Roux first decided to be a chef at the age of 14, something which his chef father, Michel Roux described as being equally "over the moon" and "disturbed" about. Alain spent eight years in France training at various restaurants. He was sent first to the Pâtisserie Millet in Paris in 1984 to undergo an apprenticeship as a pastry chef. He stayed there until 1986 when the apprenticeship was completed, and he moved around a number of different Michelin starred restaurants for the rest of his time in France, including three starred Restaurant Pic, Le Domaine d'Orvault, La Bonne Etape, Château de Montreuil and La Côte Saint-Jacques. Whilst in France, he served his period of military conscription as a chef at the Élysée Palace.