Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons has revealed Raymond Blanc’s successor with the appointment of multi-starred French chef Arnaud Donckele as its new culinary director. Le Manoir is currently closed for 18 months of renovation, so diners will have to wait until summer 2017 to taste any differences.
Arnaud, 48, already runs two of France’s most highly rated restaurants – La Vague d’Or in St Tropez and Plénitude at Cheval Blanc in Paris, both of which boast three Michelin stars. He plans to commute to Le Manoir, in Great Milton near Oxford, for stints of two to three weeks.
Owners Belmond say Arnaud will work closely with Le Manoir’s extensive kitchen garden and orchard to “craft a cuisine deeply rooted in British soil while preserving the signature elegance of French tradition.”
Born in Rouen, Normandy, Arnaud grew up in a food-loving family with parents who ran a deli and grandparents who had a farm. He said: “I think that’s why it works so well for me to be here. My ethics and passion for farm-to-table align with those of Le Manoir. Before I wanted to be a chef, I was going to be a farmer.”
Speaking through an interpreter to The Times, Arnaud said he had first visited Le Manoir – and met Raymond Blanc – two years ago. “He has a fantastic reputation in France and is incredibly well respected. We say he is the most English man in France, and the most French man in England.
“In France people talk about how beautiful [Le Manoir] is. It is the most English house you could ever imagine but with Raymond’s French touch. My favourite place is the pond, because you’ve got this very peaceful area with the water and just behind it you can see the garden with all the vegetables.”
He added: “When you are a chef this is the house and restaurant that you dream of coming to work at. It is a great honour to have been chosen to come and work at such a unique place. I love the seasonality, the gardens, the vegetables and how local everything is.”
Raymond signed off with a final service at Le Manoir on New Year’s Eve, after 41 years in which he has been a figurehead for French cuisine in the UK, passing on classical kitchen skills to generations of young chefs and setting new standards in sustainability, localism and seasonality.
Now 76, he has stepped up to the role of Lifetime Ambassador at Le Manoir, and is already said to be in regular contact with Arnaud as the hotel and its two restaurants undergo what is called a “visionary redevelopment”.
