Legendary chef and popular TV broadcaster Michel Roux Jr is to be the VIP host at this year’s prestigious FMT Food Industry Awards ceremony in London on Thursday 27th June.
The lunch and ceremony will be staged at the 5-star Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London when a range of awards will be presented by Michel Roux for food products across various different categories, culminating in the Food Industry Champion award, which last year went to president of the NFU Minette Batters.
Commenting on the news, publisher of Food Management Today magazine, Graham Yandell MBE said: “We are absolutely delighted to announce that Michel has agreed to endorse our awards and present our winners with their trophies at our awards luncheon. It is going to be a very special day in the food industry calendar.”
Known for running some of London’s top restaurants, Michel Roux followed his father Albert Roux OBE into the food sector when he left school at 16 for the first of several challenging apprenticeships at Maître Patissier, Hellegouarche in Paris from 1976 to 1979.
He was then Commis de Cuisine at Alain Chapel’s signature restaurant at Mionay near Lyon, which Michel cites as his biggest influence. His military service was spent in the kitchens at the Elysée Palace at the time of Presidents Giscard d’Estaing and François Mitterrand. He also spent time at Boucherie Lamartine and Charcuterie Mothu in Paris, and the Gavers Restaurant in London.
After a stint at the Mandarin Hotel in Hong Kong, he returned to London and worked at La Tante Claire before joining the family business. He took over running the famous Le Gavroche from his father in 1991, gradually changing the style of cooking to his own – staying true to the restaurant’s roots of classic French cuisine but with a slightly lighter, more modern twist.
Michel was a popular judge and presenter on the BBC’s prime time show, MasterChef: The Professionals, from 2008 to 2013, and presented the series Great British Food Revival. Michel also fronted BBC2’s Food and Drink, programme and in 2015 he lead the BBC2 programme, Michel Roux’s Service, with Fred Sirieix, in which they set out on a personal mission to train eight young people as front-of-house superstars. Michel then went on to present a new programme on his first ever solo project with the Disney Channel: First Class Chefs, which launched in June 2015. The show followed kids aged 9-11 competing to showcase their restaurant skills.
The author of many best-selling cookbooks, his latest being Michel Roux at Home published in 2023, Michel has also been keen to support and develop the hospitality industry and is co-chairman of The Roux Scholarship, along with his cousin Alain Roux.
The Roux Scholarship is a renowned competition for chefs under 30 who are working in the UK that gives them the opportunity to win a three-month stage at any three-star Michelin restaurant in the world, all expenses paid. Michel is also involved in other educational bodies such as The Savoy Educational Trust: an independent, grant giving charitable trust, whose main aim is to advance and develop education, training and qualifications within the hospitality industry; The College in Bournemouth & Poole; and is the UK Judge of the Prix Culinaire Taittinger.
He has recently presented two television series of Michel Roux’s French Country Cooking on the Food Network TV channel from his home in Provence.
Michel is a keen sportsman and a marathon runner, raising funds for VICTA, a charity supporting visually impaired children, for which Michel has been a long-term patron. He is also an honorary member of the Harlequins rugby club.
In 2017, Tottenham Hotspur announced the Roux family, including Michel, and daughter Emily Roux, as part of the line-up of world-renowned chefs bringing their expertise to the premium offering at the club’s new stadium. The Rouxs have brought their celebrated cuisine to the prestigious On Four lounges and suites to create a Michelin-calibre offering at a level never seen before at a sports and entertainment venue.
- For more information email events@yandellmedia.com
- To book tickets for the awards lunch and ceremony click here
- To become a partner for this years initiative and for details click here
- To enter products in to this year’s FMT Awards click here
