Food & beverage
Left: Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons is nestled in the Oxfordshire countryside.
Below: La Truite dish.
Opposite: Luke Selby is executive head chef at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons.
Over the next six years, he steadily climbed his way up through the ranks to become sous chef – his brothers also joined Le Manoir taking on junior roles – before leaving to work under Clare Smyth at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. In 2016, Selby took a job with Ollie Dabbous at his eponymous restaurant in Fitzrovia, soon rising to become head chef. During this time, he won the prestigious Roux Scholarship and travelled to Japan for a stage at the three-Michelin- starred Nihonryori Ryugin in Tokyo.
“I really wanted to do something that would push me completely out of my comfort zone,” he tells me. “[Japan] was totally different from anything I had experienced before… it was at the opposite end of the scale from the classic French cuisine I trained in.” On his return to London, he secured a head chef role as part of the opening team at Dabbous’s new Mayfair restaurant – Hide – which scooped its first Michelin star within six months of opening. Eager to set out on his own path, Selby left Hide in 2019 and, together with his brothers, took over Evelyn’s Table – an intimate 12-seater counter restaurant set within a former beer cellar on the edge of Chinatown in Soho. It wasn’t long before his inventive menu captured the attention of the inspectors once again; in 2022 Selby and his brothers won a star of their own and were jointly bestowed with Michelin’s young chef of the year award. When Blanc came to dine at Evelyn’s Table and invited Selby for lunch, the young chef thought little of it. They had stayed in touch over the years since his time at Le Manoir and he assumed Blanc just wanted to catch up. “We had a very long lunch and a lot of espressos,” Selby recalls. “And then he asked me if I’d be interested in coming back…” Things moved quickly. After discussing the opportunity with Theo and Nat, the brothers decided to return to Le Manoir together. Today, Luke oversees a brigade of around 65 chefs. It’s a far
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cry from the cramped quarters at Evelyn’s where the entire team comprised of the three Selby brothers and a kitchen porter. Sharing this journey, Selby tells me, has been an amazing experience. I ask what it’s like working day in, day out with his brothers. Do they bicker in the kitchen? “We have disagreements every now and then, but I don’t think high stress is conducive to working at the highest level,” he says. “Above all, we have a really strong connection… I’ve worked with them for almost ten years. They know exactly what my palate is like and the standards I set. I’m very lucky: they support me massively every day.”
Back where it all began
Selby loves being back in the Oxfordshire countryside, working at the picturesque country house with its sprawling vegetable garden. Blanc is always on hand for advice; the two chefs work closely together each day. “When I have an idea to change a dish we talk about it,” he explains. “Raymond has the most incredible palate, so I always run tastings past him to make sure it’s perfect before it goes on the menu.
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