Chef Special: Raymond Blanc

Contrary to what some people believe celebrity interviews are not always an interesting or particularly enjoyable experience. Too often the celebrity won't deviate from what they're trying to plug. Even worse, there’s an overzealous publicity person milling around, reinforcing key points that need to be hammered home. The renowned French chef and honorary Brit Raymond Blanc is a breath of fresh air. He’s a cheerful and garrulous free spirit. All any writer has to do is turn up and switch on their recording device. A rare pause in the conversation is soon filled with Blanc dishing out advice to any young chefs starting out. “The most important thing is to be curious,” he says. “Be curious about everything. It’s so important to open your mind, to open your heart. Be intuitive and receptive and ask thousands of questions. Even today, I’m still curious about everything. “Talent alone will never be enough to carry you where you want to go, so you have to work really hard, too. “And despite what we sometimes see on our TV screens a wellrun kitchen is always a quiet and harmonious place. No-one ever needs to shout.”

Every sentence is punctuated by the chef’s passion for food and life, whether he’s talking about his beloved herb garden, or where his guests should explore on days out from his hotel/ restaurant, Le Manoir - places like Blenheim Palace, Daylesford’s organic farm and gardens or Highclere Castle, the real-life Downton Abbey. But the best thing about an encounter with Blanc is the affect he has on you. You walk away from the meeting feeling two feet taller. His joie de vivre has rubbed off on you – and you vow to apply his passion and vision to whatever makes you tick - be it restoring furniture or the art of stained glass windows. Blanc talks continuously and passionately in a thick, melodic French accent, his sentences regularly punctuated with his trademark “ooh la la”.

Lavendar path and The Dovecote

He says he has seen the food scene in the UK improve drastically since he arrived in the early 1970s. “The British food scene was very different, totally unrecognisable to today,” he recalls. “Back then the UK was simply not a nation of food-lovers. Good food was available but it was very class-led and exclusive. The country was a culinary wasteland with lots of intensive farming. “But now it’s so different and there’s a real celebration of proper, authentic food.”

The change, he believes, is not the result of the master chefs and successful TV cooking shows but humble everyday folk – British consumers themselves. “It’s British people who can largely take the credit for the food revolution in this country. They have steered the change. “People are so much more food-aware and curious nowadays. They want to know what’s in their food and realise the extent to which food connects with everything, with every part of our lives.”

Today, Blanc is a youthful-looking 71-year-old. The chef celebrated two important milestones in 2019 – his 70th birthday, and the 35th anniversary of his famous Oxfordshire hotel-restaurant, Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons. The hotel and its renowned two Michelin-starred restaurant are now part of the Belmond luxury hotel group.

He bought the 15th century manor house back in the early 1980s when he had his restaurant Les Quat’Saisons in Summertown, Oxford.

And like a great love affair from the pages of French literature, it was le coup de foudre - love at first sight. As soon as he saw the property for sale - in Country Life magazine - Blanc drove to see it in his old Vauxhall car. When the owner opened the door he immediately told them he wanted to buy their manor. Blanc launched Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons as a hotel in 1984.

“Like a great love affair from the pages of French literature, Les Quat’Saisons was le coup de foudre - love at first sight”

Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons

Since then Le Manoir has earned itself the envious reputation as the perfect place to celebrate a special occasion – whether it be a birthday, wedding anniversary or second honeymoon. And Dream Escape’s Director David Tobin can certainly testify.

He is one of hundreds of guests annually who have been totally bowled over by a visit to Le Manoir.

‘I surprised my wife Holly Mackie with a visit for her 40th birthday. It was an incredible experience with food that was out of this world. We spent time chatting with Raymond over pre-dinner drinks which made the visit extra special.”

Despite Blanc’s numerous culinary triumphs, accolades and reputation, the decorated French chef still thinks of himself as a simple man at heart.

“I’m still just a country boy from a small French village,” he says with a beaming smile. That village is Saône, near Besançon, in the rural Franche-Comté region that borders Switzerland. “And when it comes down to it I’m just a humble chef and gardener!”

It’s immediately clear that Blanc is as happy in his garden as he is in his kitchen. And visitors to his hotel soon see why. The gardens at Belmond Le Manoir, originally dug by monks who occupied the site in the 16th century, are as much of a part of the experience as the food. In fact, Blanc sees his beloved gardens as an integral part of the culinary and aesthetic experience.

Surrounding the manor house are no less than 11 gardens, including a magnificent two-acre organic kitchen garden, growing over 90 types of vegetables and 70 different herbs. These, Blanc says proudly, are harvested while they are still young and tender to obtain optimum flavour.

Blanc’s kitchen garden at Le Manoir is the envy of chefs and gardeners worldwide, with produce supplying the restaurant for two thirds of the year. And safeguarding it all is a bronze scarecrow - modelled on Raymond Blanc himself no less!

“Blanc is also hugely – and rightly - proud of his orchard, where for the last 20 years he has created unusual British species of fruit, with some 800 apple and pear trees planted. There’s also a fruit hedge containing varieties of sloes and plums!”

The gardens host the Cloche Tunnels, where hundreds of courgettes are grown for their flowers, and the Mushroom Valley, situated in a silver birch and oak tree lined ravine. Here, guests can discover delicious edible fungi, including shiitake, maitake and parasol.

