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Home The 1% Club Podcasts Editorial News Picture Gallery Two Views Sommelier Chef's Table Front-of-House Features Book Reviews Travel The Guides Michelin Guide Relais & Chateaux National Guides Europe 25 Contact |
Tell us about your background leading up to L’Ortolan
I Started working as a kitchen porter from 14 so I’ve always been in the business. The first Michelin
Starred kitchen was at Inverlochy Castle with Graham Newbold in 1988; he was brilliant – he’d been a
personal chef to the Prince and Princess of Wales – there was no compromise in the quality of
ingredients and you really had the feeling of being in one of the leading kitchens of the country. At the
turn of the decade I spent a few months at Claridges, which was really tough, a complete contrast from
the views from Inverlochy to never seeing daylight for a month. I took a career break to run for Scotland
for 18 months as a full time cross country runner before spending a couple of years working here with
John Burton-Race. I found John excellent fun to work with – a really intuitive cook – and by the time I left I’
d been promoted to junior sous chef. The next challenge was Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons, both John
(Burton-Race) and Simon (Haigh, of Inverlochy Castle) had trained at Le Manoir. I was excited about
working there and within two years was promoted to senior sous chef before being asked to run the
cookery school. This was a turning point for me, both personally and professionally, I met my wife there
and also had the chance to learn and absorb so much through some excellent stage opportunities.
You came here to run the L'Ortolan restaurant from 2001?
Well I arrived having learned so much about attention to detail: You see the whole package at Le Manoir
– Raymond Blanc was such an inspiration in that way – it’s about the whole team, not just the kitchen.
When you’re chef/patron you must of course ensure quality from the kitchen, but that is lost if service is
no good and service is no good if surroundings and atmosphere are not right. As an example we’ve
recently invested in both crockery and lighting, elements that are subtle changes to even our regular
customers, which nonetheless improve the overall package. I’ll also try and chat to regular customers
as it’s important to me to show appreciation to those who appreciate us.
There was a gap in your tenure at L’Ortolan, Daniel Galmiche came in for a while, what happened
there?
We had a difference of opinion with the owner of the building, we didn’t have the freedom to run the
business as we wanted. Spreadsheets were suggesting longer opening hours and higher prices. We
felt that this could not be achieved without compromising quality and consistency to the customer. Abi
and I now have an agreement where we have full control to run the restaurant as we want to and it’s
working out very well. The break gave me a chance to recharge my batteries as well as fulfill a
gastropub consultancy in Winchester
Your kitchen is a relaxed and controlled environment?
It always is and that extends right through from the kitchen to the front of house, we’re one big team and
everyone knows exactly what they have to do and when they have to do it. There’s an unspoken trust that
the whole team have in each other and that generates a relaxed and professional environment.
Do you consider yourselves as evolving with the restaurant?
We don’t stand still. We could sit back and be happy with six good starters, six good main courses and
six good deserts but we’re always looking to improve, improve in every aspect of the package that is L’
Ortolan restaurant. Abi and I have both been visiting two Michelin Star restaurants just to see what they’
re doing and possibly stimulate some ideas.
So how would say your food on a plate is evolving?
Six months ago the cooking was safe. It had to be; we’d just come back and reopened and needed to
be straight down the middle straight away. Getting the foundations right was my main criteria as there
was a Michelin Star at stake. September to January was about ensuring the new brigade could deliver
single or double component cooking with timing and consistency. Retaining the Star in January was
great and a base from which to evolve the cooking style and signature.
What is involved in the creative process of developing a new dish?
All the team are involved. There are no egos. We all work together on thinking and creating new
dishes. It may come straight away, take a dozen plates or on one occasion 27 plates and we scrapped
the concept. We’ll keep working a dish until we’re absolutely sure it is something that works perfectly,
that we can consistently reproduce and takes the style of the kitchen forward. Only then will it make the
menu.
The menu now displays a mixture of components and techniques?
