Fork in the road: Clare Smyth

12 May 2016 by
Fork in the road: Clare Smyth

As part of our occasional series of interviews with top chefs examining the turning points that led them on their path to success, Clare Smyth tells Kerstin Kühn about her journey to becoming the UK's first three-Michelin-starred female chef

First inspirations

Things happen by chance, and it just so happened that when I was 14 and working at a local restaurant in Northern Ireland, my head chef gave me a book on classical sauces. It was this book that ignited my interest in reading about fine food. It spurred me on to read more and more cookbooks and ultimately led me on my path to becoming a chef.

The very first cookbook I bought for myself was Anton Mosimann's Cuisine à la Carte. From there I went on to read the Roux brothers and the more I read, the more I came to understand what fine dining was. That really inspired me and made me realise I wanted to be a chef at the top level.

As soon as I left school, I went to England to go to Highbury College in Portsmouth. I got an apprenticeship and worked four days a week at Grayshott Health Spa in Surrey. I was lucky enough to have a great mentor there and I remember him being really surprised by my knowledge given my young age. But everything I knew, I had learned from books.

After working at Bibendum and the St Enodoc hotel in Rock, Cornwall, for a while, I decided to go Australia for six months and did a number of stages at restaurants around Sydney. When I returned to the UK, I knew I wanted to get into a top kitchen. I applied for positions at most of the two- and three-Michelin-starred restaurants and did trials at the Fat Duck, the Waterside Inn, Le Gavroche and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, which had just got its third star. I knew from the moment I set foot in the kitchen that it was the place for me. I felt like I belonged right from the start.

It was by far the toughest kitchen I had ever been in. Gordon was there every day and the standards were incredibly high. It was like a military operation and almost like boot camp; you were either good enough or you weren't. But I had expected it to be hard and that's why I went there: I wanted to learn from the best. I loved the discipline; there was an energy about it that was just incredible and I knew that if I could handle it and thrive in this tough environment, I would be good enough to make it one day.

Working with Alain Ducasse

After three-and-a-half years and working my way up from demi chef de partie to senior sous chef, I decided that I wanted to go and work in another three-star kitchen. One of the chefs I had always been drawn to was Thomas Keller, so I went to the US and did stages at Per Se and the French Laundry in 2004. After that, I knew I had to go and work with Alain Ducasse and I managed to beg my way into the kitchen at Le Louis XV in Monaco.

The brigade was much bigger, with 26 chefs, but we were like a big family and I'm still in touch with many of the chefs I worked with back then. The produce was phenomenal and some of the finest I have ever worked with to this day. And while the cooking was very, very classical in its roots and most things were cooked Á la minute, the simplicity but precision of the cooking, coupled with the passion for the product, was simply incredible.

Returning to London

When Alain opened his restaurant at the Dorchester in London, he offered me the position of executive sous chef. But at the same time, Gordon was opening his restaurant in Paris and asked me to come back to Royal Hospital Road as head chef. It was a difficult decision to make, but I knew I had to take the head chef position with Gordon - it was too good an opportunity to pass on. Alain was very angry when I told him and I remember feeling down about having upset the best chef in the world. But then one of the other chefs said: "You've just been offered jobs by two of the best chefs in the world - you have nothing to be down about!"

Until I started at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, I didn't quite understand what would happen and the amount of pressure I would find myself under. I was the first woman in the UK to head up a three-Michelin-starred kitchen, so there was a lot of interest from the media. I knew there was also a chance I could be the first woman in the UK to lose three stars. I was never really confident about retaining the stars and it was something I was very nervous about for a long time.

I didn't take holiday for the first two years, as I was so determined to make sure that every single plate of food that left the pass was right. It wasn't until a few years after retaining the three stars that I started to feel comfortable. I slowly managed to find the confidence to put my own touch on the restaurant, to make changes and evolve things. When I became chef-patron in 2012, I began to feel like I could own the three stars.

Now, after eight years at the helm, I feel like I have done most things I could have done. I have been awarded an MBE, received five AA rosettes, three Michelin stars, won Chef of the Year and achieved 10/10 in the Good Food Guide. But on a personal level, I have a lot more I want to achieve. That's why I am opening my own restaurant.

Isle of Gigha halibut

CV

  • 2012-March 2016 chef-patron, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, London
  • 2007-2012 head chef, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, London
  • 2005-2007 Le Louis XV, Monaco
  • 2002-2005 Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, London
  • 2000-2002 St Enodoc hotel, Rock, Cornwall
  • 1999-2000 Stages in Sydney, Australia
  • 1998-1999 Bibendum, London
  • 1996-1998 Highbury College, Portsmouth, Hampshire

Chef masterclass: Isle of Gigha halibut by Clare Smyth >>

Clare Smyth to leave Restaurant Gordon Ramsay to start own venture >>

Clare Smyth scores 10/10 in Good Food Guide at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay >>

Watch Clare Smyth demonstrate how to make cucumber sorbet**

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