Few of us are fortunate enough to grow up and become what we said we wanted to be when we were a child. Saying that, my heart was set on becoming either a pirate or a dog, so sometimes it works out for the best. But when Chris Harrod saw Raymond Blanc on the television when he was seven years old, he made it his mission to work for him. It might have taken longer than he’d have liked (after all, Le Manoir isn’t the sort of place to use child labour) but Chris made it happen, and this determination has stayed with him well into his adult life, helping him turn a remote Welsh restaurant into a Michelin-starred dining destination.
‘I wrote so many letters to Le Manoir and they always said they weren’t taking on apprentices, so I did what everyone told me to which was to go to catering college,’ he explains. ‘But when I got there it didn’t inspire me at all – it was all very traditional with lots of veal jus and things like that. However, I stuck it out and eventually it was time for me to go and get some experience in London. I didn’t want to work at a five-star hotel like everyone was suggesting, so I compromised and went to The Lanesborough because Paul Gayler was there doing vegetarian cuisine, which was something a bit different.’
Chris says The Lanesborough gave him a good grounding, but his commitment to work with Raymond Blanc never left. Eventually, he went for dinner at Le Manoir and asked if he could do a week-long stage. ‘They said yes, and at the end of it they said I could stay on. I spent the next five years there and it was everything I hoped it would be. Everything was so good – the produce, the way I learnt to recognise my own palate, the flavours on the plate – but I didn’t realise how much work it would be! It gave me the foundations for everything I do now though, and I can’t thank the team there enough for that.’