Le Gavroche events celebrate 25 years of Michel Roux Jr at the helm
Le Gavroche kicked off a series of "pop-up" events last night to celebrate 25 years of chef patron Michel Roux Jr being in charge of the two-Michelin-starred London restaurant.
While it is now a quarter of a century since chef-patron Michel took over the reins from his father Albert, it is 49 years since the restaurant first opened, in 1967.
As part of the celebrations this year, Michel will host a series of events at the restaurant, beginning last night with a dinner entitled "the Next Generation", which saw Michel share responsibility with his daughter Emily for cooking six courses.
Michel, who won the Special Award at the Cateys in 2013, said: "It's been an exceptional 25 years for me and for Le Gavroche. I can't believe how quickly those years have passed, it feels like yesterday I first stepped through the doors as chef patron.
Among the now-famous chefs to have trained at Le Gavroche during Michel's time there are Marcus Wareing, Gordon Ramsay, Monica Galetti, Bryn Williams, and Jun Tanaka.
In November last year, it was revealed that Le Gavroche would change to a five-day week from its usual six-day operation, to improve staff work-life balance, and allow the restaurant to launch a series of Monday night pop-ups such as "the Next Generation" pop-up, which took place yesterday.
The restaurant is not the only high-profile establishment to make a significant change in hours to improve staff working conditions; the Nottingham-based Restaurant Sat Bains, run by chef Sat and his wife Amanda, recently changed to a four-day week, giving his staff 48 more leisure days a year, for the same pay as before.
Main image of Le Gavroche in 2016 by Issy Croker
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