0:00:02 > 0:00:05- One salmon, one crab, pork for two! ALL:- Oui!
0:00:05 > 0:00:10'I'm Michel Roux. I'm a French chef working in London and dedicated to haute cuisine.'
0:00:11 > 0:00:13Table one.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15'And I owe everything to one man.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20'Without him, the restaurant as we know it simply wouldn't exist.'
0:00:21 > 0:00:25You may never have heard of him, but he has influenced, not just me,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28but all of us in the way we eat in this country.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31His name is Georges Auguste Escoffier.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34The son of a Provencal blacksmith,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37he rose through the ranks of 19th-century society
0:00:37 > 0:00:40and became the world's most celebrated chef.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44He revolutionised the professional kitchen
0:00:44 > 0:00:48and brought glamour and drama into the dining room.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55Escoffier is my hero because he turned eating into dining
0:00:55 > 0:01:00and put the restaurant and our love of great food at the heart of modern Britain.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20Paris - it's where I first trained as a chef
0:01:20 > 0:01:24and where Escoffier first rose to prominence.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31This gorgeous bookshop is dedicated to the history of French gastronomy.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34It's a story that starts, not with Escoffier,
0:01:34 > 0:01:39but with the chefs who cooked for France's kings and aristocrats.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43- Bonjour, Monsieur.- Bonjour. Ca va bien?- Ca va tres bien.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46Tres, tres bien. Je suis a la recherche de quelque chose vraiment special.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50'Marie-Antonin Careme was the first real celebrity chef.'
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Le Cuisinier Parisien.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58- Careme, Le Grand Careme.- Careme. - C'est sa signature autographe meme.
0:01:58 > 0:02:021828. My word.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07'His books record the 19th-century private banquets he cooked for clients,
0:02:07 > 0:02:11'including Napoleon Bonaparte and George, the English Prince Regent.'
0:02:11 > 0:02:14This is absolutely unbelievable!
0:02:14 > 0:02:20I mean, here there's about 30 truffles. Thousands and thousands of pounds' worth.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Stuck on a silver attelet.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28So a silver...like a kebab. But truffles, for decoration!
0:02:31 > 0:02:35'So much of the food put in front of France's aristocrats was about display.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39'It was always served as one great banquet.
0:02:39 > 0:02:44'A feast for the eye as much as the stomach.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47'Many of the dishes were not even meant to be eaten.'
0:02:47 > 0:02:52This is a design of a pavilion and trees and statues made of sugar.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55I mean, it's too beautiful to eat.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59It's quite extraordinary the lengths that they went to in those days.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03'But what I'm really after is a copy of Escoffier's great cookbook.'
0:03:05 > 0:03:07Oui. J'ai un Escoffier.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17'There's some proof of how influential he was.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20'This is an early Danish translation.'
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Dix-neuf cent vingt-huit. Non, dix-neuf cent vingt ou vingt-huit?
0:03:23 > 0:03:25'Even in a foreign language,
0:03:25 > 0:03:29'it's clear his recipes are far less extravagant than his predecessors.'
0:03:29 > 0:03:33One of Escoffier's mottos was "faites simple" -
0:03:33 > 0:03:36"simplify your food, simplify your cooking".
0:03:36 > 0:03:41Young chefs now think of Escoffier as being complex and complicated.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44But he was advocating at the time "faites simple".
0:03:44 > 0:03:46"Be simple".
0:03:50 > 0:03:53En anglais. Une seconde.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57'Escoffier's Guide Culinaire is the mother work for all restaurant chefs.'
0:03:57 > 0:03:59Voila!
0:03:59 > 0:04:04'First published in 1903, it contains over 3,000 recipes.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07'All the food he had prepared throughout his career.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10'Not in royal kitchens, but restaurants.'
0:04:11 > 0:04:14It's a repertoire of all the recipes
0:04:14 > 0:04:18that a chef should know and understand.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23In fact, every chef worth his pinch of salt should own a copy.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26My copy was given to me by my father
0:04:26 > 0:04:30and I shall no doubt pass that one on to my daughter.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50In the middle of the 19th century,
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Paris was a centre of decadent pleasure
0:04:52 > 0:04:55and food was central to that.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05None of the French restaurants Escoffier cooked in remain.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07But he would have known Laperouse,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10which still drips with period detail.
0:05:15 > 0:05:20Early French restaurants were divided into warrens of intimate rooms,
0:05:20 > 0:05:25where gentlemen could entertain female companions hidden from public view.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30All these are the little "salons prives".
0:05:30 > 0:05:33Private dining rooms...
0:05:33 > 0:05:35apparently.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37But...
0:05:37 > 0:05:40I'm not sure that this room was designed
0:05:40 > 0:05:42just for dining in.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44A little tete-a-tete.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48And this one...
0:05:49 > 0:05:53Mm, that's for two, and two voyeurs.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59There's nothing scandalous about my lunch today,
0:05:59 > 0:06:04but I'm still looking forward to it. I'm meeting Michel Escoffier,
0:06:04 > 0:06:09Auguste's great-grandson and proud custodian of the Escoffier archive.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13- ..Let me have a look.- 1896. - Yeah, that's the Savoy.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16'It shows the man at the very top of his game.'
0:06:16 > 0:06:19This one is actually in honour of the Prince of Wales,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22who became Edward VII,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24and his wife, Alexandra.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27'But how did Escoffier get started as a chef?'
0:06:27 > 0:06:32Auguste was born in a small village called Villeneuve-Loubet,
0:06:32 > 0:06:34very close to Nice.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38So at the age of 13, he goes and starts working
0:06:38 > 0:06:43at his uncle's restaurant with no privileges, like everybody else.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47And he discovers the pretty awful working conditions
0:06:47 > 0:06:51that were the normal life in a kitchen in those days.
0:06:53 > 0:06:58These unventilated, coal-fired kitchens were truly infernal.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Few chefs lived beyond 45.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Staff fought off the heat by drinking.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08But this produced another hazard.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Alcoholism was rampant.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17That ended up in some violence at the end of the day, I suppose.
0:07:17 > 0:07:22So this is one of the things that Escoffier decided to change when he would be in charge.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25So he was working as a young chef in Nice.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28But how did make that big step then to Paris?
0:07:28 > 0:07:33He met a gentleman who owned a very famous restaurant at that time,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35called Le Petit Moulin Rouge,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39a very posh restaurant off the Champs-Elysees.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43And Auguste thought, "Well, if I want to make it in this profession,
0:07:43 > 0:07:47"it's my opportunity." And he took it.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50So when he took over the kitchens of Le Petit Moulin Rouge,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53- he changed the working conditions of the chefs?- Absolutely.
0:07:53 > 0:07:58He first of all banned alcohol, drinking and smoking in the kitchen.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01But also banned swearing and, he himself,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04when he was very annoyed at someone,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07would actually walk out of the kitchen and come back
0:08:07 > 0:08:11and explain what made him angry without having to shout.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14- If only he could come back and do the rounds of the kitchens now!- Yes.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17And see what goes on when it comes to swearing.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21'Escoffier changed the uniform of kitchen staff
0:08:21 > 0:08:24'to combat another side effect of the raging heat.'
