Marco Pierre White | Full Address and Q&A | Oxford Union

so uh will Dow straight in I think and I was wondering market if you could just tell us a little bit more about your early life and how you grew up well firstly good evening everybody this is quite scary but quite exciting at the same time small chairs the well I was born in the north of England in a city called Leeds I was born in two very humble beginnings and and in it when I think back to my time in Leeds you know I came from a very working-class world but a working-class world that had self-esteem and they had pride they knew their position the front gardens were always tended the back garden was where you grew your vegetables you drew your way you dried your washing and when I go down the street sort of the world that I was born into I think it's not a world I recognize anymore because we were brought up to better ourselves because as simple as that when I was 13 years old my father looked at me as a man not a boy and sent me out to work and every morning I would wake up money to Saturday at 4:45 at five past five the milkman would collect me and we would run the next four hours run or three hours and then he would take me to school every day I was late being I earn five pounds a week and at the end of that week my father took my money and tell me was full he told me was for my holidays I never worked it out but when I look back as a child I think I think he's spending down the bookies but that was the world that I came from but my father what he did do he told me how to work hard he taught me how to be disciplined he taught me how to be punctual he taught me how to never throw in the towel if I threw in the towel he told me to pick it up never give in never ever ever give in and when you're young it's very easy to give in to walk away it really is I did very badly at school really badly I left school I wasn't very good at spelling I wasn't very good at reading or writing but my father in January 1978 he gave me some money which was enough to take me to Harrogate on the bus buy me a sandwich get me a cup of tea and bring me home he dressed me in my Sunday best it was the most daunting task I'd ever been given he told me to knock on the doors the kitchen doors of the hotels and explain that on the 17th of March I was finishing school I was looking for an apprenticeship I'd be prepared to start work on Monday the 20th so I got the 36 bus to Harrogate not knowing where I was going never in my life had I strayed so far from home unaccompanied and then I was in my Sunday best I got off the bus by the senate's half an hour ago not name where I was going not knowing that that journey was me leaving the world that I was born into and starting a new world and so I walked down the hill don't know why I got to the bottom of the hill I saw this hotel in front of me called the hotel since George Victorian quite grand posh tilman and so i walked alongside it the doorman looked at me I looked to him I was quite intimidated scared I walked past him I saw this little this little road which went round to the back of the hotel I walked down this road and then I saw this door a turquoise door I thought that must be the kitchen door I knocked on the door the truth is I never wanted that door to open it opened Trevor the kitchen porter open the door to my new life he said what can I do for you lad as I'm here to see the chef he assumed that I had an appointment he walked me through the kitchen it was the middle of lunchtime service there was screaming there was shouting chefs were running in there tall hats pure white and the chef looked at me I looked at him and I said under my breath hello ignored me we came to another turquoise door traveler knocks on the door the chef because the chef said come in trevor he said this young man here to see you chef he said come in so I walked in he said sit down I sort of recognized him I knew that type of man he had the same facial features as my father the publication spread wide open on his desk was the sporting life he had the stack of Willie Milburn slips which he raised it to any specials oh he said what can I do for you lad I said my dad sent me to Harrogate to look for work to find an apprenticeship I leave school on the 17th of March I'm prepared to start work on Monday the 20th he gave me a job as an apprentice chef living 15 pounds a week but what was amazing about that that that was the one of the luckiest moments of my life I was born to a council estate getting a job at the hotel since George was my passport to escape the world that I was born into to start a new world I went to work at the hotels in George they learn much about food not really a gel learn how to run did Allen have say yes chef did I learn how to take orders did I push myself that I learn how to use a knife did I fear being sacked yes I did that was my greatest fear because of our sect I lost my home I would have to go back to Leeds tell my father had been sacked I was ruled by fear I worked so hard and I'd push myself so hard and you know something the truth is I did not been for that man it was not a nice man I would