THE CHEF

One of London’s greatest chefs returns to The Berkeley 

Pierre Koffmann has been at the heart of fine cuisine in Britain for over 35 years. Between 1977 and 2004 his restaurant La Tante Claire set new standards for cooking in Britain while serving as an academy for many of today’s culinary superstars. Between them his various protégés now boast over 20 Michelin stars in their own right.

Pierre Koffmann returns to The Berkeley with a more relaxed, informal style and classic provincial French cooking – the food that first inspired him to become a chef.

1970-1977: Le Gavroche and the Waterside Inn
After working as a young chef in Strasbourg and Toulon, Pierre Koffmann arrived in London in 1970 to work under Michel and Albert Roux at Le Gavroche. In 1972 he was made the first head chef of the Roux brothers’ new venture, the Waterside Inn at Bray, where he stayed for 5 years.

1977-2004: La Tante Claire
When Pierre and his late wife Claire opened La Tante Claire in 1977, it was the start of a residency at the top of the London culinary world that would span 4 decades – until 1998 in Chelsea’s Royal Hospital Road, and then at The Berkeley.

Within 6 years of opening, La Tante Claire had its third Michelin star. Pierre’s signature dish of pig’s trotter with chicken mousseline, sweetbreads and morels – now back on the menu at Koffmann’s – was the most visible sign of a style that has influenced British chefs ever since, creating extraordinary dishes from classically simple ingredients.