Marcus Wareing - Career

Career

He first worked at the Savoy Hotel under chef Anton Edelmann in 1988 at the age of 18 where he was employed as a commis chef, before leaving in 1993 to join Albert Roux at Michelin starred Le Gavroche where he first met Gordon Ramsay. Stints at other restaurants in New York City, Amsterdam and at Gravetye Manor in Sussex followed. Wareing joined Gordon Ramsay's Aubergine when it opened in 1993, where he became Sous Chef behind Head Chef Ramsay and would go on to work with him over the course of the following fifteen years, which led to Wareing being called Ramsay's protégé. While he was at Aubergine in 1995, he was awarded the title of Young Chef of the Year by the Restaurant Association.

He would later credit Ramsay with teaching him to cook, describing it as "the most important time in my life". He left Aubergine for a year in 1995 to work with Daniel Boulud in America, and Guy Savoy in France. His return to the UK was also to be his first head chef role, of new restaurant L’Oranger, which was owned by A-Z Restaurants, which had also owned Aubergine, with stakes held by both Wareing and Ramsay. At the age of 25, he earned his first Michelin star as head chef whilst at L’Oranger. He gave Angela Hartnett her first job in a restaurant.

Following a fall out between Ramsay and A-Z Restaurants over Wareing's contract at L'Oranger, which saw Ramsay quit Aubergine to open Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Wareing followed suit by leaving L'Oranger, forcing the restaurant into temporary closure. A-Z Restaurants commenced legal proceedings against the pair, and reopened L’Oranger with Wareing's former sous chef, Kamel Benamar, as the new head chef. The legal case ended in Ramsay and Wareing paying an out of court settlement to the Restaurant group. Ramsay and Wareing worked together to open Pétrus in 1999, with Wareing becoming head chef and operating the restaurant on behalf of Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH), at 33 St James's Street, London. The name came from the French wine Pétrus, which was Ramsay's and Wareing's favourite. Wareing promptly regained the Michelin star he had previously held, with Pétrus being named as a one star restaurant seven months after opening.

The restaurant was moved into the Berkeley Hotel in 2003 where it replaced Pierre Koffmann's La Tante Claire, in the same year that Wareing became Chef Patron of the Grill Room at the Savoy Hotel, and he was named Chef of the Year by Caterer and Hotelkeeper's Catey Awards. The return to the Savoy meant that he was competing against Anton Edelmann, his former boss from the River Room at the hotel. Rather than serve a menu similar to the French driven Pétrus, Wareing chose to continue to serve the British cuisine that the Grill Room was known for, including his take on previous menu items such as steak and kidney pudding and potted shrimps. Pétrus went on to be awarded two Michelin stars and five AA Rosettes, while the Savoy Grill achieved its first Michelin star in the hotel's history in 2004. He also opened his take on an American diner at The Savoy called Banquette, and converted the previous Pétrus location into La Fleur. He was voted Restaurateur of the Year at the Tatler Restaurant Awards in 2004, and Harden's restaurant guide selected him as the fourth best chef in London, although La Fleur closed due to problems with the lease for the site.

Following several months of rumours regarding the restaurant, the Berkeley Hotel confirmed in May 2008 that it was going to work with Wareing to launch its his only solo restaurant, and he would take on Pétrus' lease from 19 September 2008 onwards. Wareing had previously complained of interference in the kitchen by GRH, and wanted to come out from under Ramsay's shadow, but later admitted that he had engineered the situation so that he could go out on his own. The split with Ramsay and GRH resulted in a public legal battle and feud between the three parties, which when resolved resulted in Wareing stating in an interview for Waitrose Food Illustrated magazine that Ramsay left him bitter and conflicted; "half of me thinks he’s a sad bastard and the other half still adores him." He went on to describe Ramsay as a celebrity chef who wasn't involved in the industry anymore. The legal dispute was resolved with Ramsay gaining the rights to the Pétrus name, and Wareing signing a gag order regarding the situation but continuing to open his restaurant Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley. Wareing remarked of the situation, "If I never speak to that guy again for the rest of my life, it wouldn't bother me one bit." Ramsay later responded regarding the feud that he wishes Wareing "all the best". Wareing's self named restaurant won the Best Restaurant in London Award by Harden's guide in 2008 and 2009, was awarded two Michelin stars in 2009, and was named Time Out's restaurant of the year in 2010. The new Pétrus was opened around the corner from the Berkeley Hotel at 1 Kinnerton Street, Knightsbridge. Ramsay later joked, that with Heston Blumenthal also opening his new restaurant nearby, the three of them could "all have a fight in the street at four in the morning".

In 2009 Wareing was named by magazine GQ as their chef of the year. In 2011 Wareing opened his second restaurant, called The Gilbert Scott, in the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel. GRH had also made a bid to open a restaurant in the space, but was rejected in favour of Wareing's proposal. The restaurant was named after the architect of the hotel, Sir George Gilbert Scott. Wareing doesn't work in the kitchen itself, with the restaurant being run by head chef Chantelle Nicholson, but he takes an active interest in the proceedings conducting taste tests and dealing with staff. He believes in promoting seasonal British food in his menus, and using small suppliers, and has also said that he is not aiming for Michelin stars with The Gilbert Scott, but intending to create something affordable.

At 10 Downing Street in 2012, Wareing met Ramsay for the first time in five years. The pair simply greeted each other and went on their way. In May 2012, he helped to launch Aalto, a restaurant inside the Hotel La Tour in Birmingham, West Midlands. While it is not his restaurant, the menu is similar to that served at Wareing's Gilbert Scott and the team at the restaurant were trained by Wareing's employees.