Wareing’s World

Nikki Spencer-2009-06-02

 

Wareing feels the whole experience has matured him and he now sees himself as “more like a father figure” to his staff. “Before it was all about me, myself and I and that’s when you sometimes forget how important the people are around you. I believe that the greatest thing with the greatest restaurants in the world - and France is a perfect example - is it’s about the people that work in them. It’s the heartbeat of the restaurant. It’s more than just the food that makes a great restaurant.”

 

Unlike some top chefs, Wareing is in the kitchen for every service - he even worked on Christmas Day - and sees this as an essential part of his restaurant’s success.

 

“The day you come into your kitchen and you can’t identify your own food because someone else is creating it for you, your head chef or your sous chefs, then I’ve got a big problem because then it’s not about me anymore. Then I take my name off the door and put someone else’s, but right now it’s Marcus Wareing and this is where he’ll be.”

 

Back in September last year Wareing was quoted in the press as feeling “trapped and constrained” by Ramsay, but time does seems to have mellowed him. “Gordon was a massive part of my cooking life, and my life, and I wouldn’t be sitting here today if it wasn’t for that guy and that’s the god’s honest truth,” he declares. “It’s a time I’ll never forget and I enjoyed every bit of it and it’s a shame it had to come to an end,” he adds. “But that was yesterday and this is today and, at the age of 38, I’ve now got to the next stage of the next chapter of my life.”

 

It’s certainly been quite a journey for the son of a potato merchant from Southport, Lancashire who’s interest in catering was sparked by visits to hotel and school kitchens while making deliveries with his dad. “The kitchens were intriguing, fascinating places - from the uniforms to what they were doing, to the buffets, to the breakfasts, just all of it really,” he explains.

 

 

After leaving school Wareing attended catering college where he was spotted in a competition which resulted in him going to work, at the age of 18, for Anton Edelmann at The Savoy, before moving to Le Gavroche where he met Ramsay. He cites his father as the major role model in his life although you won’t find him eating in his restaurant. “My father still wants his meat well done, still wants his veg’ overcooked and says ‘don’t feed me anything French’- and that’s no disrespect to the guide! If you put frogs legs and snails and foie gras and all those fabulous things that come from France, it’s not for him. We all have a choice in life and he just wants the simple things.”

 

They may not have the same taste in food but Wareing’s father has certainly left his mark on his cooking in one respect. “Vegetables for me are one of the most, probably the most, important part of

the meal,” he reveals. “It’s Mother Nature at it’s best. You take the humble carrot, potato, parsnip. They have been there for hundreds and hundreds of years for a reason. It’s a good staple part of our diet. The problem we have today is chefs don’t know how to use them. They have great, honest flavours and my father ran a business and brought me up on those basic ingredients.”

 

Unlike some top chefs, including Ramsay who frequently voices his dislike for vegetarians and once said that “If one of my daughters’ boyfriends turns out to be vegetarian I swear I will never forgive them”, Wareing welcomes non-meat eaters in his restaurant and offers a Vegetarian Tasting Menu. “There are a lot of vegetarian people out there and you have to provide for them,” he explains. “They are a massive clientele basis and you should never shrug them off as ‘aliens’ or say ‘they shouldn’t be here’. We have created menus for our vegetarian guests so when they sit down and say ‘I’m a vegetarian’ we don’t all panic in the kitchen. We are ready, we have a menu organised and know exactly how we are going to create it.”

 

 

Wilton Place, Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7RL

Tel: 020 7235 6000 / Website: www.the-berkeley.co.uk

 Open for lunch and dinner Mon- Fri and dinner only on Saturday.