Displaying posts tagged with 'Marcus Wareing'

Marcus Wareing returns as a judge and mentor for the North West heat of the Great British Menu (details here). We spoke to him about the show, his own restaurants and his tips for young chefs hoping to open their own restaurants.

Marcus Wareing with Simon Rogan on Great British Menu

What do you think of Great British Menu this year?

The brief this year is very interesting. Every year for the last six series there have been very clear guidelines and objectives for the chefs. For example one year you had to go and source all the ingredients from a particular country estate. This year, being about the Olympics, the makers have said it is about being the best, about pushing the boundaries and pushing yourself as a person. So it is like saying to the chefs “do whatever you like with no guidelines” – they’ve opened the floodgates for chefs to do a lot of very interesting things and to push boundaries by using some very interesting techniques and skills, but I also think you’ll see some disasters along the way. It is really sorting the men from the boys, it’s a really clever, interesting way of doing it.

It is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the four chefs that get through. The Olympics are not going to come to London again in our lifetime, it is the only chance the athletes will get to do this in their own country and it is the same for the chefs.

It is probably both one of the toughest challenges and one of the best banquets they could ever cook for.

At the end of Series 1, You cooked for the Queen at her 80th Birthday – how was that?

That’ll take some beating. Again it’s a one off, it was very special. I was so privileged to be part of that.

Marcus Wareing with Johnnie Mountain on Great British Menu

Do you think the Great British Menu is an indicator of where the industry is right now?

I think it is. I think there are a lot of TV shows that are good indicators of where cookery is in this country. Even amateurs are pushing boundaries beyond the norm in some of the other shows. I think Great British Menu reflects the way chefs are pushing themselves and the lack of boundaries they have around them now.

It also demonstrates the scenario we are all in where Twitter, Facebook and blogging are putting your creations out there on the web instantly.

In that respect, it must be a very different world these days.

I remember when chefs used to put menus out – not that many years ago – and it would takes weeks or months before anybody discovered anything; or a new style of cooking would take years to become popular even though a cook had been doing it ages. I think with instant access to this information it puts a huge amount of pressure on us as chefs to perform.

It used to be that when somebody had a bad meal in a restaurant they’d tell four of five of their friends who would tell their families – they would maybe reach 20 people. Now, people can put “sat in this restaurant having a bad time, good not great…” on their Twitter account and be reaching a few hundred or thousand people depending on how many followers they have within seconds. It has never been like that before, and it is scary.

What advice would you give to somebody wanting to open their own restaurant?

Don’t open a restaurant just yet!

My advice to young chefs is don’t open a restaurant until you are 100% ready for a life changing experience – in more ways than one. If you are not ready, then you will fail – there is no doubt about that.

If are under pressure from not being creative enough, if you are under pressure because nobody works for you, if you are under pressure because your wife doesn’t like you working too many hours, if you are under pressure because you can’t buy great plates or better produce – if you can’t take pressure full stop, don’t do it.

Never jump into it. You have to be realistic and say “this is where I am today, this is where I am going and this is how big the gap is in between those two things”. Listen to the people with experience, listen to the people who have made it and the people you have met along the way. Don’t go and work for somebody who doesn’t inspire you or who is never in their own kitchen – work in the places that are going to count towards your education and absorb everything that they have to offer. When you want to move on, don’t just walk out of the door – speak to them and ask them where they think it is best for you to go. You are going to have to work 18 hours a day, give or six days a week.

You are going to have to work for fifteen years before you get your stars and your stripes – it is a marathon not a 100 metre sprint. I trained for years, I was 25 when I opened my first kitchen as Head Chef with my partner Gordon [Ramsay]. In this world right now, a 25 year old opening a kitchen? I’d give him less than 18 months in this economy. Money is tight and people are looking for bargains, staff are looking for more money and less hours – it’s a serious job. Without experience you are going to be in a very dangerous position.

Do you think it is often the lack of business experience that lets people down?

That’s the funny thing, a chef that has no business experience is a chef that will never really own his business… that is a chef who will have a business man, accountant or somebody else behind the scenes pulling the strings. If you don’t have access to the bank account, you are not the owner!

Tell us a bit about your restaurants.

Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley has been my creation ever since I have been a head chef, from L’Oranger through opening that to opening and owning part of Petrus for ten years to now, on my own at Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley – it is the combination of my whole career. The cuisine is food of the moment – incredibly seasonal. It is very modern in the style in which we cook and the way the food is dressed. There are elements of French classical cooking in the methods, but I believe that is true of most styles of cooking.

The Gilbert Scott is very much a relaxed environment. It is comfort food – the food we all enjoy. It is a big menu – bold, brash, seasonal dishes, very British with some great ideas from the past brought into our modern world.