Alain Roux: ‘Young chefs should stay in the UK, where we have the best restaurants in the world’

As a member of the closest thing that UK hospitality has to a culinary dynasty, it’s unsurprising that the word ‘family’ is never far from Alain Roux’s lips. The chef-patron of The Waterside Inn in Bray is the cousin of Michel Roux Jr, the chef-patron of Le Gavroche, the Mayfair restaurant founded by Alain’s father Michel and uncle Albert in 1967. The brothers opened The Waterside Inn in 1972 and, when they separated their business interests 14 years later, Albert kept Le Gavroche and Michel The Waterside.

The Roux, then, are the royal family of British restaurants, with the line of succession assured by Michel Jr’s daughter Emily at her restaurant Caractère in Notting Hill. But like so many families, they have experienced terrible losses over the past year. Michel Sr died in March 2020, a week before the first lockdown was announced; Albert passed away the following January. The pain was deepened for Alain by the body-blows suffered by the restaurant industry during the pandemic. For Alain, 53, hospitality itself is a family.

“The most important thing my father taught me is to be there for your colleagues,” Alain says. “As a family business, there’s nothing nicer than working together. If you respect the people you work with, they will respect you.”

Lockdown restrictions meant that Alain had to rearrange his father’s funeral three times. The small ceremony was eventually held at The Waterside Inn for the few guests that were allowed. “Dad was resting in the main dining room. We had no other choice. It was sad, but it was maybe the most beautiful thing that we could have done for him.”

The Roux brothers invented the template for British gastronomy with Le Gavroche. Although Alain feels the duty of maintaining his father’s legacy at The Waterside Inn, it is the Roux Scholarship which will perhaps prove the more lasting testament to Albert and Michel Sr.

The Scholarship was founded in 1984 to provide young chefs with the opportunity to train in some of the world’s best kitchens. Each year’s scholar wins the prize of completing a stage in a three-Michelin-starred restaurant anywhere in the world. Alain and Michel Jr are now co-chairmen of the scholarship and past winners have included Sat Bains and Moor Hall’s Mark Birchall.

Alain spent seven years gaining experience in France at the three-starred likes of Maison Pic in Valence before being recalled to Bray by his father. With the young chefs of today facing a double whammy of a Covid job shortage and the post-Brexit end to freedom of movement, is the traditional career path of the fine-dining chef gone for good?

“The past year has been extremely difficult for people running or owning a business,” Alain says. “But I think it's been even harder for the younger generation because they haven't been able to keep busy or keep their mental health on track. Young people need to realise that this is still a lovely profession. The best restaurants in the world are in the UK and they should think about working here rather than travelling abroad for a job. We must open our doors to young people to share the knowledge of what it’s like to work in a restaurant – even if it’s just a day’s work experience.”

Alain began working at The Waterside Inn in 1992 as a demi chef de partie, one of the most junior roles in a chef brigade. “My dad and my uncle were old school that way, which I think is great. You can’t tell people what to do if you don't know how to do it yourself. I think that is one of the downfalls of the younger generation of chefs. Some should take more time before setting themselves up as restaurateurs. Owning a restaurant is not only about cooking. You have to be flexible and do so many other things.”

Alain became chef patron of The Waterside Inn in 2002 - Michel Sr, however, was always known as ‘the big chief’ - and admits that the restaurant is pretty much his life. He lives nearby in Bray with his wife and two children and relaxes when he can with them on the river or in his garden, where his pride and joy is the orchard of 40 trees which bear fruit for the restaurant kitchen – though mostly jams for breakfast, he laughs, rather than the signature dishes such as the warm raspberry soufflé.

He says he does not envy the TV fame of his cousin Michel, because the Roux name is fame enough in itself. In any case, why would Alain need the affirmation of being on the telly when The Waterside Inn has held three Michelin stars for 36 years (the longest of any restaurant outside France), a phenomenal achievement that he puts down to having team members who have been by his side for many years. His head chef Fabrice Uhryn has worked here for 21 years while general manager Frédéric Poulette’s first job at The Waterside was in 1996.

Customers love the three Michelin stars, Alain says – as long as they understand what sort of experience The Waterside Inn offers. “Some guests who are here for the first time will say that there’s no wow factor. That's not what we’re about. Instead, we offer pleasure. Our guests can relax with good service and good food in a lovely environment - all the little things that add up to the whole experience, which even our youngest member of staff will play a part in. Luxury for me means quality. It doesn't need to be flashy, it can be very simple. I think that’s the style of the family.”

A quick glance at the reservations book should dispel any doubts that, post-pandemic, there is still an appetite for this kind of formal fine dining: there are almost no free tables until November. If anything, the eternal comfort of classical French cooking served in the most English of riverside settings is needed now more than ever.

As to the future, Alain admits that the next few months will be tremendously difficult for restaurants. “I just hope we will see the young generation returning to work in hospitality. I know some of them have unfortunately had to do other things to earn a bit of money. But they should come back. It's lovely work that we do. It's a big family at the end of the day.”

The Waterside Inn reopens on Wednesday 19 May. Ferry Road, Bray, Berkshire, SL6 2AT; waterside-inn.co.uk

Sign up for the Telegraph Luxury newsletter for your weekly dose of exquisite taste and expert opinion.