"Benoît Violier’s Death Shines Light on High-Pressure Restaurant World"

NYT:

In the rarefied galaxy of restaurants that have received the Michelin guide’s highest honor, three stars, Benoît Violier’s, in Switzerland, was by one measure the most glittering.

Only two months ago his establishment, the Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville in Crissier, near Lausanne, was designated the best restaurant in the world in La Liste, rankings commissioned by the French Foreign Ministry — an honor that only added luster to the glory of French chefs (he was born in France) in the face of competition from plucky foreign rivals.

But on Monday, his friends and associates in the restaurant industry were groping to understand why Mr. Violier, at 44, had apparently shot himself to death