never realized my dreams because he gave me the tools required he taught me how to absorb pressure how to push how to pick up the towel how to hide my tears because the old world of gastronomy was his coffee his world he was like a factory floor they were hard men all from humble beginnings a tough world that first evening on the 20th of March my head chef said to me that my head chef sorry my chef de Partie which means head of a section his name was Michael Truelove he said marking the first thing you've got to learn his service is service and I said what does that mean he said whatever the chef says to you whatever he screams at you whether he swear that you abuses you you just say yes chef and that's what I did I just said yes chef whatever I was told to do whatever was shouted at me I just said yes chef anyway I survived but in the afternoons the other chefs weren't interested in me I was 16 so what I used to do was I used to go to the old porters Lodge I used to polish the clients shoes for two hours have a cup of tea with billing Ken and one day I walked into the hall porters Lodge go around the back in my split shift I'm the chair rice that was a small book that book was about so large and so thick on the front of it it said the eager money guide to hotels and restaurants in Great Britain I started clicking through it and what I realized was that restaurants had stars but what was really interesting the finest restaurant in Britain was the box tree did Ilkley in West Yorkshire 15 miles down the road anyway that evening I went back I thought to myself if I'm going to be a chef then maybe I should work in the best restaurant in Britain the next a thought the same the next day I thought the same and this went on for a few months and one day I plucked up the courage to contact the Box tree and asked if they had any vacancies this was the second the third moment of luck in my life the day I applied for a job and man in the kitchen had given his notice so I go for an interview and like the first time I dress up in my Sunday best polish shoes clean cuffs current I 3 o'clock is my appointment once again I knock on a door the door opens and read it by two men almost called Malcolm Reed and the other was called Cullen long this had come in they sat me down my interview lasted two and a half hours what they did was with P was they shared with me the importance at boxtree how special boxtree was they wanted me to make the right decision it was quite scary because this was a very special place I came from a world which was black and white after the age of six my world had gone back into color so I went to work at boxtree what was interesting the head chef was a man called Michael Lawson he was the first British chef to win two stars in michl am one of only four chefs in Britain to hold that status the great Michelle Borden at the Connaught Alberta at leg of rush Michelle Rhee at the Waterside Inn and Michael Lawson at the Box tree he trained in the kitchens of the Queens Hotel by my father had done his apprenticeship many years previous he took me under his wing also there's a man called Ken lamb who's elderly but every night he would take me home and tell me stories he would inspire me he was like a father figure without question the father that I never had boxtree I fell in love with with the world of gastronomy every night after service after the clean down you'd have to say good night to the bosses because I was the young boy in the kitchen I was the first up if the boys all went round to the Rose and Crown for the last pint because in those days pubs closed at 10:30 so that they'd nip round for a quick pint I go upstairs the first thing mr. reader mr. Lockwood asked me is how did service go I'd tell them then what would happen they would tell me stories and this is where it all began in the Chinese room of the box tree they would tell me stories about the great restaurants of France Glasser lagron fee for that tour - Jean Maxim's shell barrier to a grow the list goes on name the chefs I used to absorb it like a sponge I'd never been so inspired in my life I'd never dreamt of anything like this in my life and with Michael mr. Ken lamb and the boss the box tree they made me dream they told me stories they shared their knowledge they brought out the best in me they also told me about restaurants in London like Latin declare with the great Pierre Kaufman magazine with Dima Bilan they cannot with bore down their Gavroche with Alberto but the the restaurant they spoke about most was leg avinash I used to listen and absorb and one day I plucked up the courage to write two letters I done my two little bit years at boxtree I wrote two letters one Telugu brush and one to a place called shootin Glen in the new forest on the sort of Hampshire Dorset border a place called New Milton Gavroche wrote back to me in French with an application form in French I tried to fill it in the truth is I messed it up so I screwed up and I threw it in the bin children Glen had invited me for an interview so I got the coach from Yorkshire very early morning down to Victoria coach station and then I got a taxi