Michel Roux Jr is still hoping that an ornamental frog that disappeared after a charity fundraiser may soon be returned to its home in Le Gavroche.
The frog, which is an artwork made of cutlery, is one of the oldest ornaments that adorn the26 tables in the longstanding Michelin-starred restaurant. It went missing on an evening held in honour of his late father, Albert.
“Every table has a different piece of artwork,” Roux explained to the Standard. “This is a lovely little frog made of old cutlery, and it’s been with us about 30 years. It’s got a monetary value — I think it cost close to £1,000 — but its real value is sentimental.
“It’s really sad because it was at a special event — we were raising money for [the charity] Hospitality Action, and it was also to commemorate my father’s life.”
The evening, which took place on February 1, saw diners tuck into dishes either created by Roux’s father Albert — who died in January 2021 after one of the most influential restaurant careers of the 20th century — or that he would have served.
His son said that the missing frog was discovered “at the end of the night, when we were clearing the tables. It had disappeared. We have cameras, but none of what we’ve seen is conclusive.... We have an inkling but nothing certain. Or perhaps my little froggie just hopped into somebody’s bag.”
Though Roux told the Standard that the perpetrator “knew damned well what they were doing”, he added that “the wine was flowing, everyone was very merry that evening, everyone in high spirits.”
He said that should the frog be returned, or “even just left on the doorstep,” there would be no questions asked and no further action taken. He elaborated: “Maybe I’d think my little froggie has just been on a little holiday.
“But it would be nice if [whoever is responsible] feels a little bit of remorse and would bring it back or, I tell you what, if they’d send a big lump of money to Hospitality Action, that would do too.”
The frog is one of a pair that sit as part of a larger collection of cutlery animals; others include a lobster, a pigeon, a dove, and a cockerel. Roux commissioned the table ornaments to replace the more traditional flowers when he took the restaurant over from his father Albert, and uncle Michel, in 1989.
Despite the upsetting circumstances surrounding the loss, and the loss itself, Roux told the Standard it was not the strangest thing to go missing at Le Gavroche since it opened in 1967. “Obviously over the last 55 years we’ve had various things disappear… The worst one was actually a blue toilet roll holder; it was unscrewed from the wall! And it wasn’t even logo-ed!”
Anyone with any information regarding the missing frog is encouraged to be in touch with the restaurant on 020 7408 0881.
