Watch Marco Pierre White cook for Pierre Koffman
It has been 25 years since Marco Pierre White’s iconic cookbook ‘White Heat’ came out and to celebrate we’re looking at chefs that Marco worked for before establishing himself as a hugely influential chef.
The first chef we’re looking at is Pierre Koffmann. Pierre Koffmann is a French chef who is most well-known for his three Michelin starred restaurant La Tante Clare.
Pierre moved to England in 1970 because of his love for rugby, and ended up working for the Roux brothers at Le Gavroche. In six months he was promoted to second in command, and he then moved to their brasserie for a short time before being appointed head chef at The Waterside Inn. He was head chef at The Waterside Inn for five years and in that time he gained the restaurant two Michelin stars. In 1977 Pierre and his then wife Annie opened La Tante Clare and achieved three Michelin stars before relocating to the Berkeley Hotel. It was while at La Tante Clare that Marco Pierre White came to work for Pierre.
Marco said of Pierre: “He has gotten to where he is because he is a cook and not a chef. He is actually in there cooking and everything works around him. I love Pierre because of his honesty. If you ask he will give.”
In 2003 he decided it was time to retire, but a year later, having decided he was quite bored, Pierre returned to the culinary industry to become a consultant. Pierre said of Marco: "He was strong minded and special but I only have fond memories." In 2009 he opened a ‘pop-up’ La Tante Clare for the Restaurant on the Roof at Selfridges for supposedly one week only. This lasted three months, before he returned to the Berkeley Hotel to open Koffmann’s with his partner Claire.
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