0:08:24 > 0:08:28He introduced the hat and the neckerchief
0:08:28 > 0:08:34to prevent, you know, sweat drops from dropping into the preparation.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38'And he insisted his staff dress smartly when they were off duty, too.'
0:08:38 > 0:08:43He wanted everyone to come out and look like somebody. That is the exact expression.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47And if the young cooks couldn't afford a pair of trousers,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50he would even buy them for them.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55He brought a sense of pride to the chef world.
0:08:55 > 0:09:00Absolutely. That's exactly it. He wanted everyone to be proud of what he was doing
0:09:00 > 0:09:04and bring the best out of everyone.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11I really like the sound of this young man, Escoffier.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15I mean, he's not only a driven chef and a great chef at that,
0:09:15 > 0:09:19but he's also trying to make a better life for us chefs.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26If he'd done nothing else, that would make him my hero.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30But he also produced truly excellent food.
0:09:32 > 0:09:3635 years ago, I, too, came to Paris for my apprenticeship
0:09:36 > 0:09:40and my first dose of Parisian perfectionism.
0:09:41 > 0:09:47I was apprenticed to a Master Patissier, Monsieur Hellegouarche.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51The shop is still the site of one of France's finest patisseries.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54Gosh, this place has changed since 1976.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57But one thing that hasn't changed
0:09:57 > 0:10:02is the artistry on display. These cakes look stunning.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06You've got babas and fruit tarts. little macaroons and, my favourite,
0:10:06 > 0:10:10le mille-feuilles, except this one's called the deux-mille-feuilles -
0:10:10 > 0:10:122,000 leaves.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16The attention to detail, this is what French pastry is all about.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18Indeed, this is what Escoffier was all about.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21I remember as an apprentice,
0:10:21 > 0:10:25it took me 18 months of hard work HERE,
0:10:25 > 0:10:30before my humble mille-feuilles was allowed to go into the shop window.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33But I felt so proud, so pleased with myself
0:10:33 > 0:10:38when my boss finally said, "Yes, it's good enough to be sold to the public."
0:10:46 > 0:10:47Oh, my word!
0:10:48 > 0:10:52I think this is most definitely the original marble top.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55That door - I remember coming in first thing in the morning, five, six o'clock.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Racing past my boss, who'd be working here.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01Bonjour, Monsieur Hellegouarche.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04"Bonjour, mon petit jeune. Au boulot, hop!" And off I'd go.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07Bonjour, messieurs, dames.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12My God! It really hasn't changed much.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18C'est fabuleux, ce que vous faites.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21This is just beautiful.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24'This is food raised to the highest level.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26'Food as art.'
0:11:28 > 0:11:31Oh, this takes me back.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39This is the little courtyard where we used to come out and have a break.
0:11:39 > 0:11:44And I've still got my little notebook for inspiration.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48It's part of my life. It's my apprenticeship.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51And here I've got a list of...
0:11:51 > 0:11:56how many choux buns you need to make a piece montee.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00If you start with a base of 20, you'll need 207 choux buns.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03I've got all my lovely recipes here.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06And, my favourite, creme anglaise.
0:12:06 > 0:12:07Custard.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10But it sounds so much better in French.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Oh!
0:12:12 > 0:12:16- C'est pour moi?- Oui. - C'est gentil. Merci.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18Almost too good to eat.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21A wonderful moment. Look at that!
0:12:21 > 0:12:24The macaroon just gently gives.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26And I'm going to use my fingers.
0:12:28 > 0:12:29Mmm!
0:12:29 > 0:12:31Mmm!
0:12:32 > 0:12:35# In French, the words are beautiful
0:12:35 > 0:12:39# Romantic and reputable
0:12:40 > 0:12:43# In English, they're not suitable
0:12:43 > 0:12:46# I've learned... #
0:12:48 > 0:12:54In 1870, Escoffier's stint at the Petit Moulin was rudely interrupted...
0:12:54 > 0:12:56MILITARY DRUM BEATS
0:12:56 > 0:12:59..When France went to war with Prussia.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02He was recruited as a chef,
0:13:02 > 0:13:07but even in the midst of battle, his dedication to great cooking never faltered.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11Escoffier in his memoirs recounts the story of
0:13:11 > 0:13:15a piece of beef that he'd acquired for the officers at the front.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19And wondering how to cook this without drawing attention to it.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23He built a spit out of bits of wood and hedges that he collected
0:13:23 > 0:13:28and the smell of this roasting meat, obviously, attracted attention from the troops.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32And he ended up, fending off the troops at sword point.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36MILITARY DRUM BEATS
0:13:38 > 0:13:41It was when he came back to Paris after the war,
0:13:41 > 0:13:46that Escoffier really began to earn a reputation as a chef of note.
0:13:48 > 0:13:53The world's upper classes were partying in restaurants like Le Petit Moulin, Laperouse
0:13:53 > 0:13:56and this one, L'Escargot.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59I'm meeting historian Carolyn Young
0:13:59 > 0:14:02to find out more about the time and the people
0:14:02 > 0:14:05Escoffier was catering to.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08The Industrial Revolution has hit full swing.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13Europe's at peace. So you've got all kinds of very moneyed people,
0:14:13 > 0:14:18who also have the ability to travel in a new way.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23So, among Escoffier's notable clients from that era
0:14:23 > 0:14:25is Queen Victoria's son,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28known as Bertie, the Prince of Wales.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30Extremely fond of his food,
0:14:30 > 0:14:34in addition to his women and his horses.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38You've got actresses who are bankrupting their lovers,
0:14:38 > 0:14:42just to show they can hold the most outrageous, over-the-top dinner,
0:14:42 > 0:14:45that Le-Tout Paris is going to look at them.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49You've got entourages from the Arab world showing up.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54Very suddenly wealthy Americans coming to eat out in Paris.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57So it's an international moment.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01And one that you start to be able to see them travelling round
0:15:01 > 0:15:03and meeting each other in different places.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09Thanks to the growth of the railways,
0:15:09 > 0:15:11the wealthy could travel around more quickly than ever,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15and new resorts were growing in the south.
0:15:15 > 0:15:20In Monte Carlo, another ambitious young man was catering to the gilded set,
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Cesar Ritz.
0:15:22 > 0:15:27When Escoffier accepted his invitation to run his hotel's restaurant,
0:15:27 > 0:15:32it was the creation of a fantastically successful double act.
0:15:32 > 0:15:38Cesar Ritz is, arguably, THE most important relationship of Escoffier's career.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40And they really pushed each other.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44Escoffier might have been just as great a chef,
0:15:44 > 0:15:48but he might never have had the international renown that he attained.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52They were organising some pretty amazing parties at the time, as well.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55They would not just cater to every client's wishes,
0:15:55 > 0:15:57but beyond, to imagine what's the next level.
