MICHEL ROUX JR: "DISHES I'D TRAVEL FOR"

Famed chef Michel Roux Jr is the scion of food royalty. His father and uncle, Albert and Michel Roux, launched Le Gavroche in London in 1967, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It was the first restaurant in the UK to receive a Michelin star. Michel Roux Jr took over the restaurant in 1991 and has taken it from strength to strength. The restaurant still holds the Guinness World Record for the most amount of money ever spent per head on one meal when three diners spent USD$20,000 on lunch. When Roux Jr isn’t in the kitchen, he loves to travel. We speak to him about some of his foodie adventures.

For breakfast, I’d have Arbroath Smokies in Scotland. It’s a type of smoked haddock that’s a speciality from the town of Arbroath in Angus — it’s got a delicate flavour and is delicious. I’d have lunch at Guy Savoy in Paris, and it would definitely include his artichoke and truffle soup. It’s simply the best soup ever! For dinner, I’d have grilled lobster on the beach at Bird Island in the Seychelles, watching the sunset.

I would be willing to travel for Madagascar vanilla, as it’s my favourite spice. It has got such a heavy, heavenly scent.

I wouldn’t eat anything on the endangered list. We have an abundance of beautiful, sustainable produce so I don’t see any need
for it.

The Caldera Restaurant in Santorini, Greece. The scenery is stunning — an ocean of blue and white and the food is pretty good too.

Dasheene in St Lucia, West Indies. It’s got a wonderful reputation and it’s still on my bucket list!

A salt beef sandwich after I finished the New York Marathon in 2000. I hadn’t eaten anything for two hours after the marathon and I started shaking and feeling faint. That salt beef sandwich was truly life-savingly good.