Chocolatier to the stars dies aged 77
COACHED: Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche in Chocolat TUNBRIDGE Wells chocolatier Walter Bienz, the creator of confections screened around the world in cinema blockbuster Chocolat, has died at the age of 77.
Mr Bienz, who lived in Rossdale and whose handmade chocolates made his Camden Road shop popular with generations of local children, also created edible frogs for the film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
“Walter was a kind and generous man who worked hard and played hard,” said his wife Angela.
“His family always came first, and he worked to give us the kind of good life he never had.”
Mr Bienz, who once commented, “Everyone goes a little mad for chocolate”, also coached Chocolat star Juliette Binoche for her role as a chocolatier.
“We spent a whole day at her flat in Putney,” said Mrs Bienz. “She wanted to know everything, and insisted on using Walters own equipment to get the feel of it.”
The ninth of 13 children born on a farm near Lucerne in Switzerland, Mr Bienz left home at the age of 14 to pursue a hotel management apprenticeship, where he blossomed as a pastry cook and chocolatier.
Legendary After five years working in France, he moved to England, finding employment with the legendary Lyons corner houses. He also worked in Arundel, where he cooked up a 21st birthday cake for film star Diana Dors.
Keen to see the world, Mr Bienz then joined the merchant navy as a pastry chef. He arrived in Tunbridge Wells in 1961, joining his younger brother Sigisbert in a bakery business in Camden Road. Originally called Walberts, a conjunction of both their names, it later became the Swiss Patisserie.
Soon afterwards he met Angela Vinnie, a farmers daughter from Pembury, and they married in 1967. When his brother moved away, the young couple ran the patisserie together. In 1985, they opened The Chocolate Shop nearby, which they ran until their retirement in 1998.
Mr Bienz also served as president of the Tunbridge Wells branch of the Kent Beekeepers Association for a number of years, and was a familiar figure at the annual Hawkenbury Allotment Holders show, selling his honey and chocolate alongside produce from his allotments.
“Walter will be greatly missed, as a beekeeper and a friend who helped a lot of people to learn about bees,” said local branch vice- chairman Peter Hutton. “His death just hours after a meeting with us was a great shock.”
With five children, five grandchildren and many friends in Tunbridge Wells, Mr Bienz also retained close ties to his native land, returning regularly for family celebrations.
Walter Bienzs funeral will be held at St Augustines Church, Crescent Road, Tunbridge Wells today (Friday) at 10am. All are welcome.
