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 2027 to taste any differences. Arnaud, 48, already runs two of France’s most highly […]
Raymond Blanc is stepping back from his role as chef-patron of Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons to become a “lifetime ambassador” for the hotel and restaurant, which will close for 18 months at the end of this year to allow for a “visionary redevelopment”. Raymond, now 75, founded Le Manoir in a village near Oxford […]
Former Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons head chef Dorian Janmaat is to open his first restaurant next month – Ardor in St Ives, Cornwall, where he will combine his love of his twin childhood homelands, Spain and Cornwall. The restaurant occupies an old house in Fore Street, with seating over two floors as well as at […]
Raymond Blanc is to be honoured next month at a dinner to mark the 40th anniversary of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, cooked by prominent chefs who have passed through its kitchen. The six-course dinner, on 16 April, will be hosted by Robin Gill at Darby’s, his restaurant near the new American Embassy in Vauxhall, with […]
Luke Selby (pictured with his brothers Nathaniel, left, and Theo, right) of Evelyn’s Table in Soho has been appointed to succeed Gary Jones, who has stepped down after more than two decades as executive chef at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons near Oxford. For Luke, it marks a return to a kitchen where he […]
Gary Jones has left Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons after 23 years as executive head chef, to “pursue new opportunities”. Earlier this year, he was presented with the prestigious Special Award by the Craft Guild of Chefs (pictured) for making a ‘significant impact on the industry’. Previous winners have included his boss at Le Manor, Raymond […]
Raymond Blanc’s pub-brasserie group is to be spun out into a national chain under new owners who plan to open as many as 50 new branches in the next few years. The French-born chef is understood to have sold his minority stake, but will remain involved in the business. Alchemy Partners, a London-based private equity […]
Top chefs including Asma Khan (pictured), Raymond Blanc, Phil Howard and Thomasina Miers have thrown their weight behind a new international campaign to encourage sustainable eating. Launching next week, One Planet Plates aims to serve 5 million sustainable meals this year through more than 2,000 participating restaurants of every type. The oneplanetplate.org website lists restaurants […]
An organic Wiltshire pub that’s topped serving traditional Sunday roasts and makes its own crisps instead of selling bags over the bar has won “Business of the Year” in the 2019 Food Made Good awards, the Sustainable Restaurant Association’s (SRA) annual industry accolade for the most progressive purveyors of food and drink. Among other winners, […]
News reaches us of dinner for an excellent cause. Chef John Lawson will be hosting a dinner alongside former mentor Raymond Blanc OBE and fellow protégés Robin Gill and Ollie Dabbous in aid of the Brain Tumour Research Campaign. Taking place at Lawson’s restaurant, Food, in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, the brain cancer survivor will cook with his fellow […]
