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BIOGRAPHY CONSULTANCY RECRUITMENT
ROUX RESTAURANTS 1967-1992
Following the success of Le Gavroche, Albert decided to open another restaurant, this time in Cheapside, and in 1969 Le Poulbot was founded on the site of an old pub.

The pub style was retained on the ground floor and the basement was converted into an elegant City restaurant. Very innovatively for the time, both breakfast and lunch were served to the busy business community and it soon won Londoners' hearts as well as critical acclaim. It was awarded the Golden Plate by Egon Ronay in 1971 followed by a Michelin one star rating.

In the 1970s, Albert opened a charcuterie next door to Le Gavroche, which was managed by his sister.

Seeing that the venture in the City had gone so well in December 1971 he opened Brasserie Benoit, later known as Le Gamin. Its position had been carefully selected to be both near the Law Courts and the then-exciting and now legendary Fleet Street.

The waiting staff of the Brasserie Benoit wore the colourful national costume of Alsace reflecting the typical Alsacien food served in the restaurant. Unfortunately, though tremendously well received, the costumes proved too heavy to work in and had to be discarded and the restaurant became Le Gamin – a street urchin who is the smaller brother of Le Gavroche.

For a while the brothers made Michelin history by owning two three-starred restaurants.

In 1972 a traditional English pub was acquired and transformed into an elegant restaurant and cocktail bar: the Waterside Inn was born.

With each brother alternating his time between Le Gavroche and The Waterside Inn, the restaurant received many accolades including the Egon Ronay Golden Plate Award, three Egon Ronay Guide stars and was acclaimed Restaurant of the Year in 1981.

In addition, in 1985, the Waterside Inn achieved three Michelin stars. In 1986 the brothers separated their business interests and Le Gavroche was taken over entirely by Albert whilst the Waterside Inn became the sole responsibility of Michel Roux Sr. Both are members of the prestigious worldwide Relais et Chateaux organisation.

In 1972 Albert set up the first Roux Outside Catering Division. This was a huge operation that originally functioned out of Le Gamin premises and over the next 20 years it grew to become a Contract Catering division – Roux Fine Dining, which was subsequently sold to the Compass Group.

To supply their restaurants with a consistently high standard of patisserie, the bakery was opened in South London in 1973. While part of Roux Restaurants Limited, the Patisserie provided an exclusive service to some of the top hotels, stores and organisations in England and abroad. This site was used as a training ground for many young cooks wishing to master a particular art. In 1994 the bakery became part of the House of Albert Roux and has since changed its emphasis.