from Victoria coach station to Waterloo station I got the train I got there and I went for my interview with a man called Christian dealt a Christian dealt a was one of the great cooks from the great young cooks in Britain it trained that to a girl or in a van which had three stars in wish them and he trained at the Culinary which had two stars in Michelin and this was his first head chefs position I'd seen an article in the box tree in one of those sort of posh magazines which Ethel as a child called house and garden in the food pages and I kinda liked his food I liked his style he was sort of classical with a modern touch so improv interview and I was offered a job in the pastry the truth is I don't like sticky fingers I never liked sticky fingers since I was a very young boy of four when I sat on a fence in Italy with my mother watching them harvest figs and this young farmer came over with a handful of figs and gave them to my mother have you ever seen figs when they're being picked they bleed milk which is really sticky my mother broke one open and she shared it with me I kinda liked the taste but I didn't like the taste show you'd like the stickiness so I said I'll think about it I got the train back to London I arrived in London I didn't want to go to Tooting then there was something about it I didn't like he wasn't just the pastry and it sort of got a bit dark by now and I wasn't used to the city life I'd spent my life in the woods and the fields along the streams rivers of Yorkshire I saw this royal mailman I said to him I said how do I get to Victoria coach station sir please he said I'm going there so he delivered me to Victoria coach station by the time I got there my last coach had gone because in those days things stopped early that was the world and so I had to walk the streets of the night so at the back of Victoria coach station I think to myself if I walk up this road at the traffic lights and turn right down that road turn right again turn right again turn right and I'll just go around there big circle so I walk up this road I turn right and that road as I know today is called Pimlico Road I walk down Pimlico Road I get to the end and the crossroads straight on is Royal Hospital Road to my left is Chelsea Bridge Road I turn right up low Sloane Street I walk up Lois Sloane Street about 100 meters and I find myself looking through the windows at this very elegant restaurant so I stepped back a bit I watched them serving the food I watched them serving the desserts that Betty for lighting the cigars pouring the wine I think wow this is beautiful I look at the name above the door and the door but the door it says leg Gavroche this was the restaurant that I wrote so that sent me an application back in French so I make that decision that I walk the streets in the morning before I get my coach back to Yorkshire I'll knock on the back kitchen door in the morning at 8 o'clock I knock on the back kitchen door Ballu the pastry chef who does a meson plaster meson plasmons preparation in advance open the door and I he tells me and explains to me that Gavroche only does dinner he also tells whether the rule head offices down Lois Lane Street Chelsea Ridge Road Queenstown Road at the top of Queenstown road turn left about 300 meters you'll see the red office on the right but let's not forget I've been traveling now for over 24 hours with no sleep I'm tired I'm hungry and thirsty but you know something that's an irrelevance so I try and make my way that I get a bit lost but by some miracle end up this up going at the side road and when I get to the top of it just to my left I see this grubby office with the letters R o you X so I go and I knock on the door and opening at the same time because it's an office and to my amazement the great al bare room you're sitting on the desks of my left you say what can I do for you as I told him my story I told him that I'd written using an application back in French and I messed it up Natha in the Ben I told him that I went to tootin Glen for an interview Liv offered me a job in the pastry I told him that I've missed my coach home I told him that I'd walk the streets all night and then he said to me where do you work I said the box really locally in West Yorkshire and then he said to me the greatest meal I ever had in Britain was at the Bach Street in Italy West Yorkshire on the strength of that meal he employed me the job was less than a date you come down on the Monday will find your digs for a week you start work on the Tuesday that was it and that's how I ended up in London but what's interesting I realized years later the translation of the word leg a velour Gavroche means street urchin that's what I'd turn myself into over those thirty hours a street urchin and that was the start of my life in London I hope I'm not doing so so you're in London you're working at incredible restaurant and then how do you go on then to earn three Michelin stars I did my time in Gavroche and in that time I started in 81 in Gavroche in the January 1982 guide the Gavroche won three stars in Mishler which became the first restaurant in Britain to win