Marco Zampese: Leading with calm precision at Hélène Darroze at The Connaught

Running the kitchen on a day-to-day basis at one of the UK’s only three-Michelin-starred restaurants naturally brings pressure.

But for executive chef Marco Zampese and his team at Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, channelling that into being calm and happy is the key to their continued success.

The relationship between Marco, Hélène and the restaurant’s general manager Mirko Benzo is long-standing, which helps develop cohesion across the whole team.

Italian Marco first joined The Connaught in 2014, initially as sous chef, working his way up to the top job in 2021.

Working with Hélène Darroze: Shared Philosophy and Mutual Trust

Marco has worked alongside Hélène Darroze for more than a decade, primarily in London, developing a shared philosophy based on respect for ingredients and people.

He said: “Working with Hélène is amazing. I really admire her. She’s very busy — restaurants in Paris, London and Marrakech, two daughters, she writes books, does television. From a culinary point of view, we share the same philosophy: respect for the product, for seasonality, and for our suppliers.

“I’ve worked with Hélène for almost 11 years, so we know each other very well and how to work together on a daily basis.”

For Marco, the connection goes beyond professional respect.

“When we talk about food and produce, we share the same values,” Marco explained.

“The most important things are the quality of the product and seasonality.

“We always try to source products that are coming into season or are in season, and then we always think about new dishes. The relationship with suppliers and producers is extremely important.

“With our kitchen coordinator Lucy (Hope Robinson), we are in constant contact with them to discuss what’s coming into season and what’s going out, and we update the menu accordingly.”

Front and Back of House: One Team, One Direction

The dynamic between Marco and general manager Mirko Benzo lies at the heart of the restaurant’s calm precision.

“I’ve worked with Mirko for more than 10 years,” said Marco.

“Cooperation between front of house and kitchen is essential. If one side works well and the other doesn’t, the restaurant won’t be successful. We’re all human, so sometimes we have disagreements, but the important thing is to follow the same direction and philosophy, and to share the same mentality and values.”

He added: “On a daily basis, in the morning I or my sous chef meet the reception team to go through bookings, dietary requirements, and special occasions. Before every service we have a briefing with the front-of-house team. Weekly, the restaurant managers meet to discuss what’s going well, what to improve, plans for the future, team changes, and the financials.”

Mirko describes that partnership as one of understanding and mutual trust.

“We’ve worked together for over a decade,” he explained.

“He’s a brilliant person, and as a chef, like Hélène, it’s ‘Question everything.’ We start to study and create dishes, then keep moving forward, trying to elevate them to their best.

“Our relationship is like husband and wife — we love each other and have our moments, like in real life. We’re here every morning; I probably spend more time with Marco than with my own wife!

“It’s a beautiful relationship. We understand each other and know when to push each other as well. We find our balance and support each other, including in private life, because being well in private life helps at work.”

Maintaining Three Michelin Stars

For Marco, sustaining the highest level of recognition comes down to focus, standards and teamwork.

“Maintaining three stars means maintaining standards: top-quality produce; standards on mise en place, cleaning, and tidiness in the kitchen; certain standards in service and guest relations.

“It means being focused every single day and having a team that’s passionate about the job and happy to work in this restaurant. I believe happy chefs cook better food, and as a result we have happy, returning guests.”

He recognises that evolution is part of excellence.

“Our industry moves fast and trends change quickly,” said Marco.

“Each restaurant must keep its own values, but also update with the times because guest preferences change.

“Nowadays people often prefer a healthier cuisine, so maybe more vegetable based. Of course we are still a French restaurant, so we maintain our meat, jus etcetera. Service has evolved too: where once everything had tablecloths, now you often see mats or without anything on the tables.”

Leadership and Kitchen Culture

The way Marco leads his kitchen reflects both professionalism and empathy.

“Every two to three months I do one-to-one meetings to make sure everyone is okay,” he explained.

“My priority is to have everyone happy on the team. Of course we work in a three-Michelin-starred kitchen, a professional kitchen, so everyone should work in a professional way.

“We work together 10 to 16 hours a day; it’s a big part of our lives, so we need to be happy, patient, and focused on progressing and understanding what we’re doing.”

He continued: “I’m not the kind of chef who just hands you a recipe book and says, ‘Do it like this.’ I create recipes with my sous chefs and Hélène; sometimes it takes a day, sometimes a month.

“If someone has a different idea about preparations or organisation — even whether to have music in the kitchen — I’m open to consider it. People come from different cultures, from Asia, Europe, the United States, everyone can have different skills; we can learn from each other.

“Once, the kitchen porter showed me the best rice to use for a paella. It is very important to have an open mind: listen to other people and see what suggestions work better and progress.”

Food Identity and Sourcing Philosophy

The menu at Hélène Darroze at The Connaught combines French technique with the best available produce from the UK and Europe.

“The base is French,” said Marco. “In the UK we prioritise British produce — butter from Oxfordshire, fish and shellfish from Cornwall and Scotland, meat from Wales.

“The priority is quality. For poultry we use France because we believe the quality is much better; citrus fruit we source from Italy. We stay within Europe except for wagyu beef and caviar, where we haven’t found better quality than Japan or China.

“It’s also important to accept what producers can provide — not every tomato will be identical. Otherwise there’s waste, which isn’t sustainable.”

Calm Precision: Service and Wine

If Marco’s kitchen is defined by structure and control, Mirko’s dining room reflects the same calm precision.

“We have a great relationship: kitchen, pastry and front of house are one team,” said Mirko.

“Marco’s style is my management style too, and it comes from Hélène — a calm way of delivering service and the guest experience. When guests come downstairs on kitchen tours they ask why it’s so calm.

“I say if you hear shouting, something is wrong. Usually we’re a very calm restaurant; we handle things in a relaxed way. If you bring bad energy, the feeling is not right.”

That same philosophy extends to wine and pairings.

“Wine is very important for us and for The Connaught,” explained Mirko.

“I started here as a sommelier, then moved up to head of wine at the hotel, and later Hélène asked me to take charge of the restaurant.

“The most important thing is relationships — this is a people business: suppliers, winemakers, and those who look after the land.

“We have over 3,000 wines and around 30,000 bottles in stock here at The Connaught.”

The restaurant’s connection to Hélène’s heritage is reinforced through the Darroze family’s Armagnac.

“Darroze Armagnac is iconic for us,” said Mirko.

“It’s a family business — Hélène’s brother Marc is in charge. We hold many vintages, from 1888 through to 2015. We can play with dates of birth and anniversaries for guests, and we’re very happy to provide that service.”

Creating Memorable Experiences

For both Marco and Mirko, the shared goal is to create experiences that last.

Whenever guests leave, Marco hopes they carry more than a memory of the food.

“I hope they have a good memory — of the food, the service, the restaurant in the iconic Connaught Hotel,” said the chef.

“After, I’m lucky enough that at the end of every meal, guests often visit the kitchen. I have the pleasure to talk to them and it’s amazing to hear them congratulate the team and say, ‘It was the best meal of my life.’ Moments like that make me feel we make people happy and make me proud of what we do as a team.”

Mirko shared the sentiment, adding: “When a guest leaves this restaurant, we’d love them to leave with the memory that they had one of the great experiences of their life — that’s what we’re here for.

“I always tell the team: we don’t want to be the best; we want to be the favourite.”