His roll call of protégés is one of the most distinguished in British culinary history. Gordon Ramsay, Marcus Wareing, Tom Kitchin and Michel Roux Jr, as well as the original "enfant terrible" Marco Pierre White all trained under him in his restaurant La Tante Claire.
Pierre Koffmann was born 21 August 1948 and is a French-born professional chef who has worked mainly in the UK.
24th MARCH 2012
Pierre Koffmann's Cuttelfish Bolognaise Saturday Kitchen Recipe
[video here soon]
He moved from France in 1970 to work with Michel and Albert Roux at Le Gavroche. He originally only wanted to move to the UK so that he could see England play France in Rugby at Twickenham Stadium. In 1972 he He moved to the Roux brother's Waterside Inn in Bray as the first head chef of the new restaurant. It was here he met his future wife Annie who was the restaurant's manager. Annie died in 1998 which led to Pierre closing La Tante Claire in 2003.
He has been one of a handful of chefs in the United Kingdom to have been awarded the coveted three Michelin stars at his restaurant La Tante Claire which opened in 1977 in Chelsea. He is currently the head chef of Koffmann's at The Berkeley hotel in Knightsbridge, London.
He admits that he is no longer chasing Michelin stars, and will instead cook the Gascon style food he remembers from his childhood
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His new book due out in September this year Memories of Gascony is full of recipes and reminiscences from his grandparents' farmhouse kitchen in rural Gascony. It is an intimate account of his Gascon upbringing, and the traditional cooking of his grandmother which has always been Koffmann's true inspiration.