0:15:57 > 0:16:02One example is a bunch of young gentlemen won the roulette
0:16:02 > 0:16:06and they wanted to spend all their winnings on one big night out.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09And they want to have a party all about the colour red.
0:16:09 > 0:16:15So every course in the meal is red, except for one course, covered in black truffles.
0:16:17 > 0:16:22But Escoffier's favourite customer was the most celebrated actress of the day -
0:16:22 > 0:16:24Sarah Bernhardt.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Dubbed "the Divine Sarah" by Oscar Wilde,
0:16:27 > 0:16:31she had great men falling at her feet,
0:16:31 > 0:16:33Escoffier among them.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39Escoffier and Bernhardt had a lot in common.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42They were both raising themselves from humble origins
0:16:42 > 0:16:46through careers based on giving pleasure to others,
0:16:46 > 0:16:48and both were hugely ambitious.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Ritz and Escoffier's fame began to spread.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00They were invited to run hotels in Lucerne and Monte Carlo.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03And, wherever they went, the set followed.
0:17:05 > 0:17:11And then, in 1889, English theatre impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte
0:17:11 > 0:17:15made them an offer that would change Escoffier's life forever.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19He wanted Ritz and Escoffier for his latest venture...
0:17:22 > 0:17:25London's first luxury hotel.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34But Escoffier was unconvinced. He feared the weather...
0:17:35 > 0:17:38..the food and the lack of culture.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44Out of loyalty to his business partner, he agreed.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50Reluctantly, he and his family made the journey to England,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53just for six months to get the restaurant up and running.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03In the 1950s, my father, too, came to England,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06working first in grand, aristocratic houses.
0:18:06 > 0:18:12And then, in 1967, he and my uncle set up the restaurant I run today.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19As French chefs in London, we are always following in Escoffier's footsteps.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26As the producer of Gilbert and Sullivan,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30D'Oyly Carte had already made one double act world famous.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34And now he was aiming to do the same with Ritz and Escoffier
0:18:34 > 0:18:36at his new hotel.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43The Savoy offered modern elegance and glamour,
0:18:43 > 0:18:46the likes of which Britain had never seen in a public building.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53The hotel's archivist is Susan Scott.
0:18:53 > 0:18:54Hello. Nice to meet you.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59'She understands the scale of D'Oyly Carte's ambition.'
0:18:59 > 0:19:02We had all this marble redone.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06No expense was spared to make it absolutely spectacular.
0:19:06 > 0:19:07Wow!
0:19:11 > 0:19:12Wow! My word!
0:19:17 > 0:19:20D'Oyly Carte had actually built it
0:19:20 > 0:19:25because his operas were incredibly popular and people had nowhere to stay.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28He had taken his opera company on tour in the States
0:19:28 > 0:19:30and he was staying in the great new American hotels
0:19:30 > 0:19:33and he just thought he could do something like that in London.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37He had no experience of the hotel market, except thinking he could do it,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41which is absolutely amazing when you think about it. Luckily, he was right.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45So the only experience D'Oyly Carte had as a hotelier was as a guest?
0:19:45 > 0:19:49It was partly as being a guest, but also being great at putting on a really great show.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53I think he realised that was part of it, the theatre of the hotel.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58'This was a time of huge technological change
0:19:58 > 0:20:02'and D'Oyly Carte was determined that his hotel should be at the forefront.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06'While the rest of London was still lit by gaslight,
0:20:06 > 0:20:10'the Savoy ran on electricity, with its very own generator.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14'And he brought in another technological wonder
0:20:14 > 0:20:18'that meant he could offer luxury to even more customers.'
0:20:18 > 0:20:23Nobody expected rich people in those days to walk up more than two or three flights of stairs.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26That's why the grand rooms in most great buildings are on the lower floors.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29The higher up you go, the smaller and cheaper the rooms get.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32The Savoy is very different. Because we had lifts to all floors,
0:20:32 > 0:20:37all the rooms were equally large, equally luxurious and, of course, equally expensive.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42- Wow! What an adventure! A lift! - It is fabulous, isn't it?
0:20:44 > 0:20:48This is one of the two original guest lifts in the hotel.
0:20:48 > 0:20:53- You can see how big the lift is. - Yes, quite roomy.- Because ladies had big skirts and needed space.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57But it was one of the very first and there was no English maker.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01These mechanisms had to be imported from America.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Oscar Wilde stayed here for a while.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Lillie Langtry, a close personal friend of the Prince of Wales.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08The Prince of Wales was a friend of Cesar Ritz.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12Where the Prince of Wales came, all his friends came, too.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20'And D'Oyly Carte had one more novelty for his British guests.'
0:21:20 > 0:21:22You'd better come into the bathroom.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24'The luxury of hot and cold running water.'
0:21:24 > 0:21:28The original ratio was about
0:21:28 > 0:21:3170 bathrooms to 268 guest rooms.
0:21:31 > 0:21:36But that ratio, which is about one bathroom to every three rooms, was incredibly high for the time.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39And it's said that the builder asked Richard D'Oyly Carte
0:21:39 > 0:21:41whether he thought his guests were going to be amphibious,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45because he couldn't believe they needed quite as many bathrooms.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48But despite all the glamour and innovation,
0:21:48 > 0:21:51the Savoy's success did not come immediately.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58To convince sceptical English society that a hotel, not a private home, was the place to be,
0:21:58 > 0:22:03D'Oyly Carte really needed Ritz and Escoffier to put on a show.
0:22:06 > 0:22:11Over 120 years later, the Savoy's kitchens have been fully modernised.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15Not a coal-fired oven in sight.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19But as a chef, it's still a privilege to be in the exact place
0:22:19 > 0:22:21that Escoffier first cooked in England.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25James Pare is the current head chef.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28So, James, how has Escoffier inspired your cooking?
0:22:28 > 0:22:30I think he's inspired everything.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33The way he thought about seasonality.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36The way he thought about how to balance a menu.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41What he took from other chefs before him to create something we do every day.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44We have an Escoffier tasting menu.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48A great homage to Escoffier, but with our own little touches. We have a bit of fun with that.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51He wouldn't want us to do the same thing.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53He'd want us to think ahead, be creative.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59I'm going to try some of the dishes on James' menu.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02And I've invited historian Kate Williams to join me...
0:23:02 > 0:23:04Hello, hello.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06- Nice to see, Kate. - Thank you so much for having me.
0:23:06 > 0:23:12'..To find out how receptive Victorian London was to Escoffier and his cooking.'
0:23:12 > 0:23:14- That's marvellous.- Very nice. Look at that.- Looks amazing.
0:23:14 > 0:23:19'We've eating Sole Victoria, a rich, extravagant dish of poached sole,
0:23:19 > 0:23:24'lobster and truffles that Escoffier invented and named for the Queen.'
0:23:24 > 0:23:27Mm, it's beautiful. It's very light, isn't it? It's fantastic.
