The death of Benoît Violier in Switzerland over the weekend is renewing calls to address the high-pressure, high-stakes environment that can take a heavy toll in the kitchen.

Chef Benoît Violier was at the top of his game. On Dec. 12, 2015, the French government proclaimed his Swiss eatery, Restaurant de l'Hôtel de Ville, the best place in the world to eat in its official "La Liste" ranking. "A veritable temple of gastronomy!" the Michelin Guide had remarked in awarding his restaurant three stars, placing it among the very best in fine dining establishments.

According to reports, though, Violier feared his hard-earned success would soon come undone. The influential Gault & Millau guide had recently given his restaurant a slight demotion, and he was said to fear the potential loss of a highly coveted Michelin star. On Sunday, the French-born chef's body was found at his home in Crissier, Switzerland. "It would seem that he has ended his life with a firearm," police said in a statement. Violier's death has rattled the world of haute cuisine. "Without a doubt, one of the most gifted chefs of his generation left us yesterday," Gault & Millau said in a statement. But the chef's apparent suicide has also prompted discussion across the Atlantic about what the U.S. culinary industry is doing to assist those struggling with mental health. "I learned about Benoît's death this morning and my first reaction was, 'Not again,'" Top Chef judge Hugh Acheson told BuzzFeed News. "This industry is so full of stress, and we're constantly under a microscope. There's so many personalities that strive to be really something special, and it's a very difficult relationship to have with yourself and can really take its toll."

Thomas Samson / AFP / Getty Images Benoit Violier with his "La Liste" award in Paris on Dec. 17.

The job of a chef is not an envious one. Delicious and innovative dishes must be timed to speedily arrive as one on the table, despite their individual intricacies and complications. Then there's the army of kitchen staff that needs managing in hot, loud, and cramped quarters. In addition to the hordes of hungry customers and meticulous health inspectors, exacting critics demand perfection and can eviscerate reputations with a single review. When the New York Times food reviewer demoted chef Thomas Keller's New York restaurant Per Se from four stars to two in a excoriating review last month, readers salivated over every barb in the piece, which became one of the newspaper's most read articles in January. "One of things people forget when they're judging a chef or restaurant is that they're judging human beings," Acheson said. Acheson, who is behind a number of top restaurants in Georgia, cannot recall ever having a conversation about mental health with the more senior chefs in the kitchens in which he was trained. "It's been a historically rigid and masculine and tough environment," he said. "It's always been an industry where you have to make it by yourself, and only recently are we coming to terms with the fact that it can take its toll. The industry needs to change. It can't be so demanding." Writer Kat Kinsman, who previously ran CNN's food site Eatocracy, in addition to writing frequently about mental health, recalled interviewing numerous chefs who would take her aside for off-the-record conversations about their struggles. "Diners are so oblivious to what's going on. People in the back are breaking their backs," she told BuzzFeed News. "They're dying and no one is talking about it." Kinsman, who now serves as editor-at-large for Tasting Table, last month started the website Chefs With Issues for culinary professionals to find mental health support and resources. More than 600 kitchen workers have since completed an informal survey on the site, Kinsman said, revealing struggles with depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.

"People don't want to appear crazy. They don't want to appear weak. They don't want someone to say, 'You can't hack it,'" Kinsman said. "It's an infinitely macho culture that doesn't allow for weakness, but if they knew the person next to them on the line was going through the same thing, it would be easier."



Johannes Eisele / AFP / Getty Images