Fed by natural springs, the English Water Garden boasts verdant ponds and water features, while the Japanese Tea Garden blends Taoist, Buddhist and Shinto traditions. A stepping stone path leads to a water basin where guests can cleanse their hands.

Blanc is also hugely – and rightly - proud of his orchard, where for the last 20 years he has created unusual British species of fruit, with some 800 apple and pear trees planted. There’s also a fruit hedge containing varieties of sloes and plums.

Raymond Blanc in English Water Garden at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons

In May, the Raymond Blanc Gardening School is due to re-open. Themed courses will include Micro Herbs & Edible Flowers, and Grow Your Own Vegetables.

The Covid epidemic has certainly created an extraordinary past year, perhaps like no other. As so much time has – and continues to be - spent time at home, many of us are looking at ways to treat families, friends and ourselves without compromising the safety guidelines.

During lockdown, Blanc and his Le Manoir team have not rested on their laurels. They have been busy creating bespoke virtual, luxury experiences that guests have been able to take part in. These range from a taste of Le Manoir in your own kitchen with The Raymond Blanc Cookery School virtual classes to cocktail making classes and floral workshops, hosted by the hotel’s head florist, as well as guest florists.

Gardener in the vegetable garden at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons

Dream Escape can also arrange for guests to experience special seasonal spring packages featuring hotel suites with their own private garden space. These have proved hugely popular with visitors wishing to have their own private outdoor space as well as exploring the gardens.

Of course, the Covid lockdown has had so many of us reminiscing and looking back on our lives, and Raymond Blanc has been no exception.

He recalls his gastronomic career in the UK started almost by chance when he arrived from the Jura Mountains in the summer of 1972.

“In a way, looking back, I was exiled to England,” he explains. “The chef at the restaurant I was working at in France did not like it when I criticised his sauce.

He first broke my jaw with a copper saucepan, and then the boss sacked me!

“But unlike Napoleon,” Blanc jokes, “who had the idea of conquering, I arrived in England with more humility. I was full of lots of ideas and aspiration.”

This inspiration has not been entirely centred on cuisine. Each room in the hotel has been designed with a particular theme from Raymond Blanc’s travels around the world, from Provence in the south of France to the Far East.

Nowadays Blanc says he feels at home in the UK, and even considers himself an honourary Brit. He certainly seems to like Britain, and the British.

Raymond Blanc outside his Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons restaurant

“I am very happy here, and it feels like home for me on a daily basis. And the Brits have taught me a lot about life!” Blanc says the British, and their pragmatic approach to life, has served him well. They have opened his eyes and broadened his mind.

“One of the best things I’ve learned from the British is their sense of fairness. And I’ve learned the ability to laugh at myself. This is often a great hurdle for any Frenchman!

“Oh yes, and I’ve also learned to queue, too. In fact, I get really upset now when I see people jumping the queue!”

He reveals the person who has inspired him the most in his life.

“At the risk of sounding like a Mummy’s Boy, my mother is still my greatest inspiration. She gave me such a fundamental grounding and taught me that food is an act of love. You bring your family together, and you create a feast or banquet.

“She showed me that the dining table is the centre of the house, not the living room. It’s where you share things, where you joke, you argue, you get to know each other, and the dinner table is the most natural place to do so. “Sadly, I fear we are losing this ability to engage with each other these days. I’m lucky that I have the same energy as my mother, and I always try to pass on her wisdom to others.

“She taught me to build up your willpower and inner strength, so when you’re down you can pick yourself up.”

It’s a sage and fitting final statement in what’s been a testing year for us all. ”

MEMORABLE DAYS OUT IN AND AROUND OXFORDSHIRE

While visiting Le Manoir, Dream Escape can arrange for you to explore the other fabulous highlights - all within easy reach.

Visit The Cotswolds

Why not take a hike along part of the beautiful Cotswold Way with a knowledgeable guide, or visit a private farm to walk alongside majestic hawks? Also in the Cotswolds is the Grade I listed Sudeley Castle, home of Katherine Parr, the 6th wife of Henry VIII. And who can resist a private tour of Daylesford organic farm and gardens followed by a great cookery experience, or a visit to Highclere Castle, the real location of Downton Abbey? Lord and Lady Grantham’s pad is only an hour away from Le Manoir.

Private House and Garden Tours

Enjoy afternoon tea at Badminton House with a private tour of the gardens led by its head gardener; tour the private apartments at the Duke of Marlborough’s home of Blenheim Palace, or marvel at the extensive art collection at Waddesdon Manor, a French Renaissance-style chateau, where Baron de Rothschild entertained the rich in the Victorian era. A treasure trove of experiences and excursions awaits you!

Highgrove Gardens

For a perfect day out, combine a visit to Highgrove Gardens, only 90 minutes away, with a private lunch at Chavenage House in Tetbury, featured recently in Poldark. A family member leads a private tour of the 16th century country house.

Chipping Campden

Watch a traditional silversmith craft his magic in Chipping Campden and commission your own piece of silver! Or visit a forge to watch a modern-day blacksmith at work.

Exeter College

In Oxford, why not enjoy a private recital in the chapel at Exeter College and a private dinner in its Hogwarts-style College Dining Hall? Or, for a fun family day out, head for The Oxford Gun Company where there’s clay pigeon shooting and off-road driving experiences.

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Find out more

For more information about staying at Le Manoir and the Cotswolds, chat to our Creative Planner Michael Davies on michael@dreamescape.co.uk

Words|Max Wooldridge