NOW and then, I dream of a lobster mousse I once had at Le Gavroche in London’s Mayfair. Rich, imaginative, sublime: it has stayed with me not only as the finest meal I’ve had, but as a broader illustration of what excellence is. Today, lunchtime at Michel Roux Jnr’s great two-Michelin-starred restaurant is a different affair. Recent events have seen to that. Although your temperature isn’t taken at the door—as at post-Covid-19 Scott’s—the staff wear protective gear and must smile their welcome through visors. All the menus are disposable and single-use.
There is, however, welcome continuity in the cheerful and infectious presence of Mr Roux. Every lunchtime, he circles among his guests; you wouldn’t guess from his demeanour how much 2020 has upended his life. ‘We’ll have the virus for quite a while and have to mitigate the risks,’ he reflects. ‘It’s a very difficult thing to get your head round. Normally, you look at the future with an amount of certainty.’
In practice, what’s changed? As the 60 year old makes his lunchtime rounds, he weaves between four fewer tables. He also notes a decrease in larger parties—‘we have a lot of tables for two’—which further eats into his margins. Is he pessimistic? ‘Thankfully, we’ve been around a long time and have a loyal following,’ he explains. ‘But we’re on reduced covers because of social distancing, so it’s very difficult.’
At times such as these, pedigree matters. The chef’s father, Albert, and his uncle, Michel Snr (who died this year), opened Le Gavroche in 1967. Mr Roux has not only taken on the family mantle, but has already passed it on: his daughter, Emily, now runs La Caractère in London’s Notting Hill with her husband, Diego Ferrari.
Denne historien er fra November 04, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra November 04, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
