It was famous for serving diners the most expensive meal in the world. Now, rare wine, artworks, silverware and porcelain from the Michelin-starred Mayfair restaurant Le Gavroche are to be sold at auction.
The contents of the exclusive eatery, which include £12,000 bottles of red wine and the illuminated “Le Gavroche” sign, will be sold by Christie’s in April, after Michel Roux Jr’s decision to close the restaurant.
Founded by the brothers Michel and Albert Roux in 1967 to be a “bastion of classically rich French haute cuisine”, Le Gavroche was the first restaurant in the UK to be awarded three Michelin stars in 1982.
Chefs such as Gordon Ramsay, Marco Pierre White, Marcus Wareing, Pierre Koffman and Monica Galetti all earned their stripes in its kitchen, and clients included Charlie Chaplin, Robert Redford, Mick Jagger, Adele, Paul McCartney and, reportedly, the Queen.
One of the auction lots is a painting of a street urchin from Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel, Les Misérables, which used to hang in the restaurant. It depicts the character that gave Le Gavroche, which means “the urchin” in French, its name and is estimated to fetch £10,000 to £15,000.
Also going under the hammer are bottles of 2013 vintage Domaine de la Romanée-Conti grand cru, a rare Burgundy wine, which are expected to sell for £9,000 to £12,000.
Roux Jr, who is the son of the late Albert Roux, said the restaurant’s wine cellar had been “lovingly curated for decades” and that the artwork was “of significance to the Roux family and familiar to everyone who has eaten at the restaurant since we first opened”.
He added: “Sadly, we are unable to find a home in our other restaurants and businesses for these iconic pieces, but I am pleased to know that our beloved guests will be able to enjoy a part of Le Gavroche in their homes.”
Tim Triptree, Christie’s international director of wine, said the bottles included in the auction were “the finest France has to offer”.
Bidding for the sign that hung above the restaurant door will start at £1,000. In 1993, the restaurant lost its third Michelin star but went on to earn a place in the Guinness World Records for serving the most expensive meal per person, after three diners spent $20,945 (£16,580) on a single meal in 1997.