three stars and to be part of that team to be part of that world was a magical moment I suppose it was like being Nobby Stiles in the 1966 World Cup final you know like I wasn't I was an apprentice but it was amazing but the one thing I'd like to point out I'm now nineteen it's all been about luck finding the Egan Ronny guide getting lost knocking on doors it's about luck success is born out of luck its awareness of mind that takes advantage of that opportunity you will all be confronted with opportunity you must take advantage of it because if you don't take advantage of your opportunity you'll never realize your dreams whether you want them or not is the irrelevance you don't know that until you achieve it so then to survive at Gavroche because Gavroche was only in the in in the latter part of on that first part of 81 it was only open dinner so I used to work in the restaurant with a great man called Nikola Dennis and because Balu who I ended up living with in Queenstown road where Nikola Denis who had a one-star restaurant in those days used to work the evening for extra money with the great Nikola Denis and on the way home from Gavroche had always walk by met Nico I liked niko he's a good man he was the funniest chef I ever worked with he was kind he was funny he was generous and he asked me I'd like to come in work in the morning before I went to Gavroche so I started Gavroche at 1 o'clock I worked with Nico from 8:30 to 12:30 they can go to Gavroche and then do the rest of my deck Gavroche because Gavroche paid me 67 pounds a week seven pounds of that was for my allowance for cleaning my chef whites so my actual wage was 60 pounds a week Nico paid me 50 pounds a week for working the five morning's duty to Saturday so allowed me to live that was any way I could afford to stay in London but why do his second job the other the other two star chef in Britain had been elevated in 1981 was a man called Pierre coffin coffin had started training at the gap brush he worked his way up through the ranks to become head chef of leg avinash and then opened up his restaurant in chelsea in royal hospital Road but he had a two-star restaurant I was told that Kaufmann did not employ the English he didn't believe they had it so I went to see Coffman I never told him I was that Gavroche and I had my interview at the end of that interview he said I've got no vacancies I recommend that you apply to Gavroche so I never told him I was that Gavroche so I said to him I'll work for nothing he says so give me a start date so I went to Tom Clair I worked there for three weeks then no pay and then one night Kaufmann said to me pull me to one side which always drink tea and soup bowls it's a French habit he said Mack oh I'd like to put you on the way to Rome I was very close to Coffman and to this day 30 years old I'm still his friend and my when my sons he's in the kitchen with him today so it's quite beautiful really thirty years on and Luciano's working very hard and Coppins rather fond of him it coffins a good man he soft today compared to what he was when I was a young boy he was hard but he had dreams of three stars in wish them like Alba and he realized his dreams his Goffman he was three stars today has a restaurant in London which has no stars but you know something it's my favorite restaurant in Britain do you know why because you he cooks food you want to eat it's an extension of him if you ask me a simple question what makes a great chef I would say that great chefs have three things in common one they accept and respect that mother nature is the true artist and they are the cook to everything that they do becomes an extension of them as a person and three they give you insight into the world they were born into the world which inspired them and they serve it on that place and that's what Pierre Kaufmann does and I had that great privilege of working with him and in many ways he was wish the man who ins inspired me and influenced me most out of all the great chefs I ever worked for so then I did my time with coffin which was tough remember that first day you go through for your lunch early 11 o'clock I walk through and there was a table with about 12 staff all French there's a little table to one side for me and the kitchen porter I thought interesting Kaufmann maybe read my expression I don't know he said Mac oh come and sit next to me I went and sat with him and had my lunch but I never ever ever sell at that table again all through my breaks at luncheon all through my breaks at dinner I worked hard because what was important to me was to prove to Pierre that an Englishman can work as hard if not harder than a Frenchman and I would became very close to Pierre and then one day Nico rang me up he's in Mackel he said I was Raymond Blanc last night him who runs and then water cuts us on this is 1984-85 he said he's looking for his sous-chef I told him about you marking so I went to see live on blog at the memoir and he gave me the job so I went to memoir and I did just over a year there but to be quite honest life life in the middle of the Oxfordshire countryside was quite boring for me and I