Bernard Loiseau R.I.P.

[Bux]

John, Suzanne and Steve, as I recall the news and rumor around that story, I seem to recall that there was more than a hint that the fire was set by someone else and that Schillinger père was sleeping in the restaurant to protect it. Apparently there were previous incidents of vandalism against the restaurant. It's possible I read a sanitized story, but I had the distinct impression that suicide was not suspected. I do not recall the name of the restaurant in Alsace nor do I recall if it had one or two stars.

[robert brown]

I think it was called Restaurant Schillinger. And wasn't it in Colmar? Two stars rings a bell, but I never ate there. I recall that there was murder involved.

[Jinmyo]

An article in English.

[Suzanne F]

I hate post hoc ergo propter hoc when it's applied to death.

[Louisa Chu]

About the fire, you're confusing the story, no Michelin stars were lost, that had nothing to do with it.

On 27 December 1995, a fire broke out at the Restaurant Schillinger - Michelin two star, Colmar - killing Chef Jean Schillinger, 61, by smoke inhalation. Investigators determined it was arson but the crime went unsolved for almost three years. Rumors flew. Finally three young men were arrested. They did not know the chef was in the restaurant - they explained they just wanted to attack a symbol of the bourgeoisie.

And yes, Chef Jean-Yves Schillinger is the son of the late Jean Schillinger.

As for Vatel - fiction.

[Bux]

Lou, thanks for clearing that up. I suspect it would be an unpleasant thing for a son to read so many years later on a web site like this, such a false story.

[Bux]

Back to reports of Loiseau's death in NY newspapers, there's this by Corky Siemaszko on the Daily News web site.

" French chef who feared losing his top three-star Michelin rating chose suicide over the dishonor of running a less-than-exceptional restaurant, police said yesterday.

But had Bernard Loiseau waited until Friday when the new Michelin guidebook comes out, he would have learned that his La Cote d'Or restaurant was still one of only 40 in the world with a three-star rating.

...

Originally published on February 26, 2003"

Too bad not everyone at the News reads eGullet.

[writing about the 2003 edition of the Michelin guide whose ratings have been announced prior to publication date] Nobody lost their third star ...

In fairness to the rest of the press, most news services and other papers reported the death two days earlier and noted that Loiseau had kept all three Michelin stars, but that GM had demoted him from 19 to 17/20.

By the way, I was looking for the article Steve Cuozzo wrote for the Post on Loiseau's death, but the post charges even for recent articles. I read that article while waiting in a shop. It was a particularly strange self serving piece. Did anyone catch it?

[rstarobi]

Bernard Loiseau piece in the NY Times

This requires registration.

[rozrapp]

Bryan Miller, former New York Times restaurant critic and current restaurant editor for Citysearch, writes about Loiseau's suicide in today's Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/15/opinion/15MILL.html

Edited March 15, 2003 by rozrapp (log)