If you’ve lazily flicked on Sunday morning TV at some point over the last few decades, chances are you’ve had Raymond Blanc brighten your day. The chef’s warm smile, thick accent and passionate monologues are creamier than freshly churned butter. Despite hailing from the hinterlands of the Jura mountains, he has become as synonymous with British cooking as it gets.
The day before our interview, I watched James Martin and Daniel Clifford, two award-winning chefs at the top of their game, squirm as they cooked under his watchful gaze. “Big!” He chastened as he took the whisk from James Martin, “Not like that, like this – bring in as much air as possible, so the bubbles are as big as possible,” causing titters from the cast off-camera. His genuine desire to learn, teach and better not just those around him but himself has resulted in the establishment of an icon in the form of his two-Michelin-starred Oxfordshire hotel and restaurant.
A hotel like Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons doesn’t get the reputation it has by accident. Raymond Blanc OBE has dedicated his life to the art of hospitality, and creating a place so reliably impeccable is the product of a perfect storm of grit, devotion and genius. “The process of growing was pretty painful,” Blanc said in an early documentary interview that recently did the rounds on Instagram .
“It didn't happen just like that, it wasn't a miracle. It was sweat, just pure sweat, just pure will, just pure effort, just pure d.