enjoyed my time that I learned a lot there Raymond is a very very very special individual without question he mostly possesses the greatest palate that either that I have a man I've ever known genius I do my time and it's time to leave Manuel and I ring up a friend of mine I say look I'm coming back to London I'm on my way to Paris because I haven't yet worked in France and I want to go and work in one of the great three stars in France so I bring her up and say can you put me up for a week he said yes so I go over to London he tells me the keys and the ironmongers so I get the keys I go in his house he lives the Bobby's restaurant there's really little third sheets very weird anyway he comes back that afternoon and he tells me that his wife has left him and taken the children he's a bit of a broken man and I watch him drinking and he tells me his restaurants in trouble he said can you help me Marco so for six weeks sources not secured for six months I work for him for no pay every Monday night I cook for two men they never choose they always tell me to cook me dinner anyway Alan's restaurant goes bust I'm dagger Assault myself out I've worked for this man for six months for no money but he was my friend I helped him as much as I could and every day for six months I watched him get drunk so I go to the West End I got a job in the West End I don't tell them my history I don't tell them where I've trained and the restaurants and the quality of restaurants I've worked him and I get a job in 1986 sort of September time for 400 pounds a week cash in hand and 400 pounds a week in 1986 was a lot of money anyway about a month later I get a call from where the two men that I used to cook for every Monday night in this restaurant and they asked to see me so I go to see them and I don't really understand what they're saying to me really basically what they're saying is is they're offering me a head chef's job because they bought a restaurant on the edge of ones with common which was known butcher's shop and they want me to be the head chef but I get all confused and I said look I don't have the money and they said Marko because they're in a real situation because they've spent $350,000 restaurant so they said Marko we will PG personally guarantee your loan with the bank so in 1980s six latter part of 86 I get a loan from the Yorkshire bank for 67 thousand pounds I've never seen 67 thousand pounds and they PG dit and I get a job on 20 grand a year gross that restaurant became harvest we opened so again it's luck by default by me not understanding everything through my career as being lucky it's been nothing was there was no strategy there was no plan there was no nothing because that I not help my friend out for six months I would never have met those two men I've never got that opportunity so it's about opportunity it's about taking advantage and seeing it when it arrives so we opened in January the 15th 1987 and Michelin guy comes out in January about the third week of January for 353rd prints X and so we went in that guide in the January 1988 guide harvest was awarded one star in mish lamb in those days those me and two in the kitchen and two out front so we get one star with two black knives and forks I always believed in one thing when I was in the kitchen honestly with yourself is it within me I said to myself to win two stars in Michelin do I have what it takes I said to myself yes so I started pushing and pushing and pushing and pushing this is about self belief at whatever cost in January 1990 we won our second sorry Mitch lamb with three knives and forks so the status in the Michelin in 1990 Gavroche three stars Waterside three stars Tom clare melodica thisone Shaniqua which was Nico as favorite boxer II and myself all on two stars I joined that top echelon I've got to be one thing by March 1887 we were on the verge of going bust now let's go back to 1978 when I polished shoes I found that little book the name on it was the eagerly guide Eagan Ronnie walked into my restaurant in 1987 in March 87 Nikola Dennis had told him to go and visit me he had his dinner he asked to see me my name then was Marco white I never used my second name because in the 60s having them like Marco was bad enough forget the name Pierre so Nico not Nico Egon was fascinated about my name Marku I told him my mother was Italian and I told him that my next name my second name was Pia so eager now does a whole page in the Sunday Times about this chef with long hair in Wandsworth with three names Marco Pierre White French Italian in English and that's how I became Marco Pierre White I never use it it was Egon who gave him my name Egon saved that business for you were full to the rafters in 1990 I said to myself is it possible to win three stars in those days impossible really a little hole-in-the-wall impossible so I got to there man called Michael Caine I was a restaurant with him with Michael's friends was a man called rock or 40 how I got to know a man called Michael Caine was through one of my best friends a man called Steven Saltzman whose father was Harry who bought the rice the Bond movies he was very