Out & About – Drake’s at the Clock House, Surrey

Every now & then I get invites to various soirées, and as much as I’d like to attend them all, sometimes it’s just not possible. So when the invite from Drake’s at the Clock House dropped into my inbox, I was pleasantly surprised. It was to announce that Drake’s at the Clock House were re-opening … Read more

Words of Advice ~ Trevor Blyth

This post in the series of ‘5Questions‘ comes from an English chef strutting his stuff in Japan. Trevor Blyth rose to prominence in 1996 by winning the prestigious Roux Scholarship. Rather me rattle on about the competition maybe watch the short film from the Scholarship’s own channel on YouTube: Originally hailing from Norwich, Mr Blyth … Read more

Words of Advice ~ Toby Stuart

Although not an instantly recognisable name, Toby Stuart is the Head Chef at  Roux @ Parliment Square, which is part the burgeoning empire of Michel Roux Jnr. Having also worked for the former 2* legend Richard Neat in his French adventure, Mr Stuart has an impressive CV. Starting with a high standard in his school … Read more

Words of Advice ~ Laurie Gear

This edition of the ‘5Questions‘ comes from a chef where you would think the world was against him. After opening the Artichoke restaurant in Old Amersham in 2002, they suffered a major set back 6 years later. In June 2008 a fire in a neighbouring fish restaurant spread to the Artichoke, subsequently causing it to … Read more

Michelin 2011, a Hundred Years On

As you’d expect around the 3rd week of January there is the fevered anticipation due to  the release of the ‘Little Red Book’. The speculation has been rife, with rumours circulating on the internet of a new 3 star. The early money seemed to be on Marcus Wareing at The Berkley but in more recent … Read more

Our Review of 2010 & the landmark 100th post.

Well, here it is, our 100th post on the Chef Hermes blog. After spotting a niche in the blogosphere on the 21st February 2010 the first post emerged. To say that month’s figures were disappointing is a mild understatement, at the end of the month the blog had just 30 page views (not including us … Read more

Words of Advice ~ Andrew Turner

The timing for this post of  ’5Questions’ couldn’t be better really. Friday was the official first day of ‘Roux at the Landau‘, a restaurant Andrew Turner used to over see as Executive chef at The Langham Hotel in London. Now at Wiltons Restaurant, Mr Turner first really came to the attention of the catering media … Read more

Words of Advice, The Legends ~ Rowley Leigh

With Shaun Hill breaking the mould when we did the last ’5Questions ~ The Legends’  as he is still at the stove, we were then asked by a profile, chef would we approach our next participant. Rowley Leigh made his name in the mid 80′s as Head chef of the Roux owned ‘Le Poulbot’ restaurant, … Read more

All change at the Landau Restaurant, Langham Hotel, London.

The Chef Hermes Blog has just received news hot off the press, that Michel Roux Jnr is to take over the running of the 100 seat Landau restaurant at the Langham Hotel in London. The Langham Hotel have a habit of recruiting big names for it’s food operations. In August 2007 Andrew Turner joined The … Read more

Celebrity Chefs, well it got us thinking…

As is our want whilst surfing the net for inspiration, we often have a mooch around the catering trade press websites. Principally Caterersearch and BigHospitality , then we came across an editorial written by Mark Lewis from The Caterersearch.com website on the business case for celebrity chefs. He talks with David Nicholls, once Executive Chef … Read more