From Training Gordon Ramsay to Closing Le Gavroche: Michel Roux Jr on His Family Legacy

In this episode, Theo is joined by the legendary Michel Roux Jr, a true giant of modern gastronomy, the chef patron and broadcaster who spent three decades leading the iconic two Michelin star Le Gavroche and has helped shape the way Britain cooks and eats. From growing up in a household where fresh vegetables were grown in the garden and rabbits became dinner by Tuesday to training with Alain Chapel, the most respected chef in France during his heyday, taking over Le Gavroche in 1991 and navigating the weight of a family legacy that never quite let go, Michel's journey is a testament to the transformative power of resilience, creativity, and cooking with purpose. With 43 years of the Roux Scholarship nurturing the next generation of British culinary talent, decades presenting MasterChef the Professionals, and the difficult decision to close Le Gavroche in 2024 after 57 years to regain control of his life, Michel represents a generation of chefs who celebrate precision, hospitality, and the belief that great food should make people feel immediately at ease. Michel prepares his beloved Oeufs à la Neige with Raspberry Compote (Floating Islands with Raspberry Compote), a classic French dessert of poached meringues floating on crème anglaise and covered in crunchy caramel that speaks of childhood, family, and the soul of French home cooking. Throughout the episode, Michel shares his remarkable journey from growing up eating freshly cooked food with vegetables his father grew in the garden and animals reared for the table to spending two years training with Alain Chapel in Lyon where they served chicken tripe, frogs legs, and Japanese pancakes with ginger and soy sauce in the early 80s when France was pretty blinkered, officially taking over Le Gavroche in 91 but never really being allowed to let go because his father was always there omnipresent and having to say something, training Gordon Ramsay who remains to this day the most talented chef he remembers at Le Gavroche and was a gobby little so and so then and is still a gobby little so and so now, and why closing Le Gavroche in 2024 after it ruled his life for decades meant he finally regained control and could take Le Gavroche on tour where it listens to him not the other way around. You can find Michel's full recipe on the Filippo Berio website at www.filippoberio.co.uk/theo, and be sure to check out his Le Gavroche at sea residencies with Cunard as he celebrates 60 years of Le Gavroche in 2027. The Recipe podcast is hosted by Theo Randall, Chef Patron at the Theo Randall Cucina Italiana. In each episode we meet a special guest who loves food, and they'll tell us all about their favourite recipe as we celebrate the stories behind the dishes that define us. Please do subscribe, follow, and share the podcast wherever you listen so you never miss an episode; and for more delicious stories and inspiring dishes. Follow The Recipe with Theo Randall: /therecipe.podcast (  / therecipe.podcast  ) Follow Filippo Berio: /filippoberio_uk (  / filippoberio_uk  ) Follow Theo Randall: /theo.randall (  / theo.randall  ) The Recipe with Theo Randall is a Listen To This Production for Filippo Berio.