close to Michael and Shakira and he sort of fabricated because that was Steven Lee fabricated said I would look at a restaurant in Chelsea harbour Steven tells Michael Caine that I'm open in restaurant Chelsea harbors the Michael Caine's as I want in the long and short of it is only living over the restaurant with Michael Caine one of Michael's friends was a man called rocker 40 whose family had 40 hotels in those days the world's largest hotel group Rocco had a lease the old grill room in the Hyde Park Hotel he said to Michael Caine would Marco like at least there so I took on the lease and we transferred over in September the 1st 1993 we had one month to get back to our standards because Michelin goes to print in October they inspected us three times in 1993 September and we transferred the stars over in general in 94 we got our two stars with four black knives and forks I said to myself is it within us me and my team to win three stars and I believed it was so he pushed through the year of 94 in 1995 January we won our three stars in mish lamb being the team with four black knives and forks we'd realized our dream and we were the first English Kitchen or British kitchen to ever win three stars in wish I was one small link within that chain and that's what you have to remember in life it's others who make and realize your dreams it's not you you're just the Pied Piper they make your dream because if they're not prepared to follow you six days a week 18 hours a day it'll never come true and so he will not three stars and when the dust that settled my head chef Robert Reed said to me sit ready to go from here marking and I said to him when I was a young boy mister you read you so tell me about a restaurant in Paris called Lasser which was the ultimate because it had three stars in Michelin and five red knives and forks I said we've got three stars with four black knives and forks let's go for five red knives and forks the next three years we pushed and we pushed and we pushed and we did everything in January 9 th we went our three stars with five red knives and folks I'd realize my dream all those years later and that dream I had when I was 17 years old I was now 37 years old so for 20 years I'd worked to realize my dream things don't happen overnight you have to make the emotional and the personal investment to make your dreams come true and the truth is well in three stars was going to be without question the most exciting journey of any chef's life retaining them is the most boring job in the world you become this very well oiled machine it's no longer personal its mechanical because you're doing a hundred covers 120 covers every night at that three-star level and by the time we'd finished we have 30 plus in the kitchen we had 30 plus in the restaurant in total we had 75 80 staff for those hundred covers it's just a well-oiled machine it's like a Rolls Royce it's boring and so then I was no longer happy I'd realize my dream and the truth is had worked hard for 22 years for something that I never wanted so I'm sitting there I think to myself what do I do when I won my three stars I'd walk the head inspector of Michelin steady to his car I shook his hands and what he said to me was marking never forget what made you great what he was saying to me was stay behind your stove I've always respected that and so I thought I sat down I thought to myself one of my options I had three options option one continue working six days a week 80 90 hours a week you leave home in the morning and your children are sleeping you go home at night and your children are sleeping you're exhausted on a Sunday but you retain your status your income your position within the industry that's option one option to live a lie pretend I'm behind the stove pretend I still cook continue to charge high prices and question my integrity and everything that I ever worked for option three pluck up the courage to take your apron off hang it up give Mission them back their stars except tomorrow that you're unemployed you have no status within our industry they were my three options one day I'm salmon fishing one Sunday I'm fishing on the tests of salmon play quarter salmon I released it every time I call a salmon I rested the pool I start on the bench they lit a and this little thought came into my mind marking you have been judged by people who have less than which than you so the truth is what's it all worth not much but what was important I had to win those three stars to take myself the next level to start to understand what I really want out of life and that's what I'm doing today fifteen sixteen years after retirement I now know what I want but I was lost for a very long time and what I did was when I retired from cooking I went to the rivers I went to the fields I went back to the woods I fished I went shooting I went deer stalking and all the things I did as a child after my mother had died because that's where I felt safe but today I now know what I want and every day I spend time making it and making it and making it and all I can say is thank you for your time I hope you videos got a question I'll happily