We’ve been looking at using every part of the animal and using a variety of techniques in their
preparation and execution. The important thing is balance; trying to do simple perfectly executed dishes
along with those that show off techniques. I’m finding with the complex dishes that it takes time to
ensure we don’t over manufacture them; getting that fine balance is key and we just know when the dish
has come together and works well. Within that, we like the customer to have an element of surprise and
a wow factor – to walk away wondering how we achieved something – as one example the chocolate
tasting plate has a combination of seven different types of chocolate with seven different textures on one
plate and is source of pride as a signature dish.
Do you trial dishes on the lunch menu for the a la carte?
No not at all, it’s all made to measure as I believe the customer should have something unique whether
they come at lunch, dinner, set or a la carte. The only time we may adopt or adapt a lunch dish is as a
component of the gourmand menu – such as the asparagus dish you ate this evening.
Tell us more about your lunch menu?
It is £18 for two courses and £21 for three. The customer gets canapés and an appetizer and three
courses – for us it’s very hard work and effectively a marketing exercise. To get One Star cooking in
these surroundings, with our overheads is very tough to put on for £21. There are always those
customers that may go for the Carte at lunch time or have the bigger wine budgets – the set in itself is by
no means a profit spinner for the restaurant.
Where do you source your supplies?
Cheese is about the only thing that we get locally. We’re unashamed that 70% of produce comes from
France, we know we get consistency and quality from these suppliers. There is a particular supplier that
sources from Rungis market in Paris that we use almost exclusively.
Where does your clientele come from – are they local?
We get a real mixture – there are many locals who become regulars, also business people from the
M3/M4 corridor, as well as those loyal to the restaurant for generations of chefs. We do get customers
from as far a-field as Ipswich, Poole and London so it’s a real mix.
You’ve just re-launched your website, www.lortolan.com, are you pleased with it?
Yes we are, it took some time to get done and there are still some improvements to finish off. It is a
great vehicle for people to see what we’re doing and where we are. We’ve just completed some more
food photography which we’re very pleased with and that will go on the website in due course. There
are more and more customers that seem to have access to a computer while they’re on the phone to us
and we can just walk them through aspects of the restaurant which when the website is of the right
quality is a real benefit.
We also send an email newsletter to our database of customers. This also helps to get the phone
ringing and is very cost effective and simple marketing.
Do you ask customers how they came to hear of you?
Yes we do and by far the largest proportion of new customers are by word of mouth recommendation,
although they are second to the returning customer. It just shows us how important customer care is to
growing our client list. The guides are also important as they each have a band of followers that take
their recommendations on trust.
The Private Dining Rooms – tell us about them?
We’d had the idea of the champagne room for some time. A celebration room that is golden and light
and we’re absolutely delighted with the result. The second room is more dark, masculine and rich.
They are selling well but again they are like selling a car – seeing a picture of them isn’t enough, you
need to see and feel them to know that you want to book one so we’ll always encourage guests to go up
and take a look for themselves when they’re here.
And finally – your chef’s table, tell us about that?
Well I’ll tell you what – you’ve experienced it – I’ll leave that to you!
I Started working as a kitchen porter from 14 so I’ve always been in the business. The first Michelin
Starred kitchen was at Inverlochy Castle with Graham Newbold in 1988; he was brilliant – he’d been a
personal chef to the Prince and Princess of Wales – there was no compromise in the quality of
ingredients and you really had the feeling of being in one of the leading kitchens of the country. At the
turn of the decade I spent a few months at Claridges, which was really tough, a complete contrast from
the views from Inverlochy to never seeing daylight for a month. I took a career break to run for Scotland
for 18 months as a full time cross country runner before spending a couple of years working here with
John Burton-Race. I found John excellent fun to work with – a really intuitive cook – and by the time I left I’
d been promoted to junior sous chef. The next challenge was Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons, both John
(Burton-Race) and Simon (Haigh, of Inverlochy Castle) had trained at Le Manoir. I was excited about
working there and within two years was promoted to senior sous chef before being asked to run the
cookery school. This was a turning point for me, both personally and professionally, I met my wife there
and also had the chance to learn and absorb so much through some excellent stage opportunities.
You came here to run the L'Ortolan restaurant from 2001?
