Philippe Rochat has been the chef of some of the worlds very best restaurants. Rochat was born in 1953 to parents from Switzerland and Italy who ran the Le Cafe de l Union in Romont.

The world class chef has been in the kitchens of some of the very best restaurants around the world during his long career, these include Le Baur au Lac and Le Savoy Baur en Ville in Zurich. For more than six years he refined the kitchens in the restaurants and had his opened to what he wanted to do. In Lyon Philippe discovered the creations of the world class chef Paul Bocuse and then in 1978 the creations of Crissier which were a revelation.

In 1980 Philippe had his first day in the kitchen of the restaurant of the grand Swiss Chef Girardet and this was just the beginning of an adventure that would last sixteen years. Over the sixteen years he worked in the meat, pastry and vegetable sections. In 1989, he was commissioned as Chef de cuisine and became sous chef to Girardet and a model employee.

In 1996, Philippe Rochat becomes the owner of the most prestigious restaurant of the very best and a restaurant that is now known worldwide and always placed in first place of some of the many luxury restaurants in the world. Girardet said that there was no doubt in his mind that Rochat was the heir of his philosophy.

Rochat has always observed the world of flavors in a very personal way and he grasps products and enhances them with intensity. Rochat one said that only three flavors are needed on each plate and the use of aromatics is forbidden and only extraction from products is tolerated.

Rochats success is linked with Benoit Violier who worked for Joel Robuchon and who had been declared Meilleur Ouvrier Maurel. It is also down to Franck Giovannini, a pastry chef known for some of the very best and most elaborate desserts.

2012 is a very special year for Rochat as chef of some of the worlds finest restaurant he will be watching as Benoit Violier succeeds him when he takes the lead at the Hotel de Ville de Crissier.

Throughout his long standing career as one of the very best chefs in luxury restaurants around the world, Rochat has received numerous distinctions. In 1997 he gained 3 Michelin stars and 19 Gault Millau points. In 98 he was named as having the best Swiss restaurant. He also got elected cook of the year in 2000 and in 2001 he received the Five Star Diamond Award. However according to Rochat one of the biggest successes in his career is having been surrounded by a team of outstanding individuals in kitchens around the world.

Editorial | Image Courtesy Of Philippe Rochat