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New Chef at Traditional London Hotel Caps Months of Change

Gordon Ramsay's protégé, Angela Hartnett, decides against renewing her contract at the Connaught

Jacob Gaffney

Posted: Friday, August 15, 2008

Grappa is out and Armagnac is in as the Connaught hotel in London returns to the traditional Anglo-French fare the hotel was long known for. The return is thanks to the recent placement of Hélène Darroze as head chef at the hotel's eponymous restaurant.

The restaurant at the Connaught recently re-opened after an eight-month, $140 million planned renovation. During that time, its Mediterranean-leaning chef, Angela Hartnett, decided not to renew her contract. Hartnett, a student of Gordon Ramsay's, had led the Connaught's kitchen since 2002. And while no parties can officially comment on the voided contract, in the time that the Connaught was closed, Hartnett became a celebrity television chef in Britain, starring in Kitchen Criminals and Take on the Takeaway after making her television debut on Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen. She also opened a Ramsay Group restaurant in Boca Raton, Fla., in 2007, Cielo by Angela Hartnett, and is opening two new restaurants in London this fall.

Replacing her is the very French Hélène Darroze, who has earned two Michelin stars and operates another eponymous restaurant on Paris' Left Bank. Darroze has wasted no time bringing her flair across the channel, along with new sommelier Mathieu Gaignon.

Darroze's menu includes dishes that represent her native southwest France as well as the British Isles. "I shall be cooking in the same way that I do in Paris," said Darroze. "I live by the philosophy that the star is not the chef, but the produce that I use, and you must treat it respectfully. I will then cook it from my heart, and put my emotions into every dish."

For his part Gaignon says he is well-prepared to pair the cuisine with his new Franco-centric wine list, which currently offers 800 different wines, with plans to expand to 1,500.

And just as Hartnett promoted grappa to England by offering several kinds by the glass, Gaignon will be offering a wide range of Armagnac, produced by Darroze's father and brother. "We have a selection of 44 different vintages, all in magnums displayed on a trolley that we wheel to the table," said Gaignon, who is excited to be offering a brandy he describes as less well known than Cognac. "I always recommend that the guest choose a vintage from their year of birth, just for fun. I want them to be inspired to come back and try another one on their next visit."

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