with Raymond Blanc and Le Manoir began? Yes, it was actually. Because I remember saying to Simon "What is the difference between one star and two star food?" and he showed me photos of what he had been doing at Le Manoir. He talked to me a lot about Raymond Blanc and he talked about the guys that were there and that challenge was something that really excited me. I asked Simon's advice about moving South because I had done Scotland and I realised that if I wanted to get on I needed to move away from Scotland. Was Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons the only place you wanted to go? Well, at that point I wanted to go to Le Manoir with Raymond Blanc, but Simon actually advised me to go and work for John Burton-Race because he believed that at the stage I was at; Le Manior would, maybe, be too much of a shock to my system. It was too big. Simon felt that I needed a little bit more experience to get on in the kitchen at Le Manoir. Simon felt that you needed to progress into Le Manoir ? Yes, so I moved from Inverlochy Castle, under Simon Hague who had worked for Raymond Blanc to work for John Burton-Race, who had worked for Raymond Blanc and there was a lot of similarities, so when I went to work with John I knew how to make the basic sauces; I knew how to make Parfaits - I could do all the basics, so my repertoire, of which Simon fed off and John Burton-Race fed off, was the same so I worked for John and got on really, really well with him. John was a challenge in many ways because he got bored really easily so he changed things constantly. He was an absolute "nutter", in respect that we would do 100 different a la carte dishes in 12 months - starters. He would just get bored and want to change everything. But from a chefs point of view it was great because it was a creative pool. Were you here at L'Ortolan during the infamous "Fly on the Wall" documentary? No, I wasn't. I saw that and then said I want to go and work there. Right. (Laughter). That was your motivation to come and work here at L'Ortolan? Yes. I think that kind of had an opposite effect on most people! Well, it's quite laughable really, because John was villainised for behaving in a way that was the norm in kitchens but if you go back 15 or 20 years no one had ever seen inside a kitchen. They had no idea what went on and they simply didn't understand the culture. No, absolutely I think it opened many people eyes. When I worked for John, Rupert Rowley, who's at Fischers Baslow Hall now, he'd started working for us while I was there. Dan Smith, who's at the Peacock at Rowsley as there, who's a brilliant Chef and Martin Burge from Whatley Manor. Some are tipping the Peacock for a star. Oh, really. Yes, as an outside bet. Well, Dan is a very, very good cook. I have known him since he was 16. Myself and Martin (Burge) started working the same week and had a really, really strong team then. So it was a great time and I really enjoyed it; we were there two Januarys in a row and we thought we were going to get three stars and it was a bit of a race off between John Burton-Race, Nico Ladenis and Marco Pierre White. And it actually saddens me, greatly "¦ because John was tipped for three stars and a lot of people see what John is doing now and just think "Well, that's John Burton-Race!" Those were some very big names to compete with. Yes, and what people forget is that John Burton-Race was a bloody good cook in the 90's; he was as good as anybody. We had 5 AA Rosettes; 2 Michelin stars; we had some brilliant chefs and John was an ex-2 star chef. And by a roll of the dice, he is now not cooking at that level. In my view, John, in his day, was as good as Raymond Blanc and should be held up there with the Roux Brothers and Koffman. That is a very big statement? It is. But 15 years ago he deserved to be there. He was a genius. He was so driven by the food. OK. Alan, one name you mentioned then was Raymond Blanc. Almost 4 years with Raymond Blanc at Le Manior. Yes. Now I often think Raymond Blanc doesn't receive all the credit he deserves"¦ I mean, just look at all the names he has turned out in the last 25 years. You mentioned some earlier: yourself; Martin Burge; John Burton-Race; Marco "¦ the list goes on "¦ Michael Caines. Yes. How important was Le Manior to you? Le Manior was where it all came together for me because Raymond looks at everything in absolute detail. He is his own hardest critic. But it is not until you have your own business that you realise that he is right. Because what is a restaurant about? It is about a 100 different experiences and you have to get them all right and exceed peoples expectations. And that is what Raymond does across so many different levels. You know, you are not a customer at Le Manior you are a guest of the house. That is his belief and you are treated like a king, whether you only go there once every ten years or every week - he treats everybody so, so well. And if you get Raymond and he gets you; you have a friend and a supporter for life. I actually get on with him much better now than when I worked with him. RB did a forward for your book "Food for Thought" as well, didn't he? Yes, he did and he is a great support. And I think if you ask any of the guys that have been through there (Le Manior) there is not one of them that wouldn't say Raymond has not been a huge, huge influence on their career. Marco Pierre White put it on record saying that he would have never got 3 stars if it hadn't have been for Raymond Blanc. What makes Le Manior so special? Is it RB himself? Well, the driving force behind it is him. He is Le Manior, as far as I am concerned. Raymond is a great leader of men; he knows how to inspire them and motivate them. And he surrounds himself by brilliant people and they are great managers. He has got Benoit Blin in the pastry and Gary Jones in the main kitchen. He has key people in each department, who are very good at managing and motivating people but it all comes from RB. Back to L'Ortolan, Alan. You are doing an incredibly well with regards to accolades here. You have expanded with Le Becasse and the book. Where do you go now? Well, we are going to open another restaurant early 2010. And we are going to be doing modern interpretation. So we are planning to open another restaurant in the middle of a recession. Brave move. Confident in the product. "¦ Or insane!? (Laughter) There is a fine line. Yes, braveness or insanity. But at the end of the day we have an opportunity and our long term strategy is to have 10 Michelin stars. Really? Yes, over the next 8 years. Do you have a business partner? Well, we have got a Board of Directors. Of which, I have got Anja Jezusek, who has been with me for 6 years, who is my Operations Director and looks after the Front of House for us. A Finance Director, Paul Cox and I have a Chairman called Richard Percy and between us we have all the skill sets to do everything. And what I would like to do is develop the young guns that I have working for me, and we genuinely believe we have enough talent within the company that we could have 10 Michelin stars. That doesn't necessary mean 10 restaurants, ultimately we are not chasing 2 stars in any of the properties because 2 stars will come by default and consistency. Are you 2 stars here? No, one. But we have been doing what we have been doing for 5 years, consistently and it will come. I think you almost have to forget about chasing the 2nd star because what is the difference between 1 and 2 stars? It's consistency and minute details with it. And I think we are as consistent in our cooking and I believe Will Holland is capable of cooking 2 star food. I think he is cooking 2 star food, in fact I know he is but it's consistency. I get just as much, or maybe even more satisfaction out of seeing Will getting credit for what he is doing because I would like to develop in other areas. I mean, I have my next Head Chef lined up for the next property and can now work on the next two or three things that we have got lined up. We want to grow in an organic and financial sound way. But we are aiming to have 10 Michelin stars for the company and we are making no secret about that and everyone that works with us understands what that long term strategy is. Fantastic. Yes, all the properties will be different. They will all be period properties; beautifully designed. They will all be independent and have their own distinctive style. Alan, thank you very much for today and good luck with your plans for the future. Pleasure.