The greatest name in London restaurants.....

Regional Dining Discussions U.K., Ireland
1

…is finally going.

Thanks to the Roux family for all the (well, three) great meals.

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I also score three Roux meals - Gavroche, Roux at Parliament Square and Waterside.

I was surprised to read the news the other day, as I’d sort of assumed that daughter Emily would take over when Michel retired.

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Waterside Inn is his son’s ?

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Very much saddened by this piece of news. I felt the same when Nico Ladenis closed down Nico at Ninety, or when Pierre Koffmann shuttered La Tante Claire.
End of an era indeed.

5

And sometime after doing a stint at Gavroche, Gordon Ramsay bought the La Tante Claire location that serves as his flagship where he put himself on the map.

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Cousins.

Albert & Michel (snr) opened Gavroche together. Later, Michel opened the Waterside, on his own account which is now run by his son, Alain - who we briefly met when he did a tour of the dining room.

Interestingly (to me), the two younger men were both born in the UK and have followed similar careers but Alain has a very distinct French accent. I’ve always wondered if there was ever family tension - with the Gavroche losing its third Michelin star and never regaining it, whilst the Waterside continues to hold three.

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The Good Food Guide’s take on Gavroche through the years. Interesting that it was not all praise in the early years

And the Guide’s take on where you might now go for French haute cuisine (although I’d suggest that Morston Hall is not a French restaurant, more your “Modern European”).

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She’s running Caractère in west London. I was taken there for a surprise birthday lunch by a friend. Different to Le Gavroche, but very good. It’s just round the corner from The Ledbury. As the venue was a surprise, for one minute I thought the lunch was there. He’s a generous friend but even for him that would have been too much.

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Mrs H & I had dinner at the Ledbury in 2012, as our “office Christmas party”. An absolutely fab evening.

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We wouldn’t have guessed that Albert named his son Michel and Michel (snr) named his son Alain. The brothers apparently fell out in 1986:

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