Chef Michel Roux Jr has announced the closure in January 2024 of his London restaurant ‘Le Gavroche’, one of Britain’s most famous restaurants, which was the first in the UK to be awarded a Michelin star in 1974.

“Le Gavroche”, in Mayfair, London, was opened in 1967 by Frenchmen Michel and Albert Roux, two brothers who died in 2020 and 2021.

The Roux brothers are known to have influenced the British food scene.

The restaurant, which was awarded three Michelin stars in 1982 and maintains two stars, was taken over in 1991 by Albert’s son, Michel Roux Jr., who is a renowned UK chef.

He is the one who announced the closure of “Gavroche” on Instagram and in an interview with The Times last night.

“I’m really tired,” the 63-year-old chef told The Times, which describes the restaurant as “London’s last bastion of classic French haute cuisine” and “one of Britain’s most famous restaurants”.

“I’ve reached a stage where I don’t enjoy this job as much as I used to. It’s a very stressful job and I’d like to find a better balance between my work and personal life,” explained Michel Roux Jr.

“I’ve been behind the wheel for 34 years, longer than my father,” he continued. “The pressure on me to deliver the top quality that everyone who eats at Le Gavroche has come to expect is so exhausting. It’s not just every day and every service, but every dish.”

The chef also highlighted the difficulties associated with the Covid pandemic and Brexit which “have caused problems in terms of supplies, staff and costs”.

But he assures that the restaurant is doing very well financially and that it remains “full every day”.

Michel Roux Jr. announced “a series of celebratory dinners” that will begin in November and end when the restaurant closes in January.