0:23:27 > 0:23:32Incredible. So, Kate, tell me a little bit about the dining scene in England at this 1800s.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35Well, the dining scene in England really wasn't a scene at all.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39In fact, it was pretty much private. You ate at home.
0:23:39 > 0:23:44A wild night out was going to someone else's house for a dinner party.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47So the gentlemen would go out to clubs
0:23:47 > 0:23:51and, I suppose, partake in the odd cigar and a glass of brandy or port.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54But were there no ladies at all in these clubs?
0:23:54 > 0:23:58There were ladies but the Victorians wouldn't have called them "ladies" per se.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02That was really the place for courtesans, for the naughty girls.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04You wouldn't take your respectable wife
0:24:04 > 0:24:08or, heaven forbid, your daughter to such a place as a club.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11If you see a woman on her own in a restaurant or cafe in Victorian times,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14she is fair game and she's there for custom.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18'Escoffier and Ritz faced a real challenge.
0:24:18 > 0:24:23'They needed to create an environment that simple didn't exist in England at that time.'
0:24:24 > 0:24:29Ritz and Escoffier made dining respectable, especially for ladies,
0:24:29 > 0:24:33by turning the Savoy into a very feminine place, a very respectable place,
0:24:33 > 0:24:36and somewhere that ladies could go without the fear of being bothered,
0:24:36 > 0:24:40or the suggestion they might be issuing some kind of invitation.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44Everyone had to dress up. Only a certain amount of people were allowed here.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48This picture shows the Savoy in its Edwardian heyday.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51Ritz had even chosen pink lampshades
0:24:51 > 0:24:56because he considered them more flattering for ladies' complexions.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58That kind of attention to detail
0:24:58 > 0:25:01is at the heart of running a successful restaurant,
0:25:01 > 0:25:06and the pair were equally savvy when it came to creating a buzz.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10They had a really cunning idea - to make their own human advertising.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13So Ritz and Escoffier got Lady de Grey,
0:25:13 > 0:25:16who was a great, glamorous leader of society.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18And she was sent to eat in public in the Savoy.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23Lady de Grey is a wonderful figure,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26extremely grand and extremely avant-garde.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29One of the first women to travel by car.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32The first to have a telephone in her own house.
0:25:32 > 0:25:37And now the first to hold a lunch party at the Savoy.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40Once she'd done it, everyone else had to join in!
0:25:40 > 0:25:44It was like Coco Chanel having a tan. All these ladies flocked in.
0:25:44 > 0:25:49And, suddenly, the Savoy became incredibly popular for ladies, for couples,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52for people on their own and this was a complete turnaround.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54The British dining culture was born.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58So dining out was no longer just acceptable, it became fashionable.
0:25:58 > 0:26:03The restaurants of London became crucial, important social spaces,
0:26:03 > 0:26:05where you could display your wealth and display yourself.
0:26:05 > 0:26:10And the top ladies at the time were seen there. You could see and be seen.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15And at the centre of all this was Escoffier's food.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18He was preparing wonderful dishes.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21And as a man who knew how to flatter and sell,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24he named many of them after his favourite customers.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28A WOMAN SINGS A RISING NOTE
0:26:28 > 0:26:32Nellie Melba was a hugely popular Australian opera singer.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36She always stayed at the hotel after performing at Convent Garden.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41Escoffier created a special peach dessert for her.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46He served it in a spectacular iced swan.
0:26:53 > 0:26:58The mist of dry ice is James' modern addition to the drama.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00Escoffier was an incredible publicist.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05It was brilliant advertising. Every time Dame Nellie Melba went on stage,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08everyone thought about his pudding, you know, for free!
0:27:08 > 0:27:11It was like she was wondering round with a big placard saying,
0:27:11 > 0:27:14"Eat a nice stewed peach, with lovely sugar on the top."
0:27:16 > 0:27:18Oh, incredible!
0:27:18 > 0:27:21I feel like a Victorian! Amazing!
0:27:21 > 0:27:23It's all so exciting!
0:27:23 > 0:27:25- Ooh!- That is delicious.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32Amazing. It's amazing.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34I think Dame Nellie would approve.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42Escoffier's menus were always written in French.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46He felt English made his dishes sound unattractive.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50And, in his determination to educate the English palate,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53he would manage his customers' whole meal,
0:27:53 > 0:27:55asking them for their preferences and budget,
0:27:55 > 0:27:59and then creating an entire set menu for them.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02He felt he was holding these new diners' hands
0:28:02 > 0:28:06as he lead them to the greatest heights of gastronomy.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08And they were happy to be led.
0:28:08 > 0:28:13The restaurant scene that had been so big in 19th-century France
0:28:13 > 0:28:15had made its way to London.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20All of English society flocked to the Savoy.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26Escoffier obviously felt at home here.
0:28:26 > 0:28:31His wife and child went back to the south of France and he stayed on,
0:28:31 > 0:28:33living here at the hotel.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38He was a very driven man and he did seek success,
0:28:38 > 0:28:42so much so, that he was prepared to sacrifice a lot of things.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45But the lure, the financial lure,
0:28:45 > 0:28:49and the success that the hotel industry was having at the time,
0:28:49 > 0:28:54because of his hard work, was just too much.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56He HAD to stay.
0:28:57 > 0:28:59And there were other attractions.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05Someone else who had a suite here at the Savoy
0:29:05 > 0:29:08was Escoffier's adored Sarah Bernhardt.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12And he would go and see all her shows in London.
0:29:12 > 0:29:17But he would hurry back after the show to cook dinner for her.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21And on her birthday, he would cook a special dinner,
0:29:21 > 0:29:25to be served in her suite - a dinner for two.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29He was French, after all.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36Sarah Bernhardt wasn't the only one who appreciated Escoffier's talents.
0:29:36 > 0:29:42The blacksmith's son from Provence had become the most famous chef in the world
0:29:42 > 0:29:46and had London at his feet.
0:29:46 > 0:29:48They were riding on the crest of the wave.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52Richard D'Oyly Carte was making more money out of his hotel business
0:29:52 > 0:29:55than he was his music business.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58Ritz was planning his own hotels,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01always with Escoffier by his side in the kitchens.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04It seemed that nothing could go wrong.
0:30:05 > 0:30:10Ritz and Escoffier even had plans for their very own London hotel.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17But in 1898, after nine years of extraordinary success,
0:30:17 > 0:30:23they very suddenly left the Savoy and went back to France.
0:30:25 > 0:30:30In his memoirs, Escoffier alludes to an unpleasant falling-out with the Savoy management.
0:30:30 > 0:30:35But I'm going to meet a man who believes he knows the real truth behind their sudden departure.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39- Hello, Paul.- Hello, Michel. How nice to see you.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42'Paul Levy has been a food journalist for over 30 years.'
