![\"Michael](\"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/img\/French_horn_michael_ronnie.jpg\")
It was a hot evening, a rare one in England this summer, when we walked into The French Horn. This is perhaps one of the most beautiful of country inns on the banks of the Thames. There was blazing sunshine outside and a roaring log fire inside. In fact the hotel (it\u2019s described as a restaurant with rooms) is celebrated for that fire, which not only gives a welcoming glow but provides the spit for the ducks which slowly rotate by the hearth. Michael Emmanuel was welcoming too!<\/p>\n
We assumed the handsome besuited and formal chap who greeted us was the head waiter but it was in fact Michael Emmanuel, the proprietor. One realises right away that this is no ordinary owner. He is the General Manager and runs The French Horn along with his sister Elaine, and they have preserved everything that has made this gastronomic oasis so celebrated.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy great-grandfather had oyster beds in Whitstable. Then my grandfather went into the restaurant business, and took the enterprise to a different level. My father got involved, my mother was already involved. We\u2019ve had shares in oyster fisheries, lobster fisheries, so it\u2019s always been about good food. It\u2019s not about the awards \u2013 they are fantastic when they come because they are demonstrations of recognition for our staff, they are the ones who do the work \u2013 actually it\u2019s also sourcing the best produce and cooking it well.<\/p>\n
There are criticisms from certain guides who say, \u2018But you serve food that isn\u2019t in season\u2019, and I say, \u2018I hear that, but to me, when it\u2019s not in season it becomes a delicacy, and that\u2019s what we are about. It\u2019s creating a bit of magic, a bit of theatre \u2013 people want to come and enjoy themselves, it\u2019s not about just coming to eat, it\u2019s about the experience. As long as we still enjoy it, we will always offer that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The quality of fish and meat at the restaurant is evident. Michael Emmanuel explains that they have their suppliers as the cornerstone of the business. \u201cWhen we had our London restaurants we also had a stall in Billingsgate and a shop in Connaught Street, so we know about food. I\u2019m very lucky, we work with good local butchers, we source the meat from particular farms, and now we\u2019ve got to know those local farmers who are producing the meat for us. It\u2019s very nice to have the traceability \u2013 I can ring them up and ask, \u2018Where\u2019s this come from? Can you tell me how it\u2019s been stored, how it\u2019s been kept?\u2019 and they will be able to tell me.<\/p>\n
![\"French](\"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/img\/French_horn_lawn.jpg\")
\n\u201cThe sausages are made by our butcher, the bacon comes from a local farm just the other side of Blewbury in Berkshire, our beef comes from Orkney as do our scallops and Dublin-Bay prawns, Dover soles from a fishmonger in Ijmuiden in Holland, who will fly them in daily. He\u2019s someone that my grandfather used to deal with, and I met his son. We had to negotiate prices but due to the recession at that time, our fishmonger couldn\u2019t get any credit so couldn\u2019t continue in business. My grandfather loaned him the money so he could carry on supplying us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a good young team in the kitchen, and good suppliers: we look for loyalty from them, and it takes a lot to change. We are not going to be swayed by price, or by the \u2018new chap on the block\u2019: there has to be a reason to change \u2013 if we are getting quality then we stay with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked Michael Emmanuel if he had always wanted to be part of the restaurant industry. \u201cI had a lovely education, and I always knew I was coming into this business, but my father said, \u2018No, you will be an accountant!\u2019 OK, fair enough \u2013 I got my A-levels, had my place lined up at university, and he said, \u2018Right, what do you really want to do?\u2019 I had ideas of a juicy placement in Lausanne, hotel and catering college, but he said, \u2018No, to be a restaurateur you have to start at the bottom and work up.\u2019 So he sent me off to work for Richard Shepherd for six months. I worked at Langan\u2019s in the kitchens, and enjoyed it.<\/p>\n
My father said, \u2018Do you still want to come into the business?\u2019 and when I said, \u2018Yes\u2019 he said, \u2018Right, France!\u2019 and he got me an apprenticeship with Paul Bocuse in Lyon. I was the first Englishman to work in his kitchens, and I was there for a few years. When I said that I would like at some point to work for Roger Verg\u00e9 of Moulin de Mougins, he arranged that, and I spent some time there before returning to The French Horn. So that\u2019s where I really learned about good food.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"French](\"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/img\/French_horn_cottage.jpg\")
