Éric Chavot (born 1967) is a French

Michelin starred The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a ki ...

. He was working the head chef at the Bob Bob Cité and Bob Bob Ricard restaurants in London until January 2020, as well as the consultant chef at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

's Coda restaurant. Born in

Arcachon Arcachon ( ; ) is a commune in the southwestern French department of Gironde. It is a popular seaside resort on the Atlantic coast southwest of Bordeaux, in the Landes forest. It has a sandy beach and a mild climate said to be favourable for i ...

, Gironde, Chavot was trained at the Boucanier, then at the Patio.

In Britain

Chavot trained in France before moving to London to continue his culinary pursuits. He worked as sous chef under

Raymond Blanc Raymond Blanc OBE (born 19 November 1949) is a French chef. Blanc is the chef patron at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, a hotel-restaurant in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, England. The restaurant has two Michelin stars and scored 9/10 in the '' Good ...

Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons ("Four Seasons Manor", a.k.a. Le Manoir) is a luxury hotel-restaurant in the village of Great Milton near Oxford, in Oxfordshire, England. It is in a historic 15th-century manor house, near a church that was v ...

Great Milton Great Milton is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about east of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,042. The School Great Milton church of England primary school is a prominent part of the village community ...

, Oxfordshire; and then London's

La Tante Claire La Tante Claire (''The Aunt Claire'') was a restaurant in Chelsea, London, which opened in 1977 and 1998. Owned and operated by Pierre Koffmann, it gained three Michelin stars in 1983, and held all three until the restaurant moved premises in 1998 ...

and

Harvey's Harvey's is a fast food restaurant chain operating in Canada, with locations in every province except British Columbia. It serves hamburgers, poutine, hot dogs, french fries, onion rings, and other traditional Canadian fast-food fare. The ch ...

. He then worked as Head Chef at

Marco Pierre White Marco Pierre White (born 11 December 1961) is a British chef, restaurateur, and television personality. He has been dubbed "the first celebrity chef" and the ''enfant terrible'' of the UK restaurant scene. In January 1995, aged 33, White became ...

's "The Restaurant", the

Hyde Park Hotel Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London, is a five-star hotel, located in the Knightsbridge area of London, owned and managed by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. Housed in a historic, Edwardian-style building, the hotel originally opened in 1908 as th ...

and Chez Nico at Ninety,

Park Lane Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from ...

, London. He then started his own restaurant Interlude de Chavot and later Chavot on the

Fulham Road Fulham Road is a street in London, England, which comprises the A304 and part of the A308. Overview Fulham Road ( the A219) runs from Putney Bridge as "Fulham High Street" and then eastward to Fulham Broadway, in the London Borough of Hamme ...

The Capital

Chavot was appointed Head Chef of

The Capital Restaurant The Capital Restaurant was a restaurant located in the Capital Hotel in Knightsbridge, London, England. The restaurant was established in 1971 and earned a star from the Michelin Guide under chefs Richard Shepherd and Brian Turner. Other notabl ...

in August 1999, with the

menu In a restaurant, the menu is a list of food and beverages offered to customers and the prices. A menu may be à la carte – which presents a list of options from which customers choose – or table d'hôte, in which case a pre-established seque ...

based around

French cuisine French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the re ...

-inspired dishes. His flavourful and creatively presented dishes earned him two Michelin stars.

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

's critic

Jay Rayner Jason Matthew Rayner (born 14 September 1966) is an English journalist and food critic. Early life Jason Matthew Rayner was born on 14 September 1966. He is the younger son of Desmond Rayner and journalist Claire Rayner. His family is Jewish. ...

judged:

describes Chavot as "The best in London without a doubt.""Exclusive: Marco Pierre White on why he's back behind the stove for TV's Hell's Kitchen"
CatererSearch, Wednesday 25 April 2007 In 2008, Chavot represented the United Kingdom at the 25th anniversary celebration of the International Academy of Gastronomy, held at the Hotel Le Bristol in Paris.

Selfridges and the Weston Family

Chavot left the Capital in 2009 and worked with French chef

Pierre Koffman Pierre Koffmann (born 21 August 1948) is a French professional chef. He was one of a handful of chefs in the United Kingdom to have been awarded the coveted three Michelin stars at his restaurant La Tante Claire in London. Until December 2016 h ...

at a special Pop Up restaurant on

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridg ...

London. The Capital lost both its Michelin stars when he left. Chavot is an occasional columnist in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

,'' and as a guest chef on ''

Saturday Kitchen ''Saturday Kitchen Live'' is a British cookery programme, that is broadcast live on BBC One every Saturday between 10.00am and 11.30am produced by Cactus TV. History 2002–2003 After a pilot hosted by Ainsley Harriott on 14 April 2001, the ...

'' with James Martin. He caused controversy when accidentally swearing on the programme broadcast on 23 May 2009. After his stint at Selfridges he spent two seasons at the exclusive Weston estate in Florida troubleshooting their restaurants and implementing processes and methods for delivering his food to the residents.

Other restaurants

At the start of 2013 the eponymous Brasserie Chavot in Conduit Street was launched, next to and part of the Westbury hotel. It received a Michelin star the following year, but closed in 2015. Chavot worked as the head chef of Bob Bob Cité, previously Bob Bob Ricard when he joined, from August 2017 to January 2020, citing "private, family reasons".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chavon, Eric French chefs French expatriates in the United Kingdom Head chefs of Michelin starred restaurants Living people People from Arcachon 1967 births