0:30:42 > 0:30:47I need to get to the bottom of this story of Ritz and Escoffier,
0:30:47 > 0:30:52- about why they left the Savoy. - Well, they were sacked,
0:30:52 > 0:30:57in February 1898, for the usual reasons. They were crooks.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00You know, in my heart, I don't want to believe that.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04Not only that, the cover-up lasted nearly 100 years.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06But in 1984,
0:31:06 > 0:31:11when you were a young man and I was the food and wine editor of the Observer,
0:31:11 > 0:31:16there appeared on my desk a...set of papers,
0:31:16 > 0:31:21a signed confession by Escoffier and Ritz
0:31:21 > 0:31:24to a whole list of crimes.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29'Even now, Paul won't reveal who gave him the papers.'
0:31:29 > 0:31:32So you are telling me...
0:31:32 > 0:31:37- that my all-time culinary hero, Escoffier...- Yep.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39- ..was a crook?- I'm afraid so.
0:31:39 > 0:31:44They were confessing to taking commission on a grand scale,
0:31:44 > 0:31:51to using the wine cellars and ingredients from the larder for their own purposes.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55So "commissions" are when the suppliers were charging a little bit more
0:31:55 > 0:31:59and that little bit more was then going straight to the chef?
0:31:59 > 0:32:04- Actually, 5 per cent.- Up to 5 per cent?- Yes, it was 5 per cent.
0:32:04 > 0:32:09Now I can understand the bosses of the Savoy being upset about that,
0:32:09 > 0:32:13but commissions in those days were not frowned upon. They were fairly normal practice.
0:32:13 > 0:32:15Well, not...
0:32:15 > 0:32:19Helping yourself to the bread or to the flour, yes.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23But taking 5 per cent kickback in money,
0:32:23 > 0:32:25which was what was going on,
0:32:25 > 0:32:30- is a little bit different from having an extra dozen eggs. - Mm? Yeah, yeah.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32And the sums involved were huge.
0:32:32 > 0:32:36I have just looked it up and, in today's money,
0:32:36 > 0:32:39the lowest figure that can be put on
0:32:39 > 0:32:43Escoffier's share alone is £1.4 million.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45Oh!
0:32:45 > 0:32:48- Yes, so we're not talking a few pennies or a few pounds.- No.
0:32:48 > 0:32:50- We're talking million-plus.- Yeah.
0:32:50 > 0:32:54You can understand my, my point of view.
0:32:54 > 0:32:59I mean, I'm not in denial, but I really don't want this to be true.
0:32:59 > 0:33:04Could it not be that the Savoy wanted to get rid of Ritz and Escoffier,
0:33:04 > 0:33:07because they had plans for the future?
0:33:07 > 0:33:11I'm positive that it couldn't have been, for two reasons.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13One was, from 1895,
0:33:13 > 0:33:18it was noticed that, though receipts were going up,
0:33:18 > 0:33:22the takings were going up, the actual profits were going down.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26The gentlemen of the Savoy sat on THAT evidence as well.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30They also didn't press charges or bring any charges,
0:33:30 > 0:33:34or even make public the findings of that inquiry.
0:33:34 > 0:33:38- So it was all covered up? - It was all covered up.
0:33:38 > 0:33:43The reason I am almost certain that it was covered up was out of charity to the Prince of Wales.
0:33:43 > 0:33:48"Noblesse oblige". They simply didn't want to create scandal
0:33:48 > 0:33:52and they knew that if they blew the whistle,
0:33:52 > 0:33:55it would rebound on to the Royal Family.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59The real dirt REALLY lies with Ritz.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03He had pimped for the Prince of Wales and Lillie Langtry.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06So there is no denying there was a scandal?
0:34:06 > 0:34:09There's no denying it. I'm afraid it's true.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13But he's my hero.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16Well, he wasn't a total villain.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23Blue-collar hero, white-collar crook.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31Escoffier always denied any wrongdoing.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33He could have left London forever,
0:34:33 > 0:34:36but his ambition wouldn't let him.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39He wrote in his memoirs, it was a matter of self-respect.
0:34:39 > 0:34:44"I didn't want to leave England without finishing the task I'd started at the Savoy...
0:34:46 > 0:34:51"the development of French cuisine, not only in England, but across the world."
0:34:53 > 0:34:57He and Ritz were determined to fight back.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00They had their own hotel built, the Carlton.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03Just across from Trafalgar Square,
0:35:03 > 0:35:07it was designed to beat the Savoy at its own game.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10It was a 250-bedroom palace.
0:35:10 > 0:35:16At its heart, they built a palm court for the Prince of Wales and his friends to party in.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20And party they did. This was the new place to be seen.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27The Carlton was destroyed in the Blitz,
0:35:27 > 0:35:31but to get a flavour of what it was like, I'm visiting another London icon
0:35:31 > 0:35:33designed by Ritz and Escoffier.
0:35:36 > 0:35:41Opened in 1905, the glitz and glamour still dazzle today.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44# If you're blue and you don't know where to go to
0:35:44 > 0:35:47# Why don't you go where fashion sits
0:35:47 > 0:35:49# Puttin' on the Ritz! #
0:35:53 > 0:35:58Ritz opened grand hotels like this in Paris, Rome and New York.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02Always with kitchens designed by Escoffier.
0:36:02 > 0:36:07They gave the hotels their seal of approval and allowed others to run them.
0:36:08 > 0:36:14Ritz and Escoffier had become one of the first luxury brands.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17This is just extraordinary, the opulence.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21And this is real gold - 24-carat gold!
0:36:21 > 0:36:25They even employ somebody here, permanently, just to look after it.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31The Ritz dining room is one of the bastions of classic French food
0:36:31 > 0:36:35and chef John Williams is one of Escoffier's most ardent fans.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39- John.- Michel.- Good to see you. Simon, I won't shake your hand. You're hard at work.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41Smashing!
0:36:41 > 0:36:46- What does Escoffier mean to you? - He's the best chef in the world, first and foremost.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50But it's about his cooking. It's his heritage of France.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54It's about the ingredients. It's about the complexity of the sauces.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58It was the style, the panache of how they actually cooked.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02'Canard a la presse is a classic French dish,
0:37:02 > 0:37:05'which Escoffier brought to London.
0:37:05 > 0:37:10'It's prepared partly at tableside for the entertainment of the diners.'
0:37:12 > 0:37:17So the supremes are taken off. The legs go back to the kitchen to crisp up.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20And the carcass gets chopped up.
0:37:20 > 0:37:22And then you put them in this contraption here.
0:37:22 > 0:37:27Yeah. This is my pet...model, call it whatever you like.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30But it's a contraption based on a wine press.
0:37:30 > 0:37:35He would bring his ducks from Rouen, the very best in France at the time.
0:37:37 > 0:37:38So...
0:37:38 > 0:37:41A touch of cognac.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43And a touch of port.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47And then it's a very, very simple pressing action.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52It's very much a piece of equipment Escoffier loved to use,
0:37:52 > 0:37:54because of the theatre that it created.
0:37:54 > 0:37:56And as we press,
0:37:56 > 0:38:00it's just starting to come out there now.
0:38:02 > 0:38:04There we go!
0:38:04 > 0:38:06Lovely!
