Claude Bosi
It’s been eight years since Claude Bosi upped sticks and moved Hibiscus from Ludlow to London. He described the move as dangerous – he had to give up a small but successful provincial restaurant where he was always on the stove, to move to a luxury, now 70-seat, W1 establishment. The risk paid off, but he admits that the
move suited his temperament: “At heart, I’m a city boy,” he says. Having learned his craft in Paris at Alain Passard’s three- Michelin-starred L’Arpège, this rings true. He noticed from the outset that a gulf
separated the two types of clientele: “When you are in the countryside, you think there’s not a great demand for this style of cuisine, but when you come to London you are competing with many other great restaurants. You have to fight to keep your regulars.” His classic approach to
French bourgeois cuisine hasn’t changed, though: “My cooking is similar, but it’s become lighter on the plate; less complicated. My philosophy and the mix of flavours is exactly the same.” If anything has
altered, it was his attitude to running Hibiscus. During the first four or five years he used his celebrity status to globe-trot,
taking up the kind of invitations that land on the desks of chefs in the public eye. But no longer – he likes being in
control on the pass. Consistency has improved as a result. “I needed to come back to
reality and realise that my job was
cooking. I’m not a movie star.” He didn’t see himself as a follower of food fashion, because he believed it
would confuse his customers: “If I want to have repeat trade, then my customers know that every time they come they will have a similar experience.” His current menus include updated versions of tiramisu and sticky toffee pudding. What he has noticed is that there is no difference between a gastronomic restaurant in France and one across the Channel: “London is the place to be. You find chefs coming from all over the world because they want to be here.”
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32 | Best of Chef | March 2016
17 October 2014 | The Caterer | 32
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