Celebrating our 40th anniversary<\/h4>\nHow long has Michael\u2019s family owned The French Horn? \u201cWe bought The French Horn forty years ago. We had Wheeler\u2019s fish restaurants in London and that was the family business, and we, that was my grandfather, my mother Carol and my father Ronnie, were a third of that business. They wanted to buy The French Horn, but the owner would not sell to a company. After my mother had had myself and my sister, she wanted to get back into the restaurant business, but didn\u2019t want to work for the family, so she came to the owner and said, \u2018I know you won\u2019t sell to the company, but will you sell to me?\u2019 and he said, \u2018Yes.\u2019 We bought on 14th July 1972 \u2013 we are celebrating our 40th anniversary this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The French Horn is a chocolate-box-pretty building that is ironically and quintessentially English, and is a 19th century coaching inn; but has it changed much since Carol Emmanuel acquired it? \u201cWhen we bought The French Horn it was just a three-bedroom hotel, without the round dining room.\u201d Michael Emmanuel offers a bit of associated cinema trivia: it seems the classic British film \u2018Alfie\u2019 with Michael Caine has a scene shot on the lawn. And that lovely vista has not changed. \u201cWe bought the cottages across the road soon after the purchase of the hotel. My father extended the premises to 21 rooms. He loves getting his teeth into a project.\u201d Those cottages are just as picturesque as the hotel.<\/p>\n
How did Michael Emmanuel first become involved in The French Horn? \u201cWe sold the London operation in about 1988. Dad came back here, and I was working in France. I returned to look after front-of-house, which I thought was not too much of a leap from the kitchen, because of the schooling I had had \u2013 if anyone asks you \u2018What\u2019s the best way to be able to deal with a kitchen environment in a foreign country?\u2019 the answer is \u2018English public school!\u2019 It had been like being a third-former all over again \u2013 quite a harsh experience!<\/p>\n
I would hope it doesn\u2019t go on any more \u2013 I wouldn\u2019t like to think that my children would have to experience what I did. I don\u2019t think it would be appropriate nowadays. As managers we have a responsibility to look after our staff. What\u2019s amazing is the number of good 17-year-olds wanting to come into this industry at the moment \u2013 we\u2019re very lucky, we have some great people!\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Michael](\"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/img\/French_horn_plaque.jpg\")
The French Horn has recently had a change of head chef. Has that had an impact on the business? \u201cWe have never based our reputation on our head chef. We\u2019ve always been about good food cooked well and delivered properly. I\u2019ve had just three chefs in 24 years. The first one I inherited from my parents, he stayed with me for five years and he was with the family for 20; I then employed Gilles Company, and he was with me for 18 years; my new head chef is Josiane Diaga. She\u2019s a wonderful lady who was my second chef. She went away to work in America as head chef, and when she came back to the UK I immediately asked her back as my number two, because I needed two strong characters in the kitchen.<\/p>\n
Gilles was offered a professorship at the Cordon Bleu school in London, and that gave me the opportunity to refresh. We interviewed many great chefs and I was pleased to say to Josiane that she was the best candidate. She is taking us in a different direction, and keeps raising the bar, pushing the envelope. It\u2019s about quality and it\u2019s about the customer; there are no big egos.\u201d<\/p>\n
I noticed the hotel has a Pride of Britain plaque at the entrance. \u201cThe lovely thing about Pride of Britain Hotels is that you won\u2019t find any two the same. The only common thing is that there will be someone running it \u2018on the premises\u2019 be it an owner or a very professional manager. They are wonderful hotels \u2013 some are glamorous, some like us with the focus on the restaurant, some more on the \u2018hotel\u2019 side.\u201d Perhaps that\u2019s the key to the success of The French Horn. It\u2019s definitely smart, the food is unbeatable but there is that element that dark wood and fine upholstery can\u2019t provide. It\u2019s the glow not only from that log fire but from the genuine enthusiasm of Michael Emmanuel and his family.<\/p>\n
The French Horn Hotel
\nSonning-on-Thames
\nBerkshire RG4 6TN
\nPhone: 0118 969 2204 and 0118 944 2210
\nEmail: info@thefrenchhorn.co.uk<\/p>\n
Visit The French Horn here<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read my review of The French Horn here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n