0:38:07 > 0:38:09So there's quite a bit of juice there.
0:38:11 > 0:38:16'Rich sauces with complex flavours built around intense reductions
0:38:16 > 0:38:21'are a key feature of Escoffier's culinary style.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25'But so, too, were dramatic elements, like flambeing.'
0:38:25 > 0:38:28THE SAUCE SIZZLES
0:38:31 > 0:38:36'And there's another absolute icon of French food that we owe to Escoffier.'
0:38:36 > 0:38:39Let me tell you a lovely story about Escoffier.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43He tried to get the English, who were very conservative at the time,
0:38:43 > 0:38:48to eat all kinds of things, but frogs' legs were the thing they would never touch.
0:38:48 > 0:38:50They would turn their noses up.
0:38:50 > 0:38:55So, one evening, at a very grand banquet, he put on the menu Nymphes a l'Aurore.
0:38:55 > 0:39:00And, of course, everybody said, "This is the finest banquet ever!
0:39:00 > 0:39:05"The first course was fantastic! What was it?" And nobody knew.
0:39:05 > 0:39:10So, next day, the reporters went to his office and said, "Tell us! This was so fantastic!"
0:39:10 > 0:39:13He said, "It was frogs' legs, but you wouldn't have eaten them,
0:39:13 > 0:39:15"so I decided to call them 'Nymphes'."
0:39:17 > 0:39:22For me, John, this style of food is still very relevant to today's palate.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24Certainly. There are the complex dishes.
0:39:24 > 0:39:29There are the light dishes. They are the combinations that you get surprised with.
0:39:29 > 0:39:34If we just look forward to Heston, who is probably one of the most complex cooks going
0:39:34 > 0:39:39and very, very forward thinking, he's very much out of the same mould.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42He still loves theatre. He still loves his complexities.
0:39:42 > 0:39:47He loves his simplicity, but he loves food and that's what it's all about, isn't it?
0:39:47 > 0:39:50It looks magical. I can't wait to dive in.
0:39:50 > 0:39:52Come on! Let's go.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54Give me a fork!
0:39:54 > 0:39:57Can't wait. Gosh! Look at this.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02Mmm! Aw!
0:40:02 > 0:40:04Mmm! Simon...
0:40:04 > 0:40:08- A good job with the sauce there. - Thank you, Chef.- Mm!
0:40:12 > 0:40:14- Stunning!- That is good.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21I'm unapologetic that the food I cook is classic French,
0:40:21 > 0:40:24albeit with a modern twist,
0:40:24 > 0:40:30and I get great inspiration by going back to Escoffier's original recipes.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36Looking at my copy of Le Guide Culinaire,
0:40:36 > 0:40:40the one that my dad gave me when I first started out as a chef,
0:40:40 > 0:40:44I'm reminded of so many fantastic ingredients, techniques
0:40:44 > 0:40:46and flavour combinations,
0:40:46 > 0:40:49all of which feeds into my development as a chef.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56I still base many of my new dishes on Escoffier's original recipes.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01Quieter Sundays in the kitchen are the best time for experimenting.
0:41:01 > 0:41:06A very important part of this recipe was to rub the meat with some lemon.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09'It's also part of my apprentices' training.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13'The obligation of the chef to educate his kitchen team,
0:41:13 > 0:41:19'so that they can work their way up the ladder, is something that Escoffier insisted upon.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22'This is his original recipe for veal's head.'
0:41:22 > 0:41:25We're going to poach it in the traditional way in a blanc.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28So water, flour and some vegetables.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34'Escoffier's apprentices went on to head up kitchens around the world.
0:41:34 > 0:41:39'And people who have trained at Le Gavroche have gone on to do pretty well, too.
0:41:39 > 0:41:43'Calf's head is one of the cheapest cuts of meat,
0:41:43 > 0:41:47'but one that Escoffier got the very best out of.'
0:41:47 > 0:41:50The vinaigrette with capers, olive oil, vinegar...
0:41:50 > 0:41:52shallots.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56They were very fond of chopped parsley in those days.
0:41:57 > 0:41:58In you go!
0:42:00 > 0:42:04'It's a French classic that my grandmother used to make for me.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07'But can it appeal to British palates?'
0:42:12 > 0:42:15It's different to how I imagined, actually. It's quite nice.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18It's quite rich in flavour and the dressing's really nice.
0:42:18 > 0:42:22The skin, you expect it to be chewy, but it melts in your mouth.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26- Aw!- The only thing is, it's just a bit too fatty for me.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29- It's nice though. I really enjoy it. - What about you, Rosie?
0:42:29 > 0:42:31It's good. The flavours are really nice.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35But I think the name is a bit off-putting - boiled veal's head.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38I definitely think it's worth modernising this dish.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41But I know what you mean about the texture.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44We have to change that aspect, but keep the dressing,
0:42:44 > 0:42:48or work on the dressing, cos it works so well.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54Escoffier knew that however good the food,
0:42:54 > 0:42:58a restaurant's reputation for excellence relied on consistency.
0:42:58 > 0:43:03To guarantee a roomful of individual diners could get what they want,
0:43:03 > 0:43:08when they wanted, he created a whole new way of organising the professional kitchen -
0:43:08 > 0:43:11the brigade system.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15I've come to Windows on Park Lane to see it in action.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19Expectations as a diner in a place like this are always very, very high.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23We look at a menu and we can see there's a lovely choice.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27Different items here take different times to prepare,
0:43:27 > 0:43:31but we expect the food to arrive at the table at the same time,
0:43:31 > 0:43:34regardless of what we order.
0:43:34 > 0:43:38They come to the table because there is a system in place
0:43:38 > 0:43:41and that system is down to Escoffier.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45- The beef, would you like that medium, medium rare? - Rare, please.- Rare. Very nice.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49- For yourself, Mr Hobart?- Can I have the salmon, please?- Very nice.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52'To show how Escoffier's brigade system works today,
0:43:52 > 0:43:57'I'm going to follow a single order from a waiter's pad to finished plate.'
0:43:57 > 0:44:00So Andrew's taken the order
0:44:00 > 0:44:05and he's now putting it through to the kitchen the modern way. Not by hand and pencil.
0:44:05 > 0:44:09That order is going to go straight through to the kitchen
0:44:09 > 0:44:12and the chef will call it out to his brigade.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15Hey, guys, ca marche! Two covers, one scallops, one salmon.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18Cold starters, sauce.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20Ca marche! One beef medium, one hake.
0:44:20 > 0:44:21ALL: Oui!
0:44:21 > 0:44:24The kitchen is split up into different teams.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28We've got cold starters there. Fish section here.
0:44:28 > 0:44:32Meat section, garnish over there and the pastry in the corner.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36And, of course, head chef on the pass. He's organising everything.