answer it but thank you for your patience have you got any more questions no I think if we just move straight over to you audience questions so if anyone does have a question please raise your hand and so we'll start off by the question just there Miguel yeah hi Marco what I wanted first of all thank you very much for sharing your experiences with us what I wanted to ask you is and shows like MasterChef Australia your main advice to in cooking is to keep things simple and what I was wondering is how do you keep things simple and yet are still able to create amazing dishes it's very easy to overwork something it doesn't matter what world we're in we overwork them we overthink them the secret is is having confidence in what you do within my world is about respecting that mother nature is the artist I'm just the cook allow her to present herself why do you want to take something and turn it into something it's not you see people take small little breasts of pigeon for example they carve it and fan it once you do that what you do one you lose is it wouldn't you change the shape it no longer looks like a pigeon breast secondly you have loss of heat you have loss of juice you've sent into something that's not the easiest way for you to understand what I'm saying is do you like espresso it's delicious which size isn't it but when it's cold it's dead isn't it it's the same with food serve your food hot serve it quick and keep it simple allow Mother Nature to be the true artist allow her to do the work you're just the cook and when you accept that in life then life changes because like our his chefs not too dissimilar when they're young they tend to overwork their being in all this information all this knowledge all this skill and they feel they have to use it but you look at the great chefs the great artists they make look so simple Deming they just allow it to be simple so whatever you want to do in your life don't ever work it don't overthink it do you realize your dream trust me thank you thank you for your question next we'll go to the back to the question on the left hand side yeah you turning around um really inspiring story there I just wanted to ask if you feel like you're talking about keeping things pure and things do you think there should be more of a an emphasis on how chefs like source their ingredients and that recycling of like food waste and everything should we like try and yes I do actually I think one of my favorite pastimes in the kitchen was always looking in the bin it's amazing what you find in there if you look there's no reason for food to end up in the bin there's always a use what was the first part of your question again I'm just talking about that just about like sustainable sourcing and things and I think what's important about food is the problems of food it's really important but having said all that I have no problem with modern-day farming methods and I'll tell you why because if it wasn't for modern day farming methods a lot of people would not be able to afford a roast chicken on a Sunday a roast turkey at Christmas if you imagine of all eggs were free-range organic how much would bread biscuits pasture cost so we have we can't be blinkered just because we've said in privileged positions we have to accept and that a lot of people aren't in our privileged position it's as simple as that thank you thank you for your question next we'll go to the member in the third row hi I was just wondering like what's the best meal you've ever had not cooked by yourself what's your name Lizzie hello Lizzie thank you exciting what's important for me says he what's important for me wait comes tweeting is the people I sit with so about the moment I've eaten lots of great food in my life do you know something I'm gonna be brutally honest when I go home I think my favorite supper is a ham sandwich with pickle Ellie and a cup of tea and that simple but when it comes to having dinner it's about sitting with people I love and people I enjoy the company of and the most important aspects of any restaurant is the environment we sit in not what's on the plate because if you don't feel comfortable in the environment you're sitting in you'll never enjoy what's on the plate number two is service number three is food great ambience great service they look after you they serve you with a smile then you can start to enjoy your food sometimes you go to restaurants and they're so you're so on the edge of your chair it's so bright you think I'm not really enjoying this it's about how good the food is that's what's important it's about the moment food secondary let's not place too much importance on food let's base it on the environment and the company is sitting and the service with a smile because if you get service with a smile and there's a problem you don't complain to you the way is a little arrogant waiter yes you're not too happy are you I hope I answered your question Lizzie thank you very much ah next we'll go to the question right at the back over hi you said that what your dream was to get the three mission starts and then he said when she got it then you felt it was a bit