Interview: ANGELA HARTNETT

Visiting Dubai to mark the eighth anniversary of Verre by Gordon Ramsay at the Hilton Dubai Creek with a stint in the kitchen, Michelin-starred chef Angela Hartnett chats with Lucy Taylor about the restaurant’s impending refurbishment, the problems of finding fresh produce and whether she’d prefer Gordon or Marcus cooking for her

Tell, us a bit about what you’ve been doing during your time in Dubai.

Well we organised some master-classes and gala dinners, to celebrate Verre’s eighth anniversary.

Unfortunately the fire at the hotel put a stop to the master-classes [the fire occurred elsewhere in the property and was promptly extinguished, but not before it set off the sprinkler system, which warped the wooden floor in Verre, forcing the management to close the outlet].

But we still held the planned ‘Murano meets Verre’ dinners, just in Glasshouse, and it has been really good to remind everyone Verre’s here, do a bit of PR for Matt [Pickop, the property’s executive chef] and also to remind people that Gordon [Ramsay] was one of the first major chefs to come out here.

What have you particularly enjoyed about being back?

I always like working with the team; there are a lot of people I know still here and it’s been great to catch up with some of my guys who worked with me in London.

What was the hardest thing about launching the restaurant in the first place?

I think it was — and probably still is — trying to get the produce, because you’re in the middle of the desert at the end of the day, nothing’s grown locally, so you’re importing everything and that means firstly there’s a cost element involved and secondly, probably more importantly for a chef, that there’s the issue of quality.

You’re always struggling with getting really great ripe fruit and fantastic vegetables, because everything’s either under- or over-ripe. You can’t get a pineapple to taste really fresh and juicy if it’s been picked too early and goes on one of these ripening vans; that’s not a natural process.

When you’re used to working with such great produce it’s heart-breaking in a way, because you know it could taste so much better. That’s something I would always miss about Europe [if I was working here]: seasons. I think Dubai’s great, but it’s not somewhere I particularly want to come back and work again; it’s not my kind of scene. I think you get used to working with seasonality. What is amazing though is how the guys working here do adapt to it, and you see them really trying to focus and follow the seasons.

How do you feel about Verre’s status today?

I think it’s great — it’s carried on well, it’s still got the standards, it’s doing well. It still misses that edge, I suppose, by being just this side of Jumeirah. It always amazes me when people say it’s too far to come, but that’s just me!

In a way, I think the fire happening and the restaurant temporarily closing could be a good thing, because they’ll have a little refurb and it’ll be nice to do that and change it a bit; and I think they might go with a chef’s table, which would be fantastic in my opinion. It’s good to re-invent sometimes; Gordon just did that with Royal Hospital Road after 10 years; it’s always good to put a bit of money in and relaunch a place, to get everyone thinking about it again.

You’ve got Murano and the York & Albany up-and-running in the UK — how’s that all going?

Really well! We opened just before Lehman’s collapsed, so we got in just at the right time.

I think when you finish at a restaurant you’ve been with for seven years, you sort of expect to open your next one at exactly the same state of play and it is hard to step seven years back and think ‘well, this is how it was last time at this stage’. But what is great about Murano and York & Albany is that they both feel as if they’ve been there a while; they’ve really got into their moulds and got it all balanced.

What advice would you offer someone wanting to make it as a chef?

I’d tell them to really make up their mind about what route they want to go. If Michelin’s your ball park, then do your training veering towards that. If you just want to do good local food in a bistro atmosphere then go and work for people who do the best at that. When I look at CVs and see people who started at Heston, then went to work at the Rivington, they’re poles apart as restaurants — you can’t even put them in the same bracket. So what are you flitting towards? Make your mind up!

Working a couple of years in a good hotel kitchen is also great, because you get trained in every area.

On to the tough questions: Ramsay or Wareing — who would you prefer to have cooking for you?

I’m not answering that one! Well, maybe different occasions — Gordon to do my wedding, Marcus to do my funeral!

No, really they’re both brilliant cooks, and even thought they’ve had their differences I know they’d both say that about the other. Gordon’s sort of a lighter touch, in some respects; his food’s a bit lighter, Marcus’ is slightly heavier. But I’ve learnt loads from both of them, so that’s a really hard question. You’ll get me into trouble with that one!

So what’s next for you?

A book the year after next, which we’re currently working on; we’ve got a couple of TV programmes we might be involved with; there are a few ideas floating around. Restaurant-wise, I’m just happy running the ones I’m running for the moment.

No plans to open anything in this region then?

Not right now. I wouldn’t say no, but I’d do it like Verre — consultancy. I wouldn’t come out here and open a restaurant, but rather put two or three really good people in and run it like that. But definitely, I’d have no issues doing something like that — a nice week’s holiday in the sun four times a year could be good!