From Capital to Country

Things were really looking up, and I think it was then that everything began to change for me. It was all still full of surprises, too. The first person I met in the Capital kitchen was Mark Clayton, a sous-chef who had been at Thanet. I didn’t know him then, but we recognized each other instantly, and have since become the closest of friends.

It was 1983, nouvelle was still flourishing, and here I was joining a Michelin-starred restaurant. I expected to find pretty pictures on plates, but it was good, honest French cooking – best end of lamb roasted with a herb crust, and dauphinoise potatoes: the lamb was cooked to perfection, with a crisp crust, and the potatoes had just the right texture. This was real cooking, and that people wanted to eat it was proved by the numbers of diners who returned again and again to enjoy the same things.