0:44:36 > 0:44:42Every section has somebody who's in charge and that person is called a chef de partie.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45And then a commis and then under that maybe an apprentice.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48And every person has a responsibility.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53This is their order, table two.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56There's salmon with avocado mousse. The mousse has been made to order,
0:44:56 > 0:44:58so that it doesn't lose any colour
0:44:58 > 0:45:01and the ceviche has to be marinated for a certain time.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04So all that has been organised by the chef de partie,
0:45:04 > 0:45:08the chef who's in charge of this particular section of the kitchen.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11It's been checked. It's ready to go.
0:45:13 > 0:45:17Before Escoffier, restaurants offered no choice.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20You ate what the chef was making.
0:45:20 > 0:45:22But with the a la carte menu,
0:45:22 > 0:45:25Escoffier introduced a level of complexity
0:45:25 > 0:45:29that required the culinary version of a production line.
0:45:29 > 0:45:33That's the starters gone. In about 20 minutes, when they've finished,
0:45:33 > 0:45:36they're going to ask for the main course - one hake, one beef.
0:45:36 > 0:45:41And that's going to have to come on the pass on exactly the same time,
0:45:41 > 0:45:44so that it's hot and dressed perfectly for the customer.
0:45:44 > 0:45:49Imagine the chaos in here if they didn't have a brigade system.
0:45:50 > 0:45:52Two minutes on the beef.
0:45:52 > 0:45:54Two minutes on the fish, please.
0:45:55 > 0:45:58It's an army of experts broken down into teams
0:45:58 > 0:46:01to produce really complex food.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04Fish coming up.
0:46:06 > 0:46:08That's exquisite!
0:46:08 > 0:46:11It's the kind of food you can get in a brigade system.
0:46:11 > 0:46:15It's not pub or home cooking. This is haute cuisine.
0:46:15 > 0:46:17Can we send this, please?
0:46:27 > 0:46:32The pleasure of eating out for the customer is not having to think about any of this.
0:46:36 > 0:46:42But as restaurateurs, our reputations are lost if we fail to live up to expectations.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46We have to get it right.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50Every element on every plate,
0:46:50 > 0:46:53on every table, every time.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55And that's the promise that we make.
0:47:01 > 0:47:07The most ambitious chefs even like to influence the eating habits of people who DON'T come to our restaurants.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11Escoffier developed the first commercial stock cubes.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16And his reach even extended to the high seas,
0:47:16 > 0:47:19as he set up kitchens and dining rooms
0:47:19 > 0:47:21on some of the first cruise liners.
0:47:24 > 0:47:29As he entered his 60s, he showed no signs of stopping.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33He was beloved by his staff, as well as London's diners.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38But, of course, in 1914, everything changed.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41GUNFIRE, EXPLOSIONS
0:47:41 > 0:47:46When World War One broke out, the young men who staffed his restaurants
0:47:46 > 0:47:50and who had become his extended family, were sent off to fight.
0:47:58 > 0:48:01Escoffier did what he could in London.
0:48:01 > 0:48:05He set up an organisation to care for the war widows and orphans
0:48:05 > 0:48:08of French kitchen staff.
0:48:08 > 0:48:13And he guaranteed to hold a job for every man who came back.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16JUBILANT CHEERING
0:48:16 > 0:48:20When peace was announced on November 11th, 1918,
0:48:20 > 0:48:23jubilant crowds filled London's streets.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29The Carlton was again the place everyone wanted to be.
0:48:29 > 0:48:34700 people descended on the restaurant to book for lunch.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38Poor Escoffier rustled around in his kitchen and found a few ingredients -
0:48:38 > 0:48:44legs of lamb, legs of veal, some pork, some liver, some mushrooms -
0:48:44 > 0:48:49and he decided to make meatballs, so that he could make it stretch that far.
0:48:52 > 0:48:57'"Throw it all in the mincer" is not a phrase that appears in the Guide Culinaire,
0:48:57 > 0:49:02'but for this historic meal, Escoffier was clearly prepared to make an exception.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07'After four years without his regular deliveries from France,
0:49:07 > 0:49:11'and with a reduced kitchen team, he was already at a disadvantage.
0:49:11 > 0:49:16'And he'd never had so many people to feed at one meal.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20'He was in no position to offer his usual haute cuisine.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24'This isn't typical Gavroche fare either,
0:49:24 > 0:49:27'but I've decided to try it out for our family dinner...
0:49:29 > 0:49:32'The meal we share as a kitchen brigade before service.'
0:49:32 > 0:49:34Yes, please. Just one.
0:49:34 > 0:49:35Mm!
0:49:35 > 0:49:36Mm!
0:49:39 > 0:49:43'For me, these meatballs demonstrate the creativity and hospitality
0:49:43 > 0:49:46'that are at the heart of Escoffier's cooking.'
0:49:46 > 0:49:51This may not be the most extravagant and well-known Escoffier recipe,
0:49:51 > 0:49:54but I think it is the most generous.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58Mm! That is good!
0:50:00 > 0:50:03In 1920, Escoffier finally retired,
0:50:03 > 0:50:07settling in Monte Carlo with his wife and family.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14He died in 1935, aged 89.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20But he leaves such a legacy -
0:50:20 > 0:50:24the recipes, the style, the brigade system,
0:50:24 > 0:50:26the professionalism.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31That's not to say that it all went swimmingly.
0:50:31 > 0:50:36In the hands of other chefs some things got a little lost in translation.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39Here's the inimitable Fanny Cradock.
0:50:39 > 0:50:43And this is how, on the few nights in the year
0:50:43 > 0:50:46when it was cold enough in Monte Carlo,
0:50:46 > 0:50:51Madame Jeanne, Escoffier's home cook,
0:50:51 > 0:50:55prepared a special bowl of onion soup.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58And now you simply whip each raw egg
0:50:58 > 0:51:01and little drop of port together in each bowl.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05And this is something which you can do yourselves
0:51:05 > 0:51:09on Christmas Day at the dinner table for the amusement of your guests.
0:51:09 > 0:51:15This was a 1956 Christmas show Fanny and Johnny put on in the Royal Albert Hall.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19The tail feathers mounted...
0:51:19 > 0:51:20and proud.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23And, as ever, she gives it everything she's got.
0:51:23 > 0:51:27And the head mounted, as for the first Queen Elizabeth.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31And, finally, the wing feathers
0:51:31 > 0:51:33spreading...
0:51:33 > 0:51:36across...so.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39Round the edge is the chestnut puree,
0:51:39 > 0:51:43Escoffier's own, which we piped out here earlier.
0:51:43 > 0:51:45APPLAUSE
0:51:45 > 0:51:48I think I hear a Frenchman turning in his grave!
0:51:54 > 0:51:58No wonder Escoffier's culinary legacy isn't always appreciated.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03I'm having lunch with food critic Jay Rayner.
0:52:03 > 0:52:06- Chips!- You really did order chips? - Oh, yeah!
0:52:06 > 0:52:10'The French restaurants he was taken to as a child had got a little pretentious.'
0:52:10 > 0:52:13We used to go as a family to a place called Stone's Chop House.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16No longer there. It was owned by the Savoy Group.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20It was the kind of place where everything had to be
0:52:20 > 0:52:23set fire to tableside before you could eat it.
