FRANCE: The world of French gastronomy was in shock yesterday after one of the country's most popular chefs, Bernard Loiseau, shot himself with a hunting rifle. Mr Loiseau (52 had run La Côte-d'Or restaurant in Saulieu, Burgundy, since 1975.
Mr Loiseau's fellow chefs were quick to blame the bible of French cuisine, the GaultMillau restaurant guide, which last week reduced his rating by two points from 19/20 to 17/20. Only 25 chefs are rated between 17 and 20. Although his was not the only restaurant thus demoted - Taillevent in Paris and La Pyramide in Vienne received the same treatment - Mr Loiseau was devastated.
To make matters worse, a young competitor, Mr Marc Veyrat, received 20/20, the first time a perfect mark has been given. And Mr Michel Troisgros, the Loire valley chef who began training Mr Loiseau in 1968, was named Chef of the Year.
Mr Loiseau's bald pate and warm smile were a familiar sight on French television, where he raged against synthetic ingredients and sloppy practices in agri-business. In 1998 he bought three restaurants in Paris and became the first chef quoted on the French Bourse. He branched into ready-meals and cookbooks that were marketed in Europe, the US and Japan. He advocated lighter dishes with water-based sauces and inventive use of vegetables.
When Mr Loiseau received his third star in the Michelin guide in 1991, he said: "It's fabulous. I made the front page of the New York Times. It was my goal to be a great chef, like a football player wants to be Ronaldo or Pele."
Mr Loiseau was the son of a hat salesman who rose to the top of French cuisine through hard work and perfectionism. His recipes combined regional touches from his native Auvergne, the Loire, where he trained, and Burgundy, where he settled.
"I understand his despair so well, when you've given everything to a profession, when you've fought for something you believe in . . ." said Mr Pierre Gagnaire, a chef who temporarily shut his own restaurant 10 years ago.
"All of a sudden, people love you less, criticise you, judge you. We are artists and businessmen. Artists enjoy what they do, and that's priceless. Businessmen must worry about profit, and that's hellish."
Mr Jacques Lameloise, also a chef, said Mr Loiseau had threatened to commit suicide if, as rumoured, the Michelin guide removed one of his stars. "It happens to all of us," Mr Lameloise said. "They play at raising us, lowering us. I think it broke him."
France's most famous chef, Paul Bocuse (80), had invited Mr Loiseau to lunch on Sunday. "I found him depressed and I sent him a photo of the two of us, on which I wrote, 'Bernard, life is beautiful'," Mr Bocuse told Le Monde. "You could say GaultMillau killed him. We can't let ourselves be manipulated like that.
Mr Patrick Mayenobe, the director of GaultMillau, defended the gastronomic guide on LCI television, saying: "It's not a lower mark or a star less that kills. This great chef certainly had other worries. In 2000, he said that if he went from 19 to 17 points out of 20, it would be a great challenge for him to return to the top."
Mr Loiseau's widow, Dominique, said her husband had taken his own life in a moment of folly. "He was very weary and very tired," she said. "For 27 years he worked non-stop."
His company suspended trading on the Bourse when his death was announced, but La Côte-d'Or is to remain open except on Friday, when Mr Loiseau's funeral will take place.