boring my dream is to have a restaurant would you say that when I get my restaurant it might be boring to maintain the reputation um where you gone you've disappeared yes that's right firstly what's your name Simon hello Simon when you say you want a restaurant do you want mr. the stars no I do to a restaurant which serves great food it becomes a way of life it becomes an extension of you it's where you and your family are brought up like I'm building sort of micro farm at this moment inside I've got lots of pigs and I've got lambs coming out got my geese and I've got my turkeys and my chickens it's about a way of life for me when you go down the road of mission styles it's not a way of life you're on that treadmill you're delivering to Michelin every day you delivering to customers every day because remember when I cooked when I retired my average bill was 300 pounds a head and that was 1999 the 23rd of December can you imagine the pressure that you're on to deliver standards but if you want to make it a love affair like what I'm doing now all these years later then you'll have a happy life thank you thank you thank you for your question we've got time for just a couple more so will next go to the member just to here at the front hello mark oh hello from a chef's point of view in the industry is very short on chefs do you recommend for people as of mature age to try cooking what's your name sir Ricky hello Ricky you think have been a chef I'm sort of trading already sort of parts I what I would advise you is to make sure you put your career into the right hands because they will guide you and protect you and teach you I don't think you're ever too young because within all of us to cook these within all of us to cook well and you know sometimes in life it's a bit of an advantage starting later because you made that decision when you're young in you're 16 you get into the trade for whatever reason you may have been placed there do you throw in the towel you're obviously taking it very serious your think actually for the rest of my life I'm considering being a chef and I think that's fabulous you know something if cooking gives you pleasure if the buzz of the service gives you pleasure then throw in the towel elsewhere and go and be a chef that's what I would say good luck Wicky I see then we'll finish with just remember that from say thank you so much I always wanted to be a chef and you're one of my biggest fans mark oh I am I want to ask you that's it what I don't know why they're laughing I'd love to get them not you I'm taking very serious sorry what's your name what are you my date name's James and my question was when you're fishing for a Michelin star how do you go about creating a new dish how do you judge what you're doing and know that it's pushing into new grounds well firstly I'm a classicist I trained in the world of gram cuisine I saw the Golden Age of gastronomy I saw the I started scoff is world I saw the modern world with liquids in nouvelle that I saw a world which was an extension of both of those cuisines which was without question the most magical food on earth it really was because what they did was they made food that you wanted to eat not just look at the world we live in today you go to a restaurant you get 12 courses 16 courses little knickknacks you go into a canopy party I don't like anybody I'm gonna get stuck in and have a glass of wine the so I don't believe I believe that we live in a world of refinement not invention I don't think you can reinvent you can refine cuisine but let's not forget you can refine something too much you make a souffle to light till collapse you make it Muslim a fish to light till collapse you make a sauce to light its like dishwater you've got to find that balance that and that's called perfection and you know something if you cook the best fish and chips in England you'll become famous if you make the best bacon eggs in the morning with butyl organic eggs and beautiful bacon you'll become famous if you want to win a mission star in your restaurant then we buy beautiful produce and keep it simple and cook food that you want to eat not what you think they might want to eat because it's got to be an extension of you as a man because if you don't if it doesn't become next interview then you'll never be happy cooking and then we cook food that you want to eat allow mother nature to the star and take your inspiration from your early beginnings and trust me you might win two three stars you

Channel: OxfordUnion

Views: 2,586,690

Rating: 4.9037151 out of 5

Keywords: Oxford, Union, Oxford Union, Oxford Union Society, debate, debating, The Oxford Union, Oxford University, Marco Pierre White, masterchef, master chef, Australia, cooking, celebrity, celebrity chef, cookery, Michelin star, Gordon Ramsay

Id: U-xCIstDBaI

Length: 59min 40sec (3580 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 29 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/MF_Kitten]

Thus guy is so intimidating if you ever see him in a teaching/mentoring position.

[u/digital_bubblebath]

Awesome. I love when ASMR and an interesting talk can combine.