0:52:23 > 0:52:28So not just the steak Diane or crepe suzette, the bread rolls and napkins, too.
0:52:28 > 0:52:33Very old-fashioned, very classical, very French in its way.
0:52:33 > 0:52:37Very, very good, but quite stiff.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39It became a bit exhausting is the truth.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42We wanted... I think Britain had a hunger for something
0:52:42 > 0:52:45where they could undo their top buttons.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48- And perhaps even the second one. - Ooh!- I know, shock horror.
0:52:48 > 0:52:53- Timescale, what would that have been, the '70s?- Oh, we're definitely talking about the '70s.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57For me, the key moment when British restaurants changed...
0:52:57 > 0:52:59It's a very London view, but I still think it's right.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02..Is the opening in January 1977 of Joe Allen.
0:53:02 > 0:53:08Joe Allen was out of New York, a classic Theatreland, American brasserie.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11Red and white tablecloths. Almost had an open kitchen. The menus were up on blackboards.
0:53:11 > 0:53:16What was really key to it was the service, which was mostly by out-of-work actors,
0:53:16 > 0:53:21out-of-work dancers who danced between the tables. It was a very theatrical scene.
0:53:21 > 0:53:25'I get what Jay is saying, but that sense of theatre and pleasure
0:53:25 > 0:53:30'is just what the first lucky diners of the Savoy got 100 years earlier!'
0:53:30 > 0:53:34So in a way, this is very much how Escoffier operated
0:53:34 > 0:53:37at the turn of the 19th century.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40Because he was saying "faites simple".
0:53:40 > 0:53:46He was trying to get great food out to the public. He was breaking barriers.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49He encouraged women to have lunches.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52And for gentlemen to bring their wives
0:53:52 > 0:53:56and see the restaurant as, not just food, but actually as entertainment.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00There's no doubt that Escoffier was a revolutionary in his own way.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04But each generation of chefs builds on what goes before.
0:54:04 > 0:54:09Escoffier's influence is still felt, even if many chefs would deny it.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13Erm, often when people in my business are talking about chefs,
0:54:13 > 0:54:16we want to know whether they've got their classical chops.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19Do they know how to do all that stuff?
0:54:19 > 0:54:22Before they start putting the mackerel in the sorbet machine
0:54:22 > 0:54:27and glueing bits of pig together to turn it into a Ferris wheel,
0:54:27 > 0:54:32we also want to know, can they make a terrine? Do they know how to clarify stock?
0:54:32 > 0:54:34All of those sorts of things. That's pure Escoffier.
0:54:34 > 0:54:39'So even a sceptic like Jay will admit Escoffier's importance...if pushed!'
0:54:39 > 0:54:43He started the revolution. He wanted people to come to his restaurants,
0:54:43 > 0:54:45people to enjoy themselves, make it an occasion.
0:54:45 > 0:54:50You Brits were all up yourselves and pompous at the time! You didn't understand that.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54Now the Brits have got that and it's all down to Escoffier!
0:54:54 > 0:54:56He was a genius!
0:54:58 > 0:55:02'In my own kitchen, I aim to be true to the professionalism,
0:55:02 > 0:55:07'the excellence and the creativity that Escoffier championed.'
0:55:07 > 0:55:08Six.
0:55:14 > 0:55:18'And I'm still being inspired by his recipes.'
0:55:23 > 0:55:28This is my version of that wonderful Escoffier recipe of tete de veau.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32'I think it's true to Escoffier's flavours and techniques,
0:55:32 > 0:55:34'but I'm adding some twists of my own
0:55:34 > 0:55:37'that I hope will make it even more appealing to modern palates.'
0:55:37 > 0:55:40I've got all the ingredients here.
0:55:40 > 0:55:44The head, the boiled head, then rolled and pressed, the tongue,
0:55:44 > 0:55:46and some crispy sweetbreads.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50'This is the way we honour each other as chefs.
0:55:50 > 0:55:52'We take inspiration from each other.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56'It becomes a conversation across the generations.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03'I've learnt a little from Escoffier about the psychology of naming dishes, too.'
0:56:03 > 0:56:06We're going to call it, delice de veau.
0:56:06 > 0:56:08A delight of veal.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10In a similar way that Escoffier,
0:56:10 > 0:56:14instead of putting frogs' legs on the menu, he called them "nymphes".
0:56:17 > 0:56:20Escoffier's influence in my restaurant is strong.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23But it's in every restaurant where a team in the kitchen
0:56:23 > 0:56:26work hard to produce special food,
0:56:26 > 0:56:29where a dining room is prepared with thought -
0:56:29 > 0:56:33tablecloths laid, decoration designed to please,
0:56:33 > 0:56:37and where friends and families come together for an occasion,
0:56:37 > 0:56:43eating not just to satisfy hunger, but to celebrate life.
0:56:43 > 0:56:45- It's wonderful.- It is, isn't it?
0:56:48 > 0:56:53'Before I put my delice on the menu, I've invited some friends to try them out.'
0:56:53 > 0:56:56- Right, guys.- Whey-hey! - Welcome.- Here's the chef!
0:56:56 > 0:56:57LAUGHTER
0:56:57 > 0:57:00- We'll clear up after we've eaten! - Yes, exactly!
0:57:00 > 0:57:02Bon appetit. Tete de veau.
0:57:04 > 0:57:06Mm, summer truffles.
0:57:08 > 0:57:12I've never had it before, but bits of it remind me of my childhood.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16The addition of the sweetbread I found really quite fantastic.
0:57:16 > 0:57:21I've never had veal head before and it's absolutely delicious. All of it's lovely.
0:57:21 > 0:57:23'It seems to have gone down quite well.'
0:57:23 > 0:57:27- Wow!- And I've picked it clean.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30THEY CHATTER
0:57:30 > 0:57:35'For me, this has been a wonderful journey into Escoffier's world.
0:57:35 > 0:57:38'The culinary tradition that I'm still part of
0:57:38 > 0:57:42'is the product of a very particular moment of history.'
0:57:42 > 0:57:45Haute cuisine and the food that I cooked today,
0:57:45 > 0:57:49really grew in the exuberance and the confidence of La Belle Epoque.
0:57:49 > 0:57:54World War One finished that age and so much of the pleasure that went with it.
0:57:54 > 0:57:58But Escoffier's ideas were already out and established throughout the world.
0:57:58 > 0:58:02He changed chefs, but he also changed diners.
0:58:03 > 0:58:08Fundamentals that we think are normal, possible, enjoyable about eating out,
0:58:08 > 0:58:10HE set in place.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13Britain today is a nation of true food lovers.
0:58:13 > 0:58:18For that, I believe we all owe a huge debt of gratitude
0:58:18 > 0:58:20to Auguste Escoffier.
0:58:20 > 0:58:23- ALL: To the chef! - Indeed.- Thank you.
0:58:42 > 0:58:44Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd