I have no more dreams of Michelin stars now

In January, Michel Roux Jr closed the legendary Le Gavroche forever. He tells Josh Barrie the real reason he shut the family business, and reveals what's next

IN a vast private dining room at the heart of The Langham hotel, Michel Roux Jr is remembering his first brush with royalty. It would have been the early Sixties. "I'm told I once escaped from the kitchen and crawled down the corridor," Roux says. "The Queen mum came back to the kitchen with a baby in her arms and said to dad, 'I think this one might be yours..." Roux is recounting, fondly, his childhood in rural Kent, which has informed his upcoming new opening, Chez Roux at The Langham, his first since Le Gavroche closed early this year. He grew up on the Fairlawne estate near Tonbridge, a country pile dating back to 1630, where Roux's father, the late, great Albert, was private chef to the aristocratic Cazalet family from 1959 until 1967. It had a touch of Downton Abbey -"it was a bit like that sometimes", Roux confirms - but it was a happy childhood in which he was afforded licence to roam. He and Albert would go ferreting, foraging and catch crayfish in the crystalline rivers.

"It was just what we did," says Roux, 63. "Foraging was totally normal for us. Dad had ferrets to catch rabbits. That was common, but when it came to all the gorgeous snails, the locals looked at us and probably thought, 'who are these foreigners?"" When he wasn't with his parents, Roux remembers being in the care of Mrs Bradbrook, wife of the head butler, and Etty, the headmistress of the local primary school. Both formidable cooks, they imparted upon Roux a love of traditional English fare, most notably classic puddings. Though Roux has long been known for haute French cuisine, his early years were as much about steamed dumplings and sponge cakes with custard as souffle suissesse and poached langoustines. "I quite like Bird's," Roux says, happily, "but don't tell anyone that." In fact, leaving it all hurt.