, sight charity Victa and youth charity Bigkid Foundation on January 18.
On the day of Le Gavroche’s final service, we bid farewell to a true icon of British gastronomy. Many restaurants have been a success, some can even claim to have been influential, but very few can say they shaped an industry like Le Gavroche. London won’t be the same without it pic.twitter.com/caVdzKHMk8
— The MICHELIN Guide (@MichelinGuideUK) January 13, 2024
Roux Jr announced in August that the restaurant, originally founded in 1967 by French restaurateur his father Albert Roux and uncle Michel Roux Sr, would shut up shop.
The MasterChef: The Professionals star said at the time he wanted to spend “more time with my family and on my other business ventures”.
In a short post on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday, Roux Jr wrote: “One last dance (kiss emoji)”, and shared an image of his chef outfit.
One last dance 😘 pic.twitter.com/OyaL1GR6IM
— Michel Roux Jr (@michelrouxjr) January 13, 2024
The Michelin Guide posted a statement on X saying: “On the day of Le Gavroche’s final service, we bid farewell to a true icon of British gastronomy.
“Many restaurants have been a success, some can even claim to have been influential, but very few can say they shaped an industry like Le Gavroche. London won’t be the same without it.”
Roux Jr, son of Albert Roux, has run the restaurant since the 1990s, earning two Michelin stars – one of the most prestigious accolades in the restaurant business.
Before the final service, Michelin-starred French chef Jean-Francois Piege joined Roux Jr at the restaurant.
Piege, known for French cooking shows, wrote on Instagram that the restaurant was “immensely mythical”.
He called it a big moment for French cuisine and a “big moment of emotion”.
When it first opened, Le Gavroche was the only French restaurant of its kind in London, offering classical French food and the highest standards of cooking and service.
It is where Gordon Ramsay, Marco Pierre White, Pierre Koffmann and Marcus Wareing worked and composer Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber once reportedly spent £13,000 on dinner.
Roux Jr was a judge on MasterChef: The Professionals and has appeared as a guest chef on MasterChef Australia.
He has also appeared on Ramsay’s show Hell’s Kitchen, and presented two series of Michel Roux’s French Country Cooking.
The brand of Le Gavroche is expected to continue as Roux Jr previously said there will be “pop-ups in the future”.