Serge Vieira, Chef de Auvergne, two Michelin stars, Bocuse d’Or 2005, died of cancer on Saturday 1 July at the age of 46. Tributes abound throughout the Auvergne.
The honor follows an announcement on Saturday 1any July 2023 for the death of famous chef Serge Vieira in Auvergne. He died of cancer at the age of 46.
Originally from Clermont-Ferrand and based in Chaudes-Aigues in Cantal, he has two Michelin stars. He also won the Bocuse d’Or in 2005.
Regis Marcon, the three-star chef resident at Saint-Bonnet-le-Freud in Haute-Loire, accompanied him to the end. When Serge Vieira ranked second in the kitchen in his establishment, he was awarded the Bocuse d’Or top prize. “I am so saddened by the loss of a traveling companion who was my son’s age and who left him so young.
But the Auvergne chef wants to focus on the good memories left for him by Serge Vieira. “This young chef had so much humanity. He was a reference in the trade. This is the message he is leaving us now that he is no longer there. He is someone with whom he has shared so much, who has shone all over the world.”
Serge Vieira has joined the France Bocuse d’Or team that prepares French chefs for competition. Regis Marcone dreamed of seeing him as his successor as head of the ICRC. “He had an open mind which made him very popular in France and abroad. It leaves a big void for the Auvergne because we need committed chefs in a region where we are losing a lot of companies due to staffing difficulties and in a period when commitment to work is losing value.”
François Martinet was a cooking teacher at the Institut Métiers in Clermont-Ferrand, where the culinary prodigy cut his teeth by passing his CAP, BEP and professional patent. “I knew him very young, he was 6-7 years old because I was a neighbor with his father.”the now retired professor trusts. “I’m deeply saddened. He was one of the young men I counted most in my career. It’s just as wonderful and wonderful successes as his. I have so many memories…” François Martinet of Serge Vieira kept a photo of “A simple and passionate boy who knew how to remain humble despite success.
According to Frédéric Coursol, the entire profession is losing an outstanding chef. The latter held the Radio Hotel in Chamalières for ten years and knew Serge Vieira well. “He was an amazing chef, a great business leader, and a very good family man. He is one of the first to truly hold his land even if he comes from the Portuguese diaspora. He could have been influenced by his origins but he was a man associated with the Auvergne terroir who developed a chiseled and refined cuisine. He designed haute couture.”
Serge Vieira settled with his wife at the Château de Coffour in Chaudes-Aigues before opening a second establishment in the town, Sodade, a four-star hotel.
“Even if he wasn’t from Kantal, he carried this area.”Odile Mattei, journalist on the program “Goûtez voir” on France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, testifies. “He loved Chaudes-Aigues, and he was a real person.” The now retired journalist continues:He was an honest, honest and hardworking man who had values and loved to pass them on. He told the youth: “Use local products! Be proud of who you are! Show your talent! Don’t copy anyone!”
A man of the heart is always available to others, according to the journalist. “When it won the Bocuse d’Or in 2005, I was with Chef Anne-Sophie Pic in the stands, we fell into each other’s arms. It was an extraordinary happiness. These are great moments that I had the chance to experience.”
Serge Vieira leaves two children. His funeral will take place on Tuesday, July 11, at Saint-Flour Cathedral. Online cat will open. It will be for the benefit of a hotel school for disadvantaged youth.
