Marcus Wareing has worked alongside many famous names in British gastronomy, starting with an apprenticeship under Anton Edelmann at The Savoy Hotel. He honed his skills at Le Gavroche and with Pierre Koffmann at La Tante Claire before achieving success with Gordon Ramsay Holdings, winning Michelin stars at L’Oranger, Pétrus and The Savoy Grill.
Today, Marcus and his wife Jane remain very much present in all aspects of their restaurants. Their passion, ambition and commitment has also seen the duo develop and nurture some of Britain’s most extraordinary hospitality talent - many of whom play critical roles within his business today.
We were keen to hear who or what had the biggest influence on Marcus’s earliest forays into the kitchen
“It was a TV show called ‘Take Six Cooks’ which was on TV when I was a child. My brother became chef and I always looked up to him being older than me, we both boxed as well!”
Marcus’ father was a fruit & vegetable merchant, and we wondered if this helped him to become a fan of any vegetables which children may not have normally liked.
“Parsnips” said Marcus,”We always had them and they are a flavour that kids don’t often like. We also ate all of the leftover fruit. My dad didn’t waste anything, he would just cut off the bruised part of a fruit and we would eat it.”
It was interesting to discover some of the first things Marcus cooked by himself
“I started on cooked breakfasts and bacon sandwiches, just like my kids! I used to make pastry with my Mum.”