Well I arrived having learned so much about attention to detail: You see the whole package at Le Manoir
– Raymond Blanc was such an inspiration in that way – it’s about the whole team, not just the kitchen.
When you’re chef/patron you must of course ensure quality from the kitchen, but that is lost if service is
no good and service is no good if surroundings and atmosphere are not right. As an example we’ve
recently invested in both crockery and lighting, elements that are subtle changes to even our regular
customers, which nonetheless improve the overall package. I’ll also try and chat to regular customers
as it’s important to me to show appreciation to those who appreciate us.
There was a gap in your tenure at L’Ortolan, Daniel Galmiche came in for a while, what happened
there?
We had a difference of opinion with the owner of the building, we didn’t have the freedom to run the
business as we wanted. Spreadsheets were suggesting longer opening hours and higher prices. We
felt that this could not be achieved without compromising quality and consistency to the customer. Abi
and I now have an agreement where we have full control to run the restaurant as we want to and it’s
working out very well. The break gave me a chance to recharge my batteries as well as fulfill a
gastropub consultancy in Winchester
Your kitchen is a relaxed and controlled environment?
It always is and that extends right through from the kitchen to the front of house, we’re one big team and
everyone knows exactly what they have to do and when they have to do it. There’s an unspoken trust that
the whole team have in each other and that generates a relaxed and professional environment.
Do you consider yourselves as evolving with the restaurant?
We don’t stand still. We could sit back and be happy with six good starters, six good main courses and
six good deserts but we’re always looking to improve, improve in every aspect of the package that is L’
Ortolan restaurant. Abi and I have both been visiting two Michelin Star restaurants just to see what they’
re doing and possibly stimulate some ideas.
So how would say your food on a plate is evolving?
Six months ago the cooking was safe. It had to be; we’d just come back and reopened and needed to
be straight down the middle straight away. Getting the foundations right was my main criteria as there
was a Michelin Star at stake. September to January was about ensuring the new brigade could deliver
single or double component cooking with timing and consistency. Retaining the Star in January was
great and a base from which to evolve the cooking style and signature.
What is involved in the creative process of developing a new dish?
All the team are involved. There are no egos. We all work together on thinking and creating new
dishes. It may come straight away, take a dozen plates or on one occasion 27 plates and we scrapped
the concept. We’ll keep working a dish until we’re absolutely sure it is something that works perfectly,
that we can consistently reproduce and takes the style of the kitchen forward. Only then will it make the
menu.
The menu now displays a mixture of components and techniques?
We’ve been looking at using every part of the animal and using a variety of techniques in their
preparation and execution. The important thing is balance; trying to do simple perfectly executed dishes
along with those that show off techniques. I’m finding with the complex dishes that it takes time to
ensure we don’t over manufacture them; getting that fine balance is key and we just know when the dish
has come together and works well. Within that, we like the customer to have an element of surprise and
a wow factor – to walk away wondering how we achieved something – as one example the chocolate
tasting plate has a combination of seven different types of chocolate with seven different textures on one
plate and is source of pride as a signature dish.
Do you trial dishes on the lunch menu for the a la carte?
No not at all, it’s all made to measure as I believe the customer should have something unique whether
they come at lunch, dinner, set or a la carte. The only time we may adopt or adapt a lunch dish is as a
component of the gourmand menu – such as the asparagus dish you ate this evening.
Tell us more about your lunch menu?
It is £18 for two courses and £21 for three. The customer gets canapés and an appetizer and three
courses – for us it’s very hard work and effectively a marketing exercise. To get One Star cooking in
these surroundings, with our overheads is very tough to put on for £21. There are always those
customers that may go for the Carte at lunch time or have the bigger wine budgets – the set in itself is by
no means a profit spinner for the restaurant.
Where do you source your supplies?
Cheese is about the only thing that we get locally. We’re unashamed that 70% of produce comes from
France, we know we get consistency and quality from these suppliers. There is a particular supplier that
sources from Rungis market in Paris that we use almost exclusively.
Where does your clientele come from – are they local?
We get a real mixture – there are many locals who become regulars, also business people from the
M3/M4 corridor, as well as those loyal to the restaurant for generations of chefs. We do get customers
from as far a-field as Ipswich, Poole and London so it’s a real mix.
You’ve just re-launched your website, www.lortolan.com, are you pleased with it?
Yes we are, it took some time to get done and there are still some improvements to finish off. It is a
great vehicle for people to see what we’re doing and where we are. We’ve just completed some more
food photography which we’re very pleased with and that will go on the website in due course. There
are more and more customers that seem to have access to a computer while they’re on the phone to us
and we can just walk them through aspects of the restaurant which when the website is of the right
quality is a real benefit.
We also send an email newsletter to our database of customers. This also helps to get the phone
ringing and is very cost effective and simple marketing.
Do you ask customers how they came to hear of you?
Yes we do and by far the largest proportion of new customers are by word of mouth recommendation,
although they are second to the returning customer. It just shows us how important customer care is to
growing our client list. The guides are also important as they each have a band of followers that take
their recommendations on trust.
The Private Dining Rooms – tell us about them?
We’d had the idea of the champagne room for some time. A celebration room that is golden and light
and we’re absolutely delighted with the result. The second room is more dark, masculine and rich.
They are selling well but again they are like selling a car – seeing a picture of them isn’t enough, you
need to see and feel them to know that you want to book one so we’ll always encourage guests to go up
and take a look for themselves when they’re here.
And finally – your chef’s table, tell us about that?
Well I’ll tell you what – you’ve experienced it – I’ll leave that to you!
There is something comforting about returning to certain restaurants; there are those for which you
develop an affection for the bricks and mortar. It would be easy to suggest L'Ortolan has that affect but
there is so much more. Since the days of Nico, through John Burton-Race, Daniel Galmiche and now
Alan Murchison, this building has seen four great Michelin starred chefs.
There is a fundamental difference with the package that is now L'Ortolan to those of the past - a very
intelligent difference - Alan and business partner Abigail Lloyd have developed a combination of front of
house, food, eating environment and value for money that hits the difficult leafy provinces market
squarely between the eyes. Don't get me wrong, there is no implication of compromise or cutting
corners, on the contrary; the food is of the highest quality; the service impeccable; the dining room more
comfortable than ever - Alan and Abi simply know how to run a restaurant that delivers the absolute best
to their customers at an affordable price point.
Alan Murchison (and Abi) kindly found time to talk to fine-dining-guide.com late into the night one Friday
evening - interview by Simon Carter, 13th May 2005.
develop an affection for the bricks and mortar. It would be easy to suggest L'Ortolan has that affect but
there is so much more. Since the days of Nico, through John Burton-Race, Daniel Galmiche and now
Alan Murchison, this building has seen four great Michelin starred chefs.
There is a fundamental difference with the package that is now L'Ortolan to those of the past - a very
intelligent difference - Alan and business partner Abigail Lloyd have developed a combination of front of
house, food, eating environment and value for money that hits the difficult leafy provinces market
squarely between the eyes. Don't get me wrong, there is no implication of compromise or cutting
corners, on the contrary; the food is of the highest quality; the service impeccable; the dining room more
comfortable than ever - Alan and Abi simply know how to run a restaurant that delivers the absolute best
to their customers at an affordable price point.
Alan Murchison (and Abi) kindly found time to talk to fine-dining-guide.com late into the night one Friday
evening - interview by Simon Carter, 13th May 2005.
Husband and wife Matt & Rachel Weedon have
thoroughly enjoyed the experience of working for team
L'ortolan. Matt has been developing his skills working
as Head Chef while Rachel has had front of house
responsibilties. From June they are moving on to
Glenapp Castle in Scotland. All at L'ortolan and
fdg.com wish them the best in their new adventure.
thoroughly enjoyed the experience of working for team
L'ortolan. Matt has been developing his skills working
as Head Chef while Rachel has had front of house
responsibilties. From June they are moving on to
Glenapp Castle in Scotland. All at L'ortolan and
fdg.com wish them the best in their new adventure.
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| See Alan's Chef's Table review here |
