Crown gruels

British cuisine has long been the butt of the rest of the world’s jokes. It was Virginia Woolf who said, “What passes for cookery in England is an abomination.” And former French President Jacques Chirac once said that after Finland, Britain had the worst food in the world. But a casual survey of the UAE’s restaurant scene would suggest that in line with the renaissance it has enjoyed in recent years, the UK and its chefs are having the last laugh.

Marco Pierre White has just opened his latest UAE venture, Titanic. It’s his third big restaurant launch in the country, and another White restaurant, Wheeler’s, is slated to open at the Dubai International Financial Centre this summer. Alongside Gary Rhodes and Jamie Oliver, White is reaping the rewards of the UAE’s love affair with British food. Yet, all three chefs played their part in the story of the British food revolution.

Post-war Britain was hardly a gourmand’s paradise. Rationing of staple foods continued until the early 1950s, and it wasn’t until the late 1960s that British food began to move away from the mushy cabbage and scorched roast beef stereotype — thanks to two Frenchmen.

Albert and Michel Roux are widely credited with shaking up British food. Shortly after the London opening of their Le Gavroche restaurant in 1967, it became the first in Britain
to win Michelin stars. The Roux brothers opened more restaurants.

They nurtured a crop of talented young chefs in their new restaurants. And Britain has never looked back since.

An explosion of cookery programmes hit UK television screens from the 1980s onwards. Flamboyant personalities such as Keith Floyd paved the way for younger chefs such as Gary Rhodes and Jamie Oliver to capture the British public’s imagination and turn them onto better ingredients and great food.
 
Roux trainee Marco Pierre White had already become the youngest chef ever to win — and controversially hand back — three Michelin stars. Then the boundaries were broken yet again in the late 1990s by Heston Blumenthal.

His snail porridge at The Fat Duck took British food to another level, and its reputation rose like a helium-filled Yorkshire pudding. It was Marco Pierre White protégé Gordon Ramsay who became the first British celebrity chef to open a restaurant in Dubai. Verre raised the bar for fine dining in the UAE and where Ramsay boldly ventured, Rhodes followed, opening Rhodes Mezzanine and, more recently, Rhodes Twenty10. A third UAE restaurant, Rhodes 44, will open in Abu Dhabi this September, and head chef Paul Lupton says the success of the Rhodes brand is testament to the rising stock of British food.

“Britain has moved on in leaps and bounds in terms of its cuisine. I am hugely passionate about the fantastic produce we have in the UK, such as some amazing artisan cheeses, which can rival any of the French. We have wonderful seafood, which is valued all around the world, and a new generation of chefs coming through, cooking some of the most exciting food on the planet.”

Lupton feels the demand for British food in the UAE goes beyond the expatriate community. “I believe there is a fondness for English culture in general and with this also comes the food. England is well-known for its comfort food and this aspect also attracts a lot of people to the cuisine.”

The growing appeal of British food has given rise to a number of high-profile UK restaurant franchises. The Ivy is one of London’s most famous celebrity haunts, but now people in the UAE can enjoy its unique brand of British hospitality.

“It is what we call ‘comfort dining’ rather than Michelin-star dining,” says General Manager Mirzo Hafizov. “It is often said that at The Ivy, ordinary people are treated like celebrities and celebrities are treated like ordinary people.”

Elsewhere, Rivington Grill now has two restaurants in Dubai offering British classics to people of all nationalities. But for those who still think British food is all soggy fish and chips and dollops of ketchup, Rivington chef Simon Conboy has a few tips. “I would recommend the butterflied sea bass for the fish lover, the beef Wellington, which we serve for two people to share, and for a lighter appetite, the sweet-cured salmon salad. Dessert-wise, the sticky toffee pudding is one of our most popular puddings and is both delicious and truly British.” 

As London prepares for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and for the Olympic Games, some of the best chefs in the world are turning their attention to the English capital. Rene Redzepi of Copenhagen’s famous Noma will open a pop-up restaurant at Claridges this summer, while Ferran Adrià of El Bulli aims to open a cocktail concept in London next year. Even more reason for Britain to be laughing.