Chef Jason Atherton Says Goodbye to Pollen Street Social

Marcus was thrilled to be invited to the suppliers’ farewell lunch for Pollen Street Social, the iconic Mayfair restaurant run by chef Jason Atherton: “We have supplied him for many years now it really was a privilege to go in there. It has been a real feather in our cap and I was thrilled to be working with Jason”

From left: Chef Jason Atherton, Dan from Lake District Farms and Marcus from Le Marché

The restaurant was a real landmark on the London restaurant scene and the first by chef Jason Atherton, whose restaurant groups now has outposts around the world.

The farewell meal was a wonderful event for the many loyal suppliers of the restaurant. Marcus says: “You could sense the emotion from Jason - it was very special. Jason is now going on to bigger and better things. He is a great talent and a great organiser. He is just phenomenal at building teams - I don’t know how he does it. The loyalty he gets from his chefs is amazing.” The restaurant will be relaunched as Mary’s later this year.

Pastry Chef Inspires the Chefs of Tomorrow

He are Le Marché, we have developed a partnership with Rhyl Kitchen Classroom, a social enterprise in North London that works to improve food education for young people. We invited Loic Carbonnet, Executive Pastry Chef at the five-star Hotel Cafe Royal in London, who was accompanied by Baptiste Guerra, Head Baker. You can watch a short film of the visit here. During the lesson, the children rolled croissants and made a pear crumble with Chantilly cream and apricot sauce. If you are a chef interested in volunteering a morning of your time to help please contact Marcus to arrange.

Farewell to Le Gavroche

The closure of Le Gavroche was a sad moment - but done with great style. We were guests at one of the final dinners which was arranged for suppliers of the restaurant. The menu included dishes such as poached Dover sole with a brandy lobster sauce.

“He could have just closed the doors,” explained Marcus from Le Marché. “It was a brilliant experience. It was so nice to see all the suppliers there from over the decades - and for them to give that back. It was a chef’s restaurant. But more than just a restaurant. Touching the door handle you could feel all that history.”

The picture above shows Rachel Humphreys, who rose to the position of Executive Chef. “Working at Le Gavroche was an amazing experience,” she says. “My association started almost 30 years ago and to be able to go from apprentice to exec chef during that time was very special.”

Her favourite dishes on the menu? Roast turbot on the bone, with puree and ribbons of celeriac, bbq maitake mushrooms and smoked bacon. For dessert, vanilla shortbread, pear sabayon mousse and blueberry sorbet.

Rachel said: “Our customers expect the very best from us and we therefore need to expect the best quality from our suppliers. To be able to take the best ingredients and let them shine is very important.”

Le Marché joins Royal Academy of Culinary Arts

We are delighted to have been accepted as an Associate Member into the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, the UK’s leading professional associations of head chefs, pastry chefs, restaurant managers and quality suppliers. This is in recognition of our work supplying the very best fresh produce to restaurants and caterers across London and beyond.

The Academy’s primary objectives are focused on the education and training of young people in the hospitality industry and also raising standards and awareness of food, food provenance, cooking and service.

Marcus Rowlerson, our Managing Director, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that we are joining the academy. There is a such a powerful synergy between our values and the aims of the academy – supporting the hospitality profession and leading by example. The future of this industry relies on nurturing and inspiring young talent.”

Rescuing Surplus Food with The Felix Project

In October, Le Marché donated 91 kilos of surplus food - the equivalent of approximately 217 meals - to The Felix Project, a charity which rescues surplus food from the food industry and delivers it to charities and schools.

This is part of our new partnership with the charity, which works with around 1,000 charities, community groups and schools across every London Borough.

One of the recipients of the surplus food from The Felix Project is a community group on an estate in North London. The organisers said: “It allows us to offer people a way to access food that they could not buy and gives them the confidence to try new foods especially fresh vegetables … Membership gives them dignity as it’s not handouts, the ethos is not to waste food and to share with others collectively.”

The Felix Project is London’s largest food redistribution charity and rescued over 12,100 tonnes of food in 2022 and redistributed the equivalent of over 29 million meals. They have over 630 new organisations on their waiting list.

Fully Electric Deliveries

We have taken delivery of our first all-electric delivery van. A first for London, too! This was a bespoke construction for Le Marché! Transport Manager Kevin Dodd says: "It's a trial van for us - eventually we would like our entire fleet to be electric. It's quite nippy as well!" When the van is driving, the process charges both the battery and the fridge.

Annabel's Story - Cutting-edge Strawberries

Le Marché was Annabel Makin-Jones’ first customer. Now she supplies around 500 tonnes per year of her wonderful strawberries from her farm in Yorkshire under the brand name Annabel's Deliciously British.

We visited Annabel a few weeks ago. During the tour, she highlighted some of the key features of her sustainable and cutting-edge strawberry production.

The strawberries are typically delivered to Le Marché within 18 hours of picking. The key varieties grown are Malling Centenary, Malling Allure and Malling Ace. “That allows us to have that continuity of supply from May to October,” explains Annabel.

Once picked, the fruit is immediately put in a chiller to take the temperature down from 28 Celsius to 2 Celsius in 30 minutes. “It sets the skin so you don’t get the bruising and gives you a longer shelf like,” explains Annabel.

The fruit is grown hydroponically on ‘table tops’ in polytunnels and irrigated with rainwater from a 20-million gallon lake on the farm. There is an apiary on site to provide bees to assist with pollination. Solar panels generate sustainable energy for the office and packhouse.

Annabel adds: “We have two million honey bees. They pollinate the crop then we take their honey in the summer. That gives us that full circle of life – all on the same farm. We are working toward carbon neutral.”

Packaging is biodegradable - with cardboard punnets - and surplus or misshapen fruit is used to make her range of conserves and sparkling drinks under the brand name Tame and Wild. Other fruit waste is used to power her packaging supplier’s anaerobic digester.

Annabel is tireless is terms of improving her farm and business. “It's very satisfying when you create something from very little. It brings such joy to have a great quality product and how supportive the chefs are. It is about being quite holistic and forward thinking in terms of our approach to farming and how we continue to evolve.”

Behind The Scenes - Le Marché and The Coronation

Want to know how Le Marché helps to feed The Coronation? ”A huge amount of our work is in the zone that is being blocked off,” explains Marcus Rowlerson, Managing Director. This means chefs cannot get restocked at the weekend, which in turn means all the extra orders and deliveries must be compressed into the week before.

“There is a good month of planning that goes into this,” adds Marcus. “I’m asking the team to step up and they are all up for it. I’m really proud of them. We just want to be part of it.”

From left: Transport Manager Kevin Dodds, Buyer Robert King, Warehouse Manager Robert Fry and Buyer Darren Farragher.

Organising the deliveries on the Friday before the event will involve some complex planning. “It’s going to be difficult but everyone likes a challenge,” says Transport Manager Kevin Doods. “We always flourish under pressure.”

For example, he is organising extra rotas so that the team can “double van” - making twice the normal runs on the key routes into central London. Some customers will receive a whole van load of produce to fill the gap. Kevin states: “Normally the same van might do 13 or 14 deliveries.“

For Buyer Darren Farragher, there is huge demand for produce such as berries and asparagus. “Lots of strawberries and cream,” says Darren. “Asparagus is a daily buy. Our customers have a very precise spec.”

Paul Ryan, Operations Directors, concludes: “We’re excited for the extra business and trying to feed the celebrations. It’s a one-off event. It’s rare and it’s exciting.”

The Passion on Display - Trip to Rungis

We often take groups of chefs out to Rungis to see the incredible range of produce available in the world’s greatest wholesale market. We always find something new to offer to our customers in the UK. Le Marché is unique amongst catering supply companies in that we have three full-time expert buyers based in the Market selecting produce on behalf of our customers - including for special orders of dry goods, cheese and charcuterie.

Daniele, one of the chefs, said he was inspired to see "the passion of all the people involved". His favourite produce? "Spring vegetables, in particular the beautiful peas, asparagus and first purple round eggplant of the season. Peas and asparagus are dramatically versatile: combine them in a starter or prepare a great soup of white asparagus and peas, or even better, with a wild fish, buttered and thyme. Fabulous!!!!!! With Marcus and his passionate team, quality come always first!"

Chef Chris Galvin on Why I Love Markets - the "pockets of delight"

We welcomed our friend and esteemed chef Chris Galvin for an early morning tour around New Covent Garden Market. Chris has spent a lifetime in the restaurant trade - starting with a job washing pots for Anthony Worrall Thompson in the 1970’s - and now the Galvin family runs five restaurants with a staff of around 400 people. He reflects on his lifelong love of markets and their critical importance to the cultural life of the capital.

From left: Chef Chris Galvin, Marcus Rowlerson and Jeff Galvin

“I’ve been cooking in London for four decade and have always been interested in markets - they are the heart and soul of a place. I remember the original Covent Garden in the 60’s and 70’s. It was noisy and busy but of course as the lorries were getting bigger they just couldn’t in and out. In the 80’s there was very little in the way of French and Italian produce. But as more [food writers] wrote about it, the more people brought it to our doorstep. At one point, we were getting good deliveries two or three days per week. It was brilliant for the chefs. You are only as good as your ingredients. It was absolutely vital for the development of gastronomy in London.“

“When I was growing up, we had a lovely market in Romford – the was towards the end of the livestock markets – with live chickens and things like that. And Chelmsford Cattle Market. Down on New Covent Garden Market I love the seasonality and all the characters. They are pockets of delight. We try to avoid Dutch produce. People like Marcus take a huge risk bringing in some of these ingredients. But we work on trust. Everyone has to make a living. It is about finding those little gems - especially as spring approaches. We see so many wonderful ingredients coming onto the market. As soon as they have come they have gone. That is why it is so important to stay connected.”

Cooking Pertuis asparagus at New Covent Garden Market

Claridge's Inspire Chefs Of The Future

We invited four top chefs from Claridge’s Hotel to teach a cookery class with children from Rhyl Community Primary School. It was an inspirational morning as the young people watched these consummate professionals in action. The venue was Rhyl Kitchen Classroom, a teaching kitchen in North London that we help to support. Dishes included a starter of Jerusalem Artichoke Salad with Pear, Radicchio, Mint and Endive and Gnudi with Parmesan and Black Truffle. You can see a video from our session here.

Chefs from Corinthia hotel tour Rungis Market

Here at Le Marché, our links with Rungis Market in Paris are second to none. We operate our own warehouse in this leading European wholesale market and have several full-time French buyers sourcing the very best produce for our chefs here in London. To find out more, read our interviews with buyer Amaury here and here. We’re just back from a trip there with a team of chefs from the Corinthia hotel led by executive chef André Garrett (top left in photo below and his head chef Michal Bialoskorski (to the right of André). Read their story below …

Michal said: "I'd never been there before. It was something amazing. You have everything in one place: from equipment and uniforms to fish, charcuterie, all the dry store products then moving into fruits and vegetables. The products are on another level."

Michal explained how around 50 chefs work at the 280-room hotel, working at the restaurant The Northall, The Winter Garden, serving breakfast and room service and for the night shift. “We go for French and Italian food with a little influence from Asia – often some Japanese flavours – just a little twist.”

At this time of year, he is highlighting various autumnal ingredients on his new menus. “We love mushrooms and we use them for different things, like beef with ceps, wild mushroom arancini or a Jerusalem artichoke tart with walnuts and ceps.” He makes a purée of late-season plums to serve with a Lake District iron steak and short rib. Agen prunes are a favourite, too. “We cook then in an Earl Grey syrup with star anise and cinnamon to serve with turkey.”

It’s a wonderful time for all manner of root crops, too. Michal uses salsify in a halibut dish to striking visual effect. He cooks half the salsify with red wine; the other with white. “You have two different colour of salsify which look very beautiful on the plate. We also make crisps from salsify which we arrange on the top of the fish to give the impression of scales.”  

Michael thoroughly enjoyed his trip to Rungis. “I liked the Buddha’s Hand lemons,” he says. “They are very beautiful. The thick skin can be zested and added to sauce for fish. It has an incredibly powerful flavour.”

The talented chefs at Corinthia rely on Le Marché for their fresh produce due to the quality of the ingredients, the strong and fast supply chains and expert buyers. “Whatever we need they will find and deliver to use. We get deliveries 12 times a week, twice a day.” 

We Meet The Winners - Best Restaurant Manager & Service Awards

Last week we had an extraordinary experience as guests at a competition to find the best front of house staff in Britain. This was hosted at Bibendum restaurant and was organised by the excellent Royal Academy of Culinary Arts. This prestigious award, part of The Master of Culinary Arts, takes place every four years.

We supplied the fresh produce to Chef Claude Bosi and his talented team in the kitchens at Bibendum.

This was a high-stakes event for the various competitors, which included staff from Galvin at Windows, The Lanesborough, Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons and The Goring Hotel. The judge on our table was Didier Felix from the City of London Club.

Starters at the event included: pine nut risotto, English snails and vin jaune; Cornish crab with smoked kipper and cucumber; bourride de poisson.

For second fish courses: cod, coconut and langoustine sauce, marigold oil; Cornish monkfish Singaporean style. For meat, there was beef with coffee, hazlenut and pickled walnut and guinea fowl with Scottish langoustine and French tarragon.

The photo below shows finalist Daniel Crump from The Greyhound in Beaconsfield, who served at our table. "Daniel was absolutely brilliant," says Marcus, who was particularly taken by the Cep Tart with Banana Ice Cream. "But it must have been stressful being judged by the great beasts in the restaurant trade."

Brexit - The Buyer's Story

Amaury Clamon is one of our expert buyers based in Rungis Market in Paris. He cycles around the many wholesalers in Rungis to source the very best produce. Here Amaury shares his insights on the impact of Brexit on imports into London. Read an earlier interview here:

Amaury Clamon, one of the buyers for Le Marché based in Rungis Market.

“I am a buyer and export manager for Le Marché and the wholesaler French Garden, a company that sends exports all around the world, including Singapore, Dubai, Bahrain, Barbados, Antigua …

Here on the French side, Brexit meant we we had to reorganise the whole business. The paperwork is a full time job and not every company can afford that. For now we are absorbing the workload ourselves.

Previously customers were able to send their orders the day before - even in the afternoon. Then it would be in London the next day. Now it needs to be done at least two days in advance.

When the UK was still in the EU we didn’t have such a volume of documents. We could just send the truck with the invoice and all was good. Now we need many documents - including, in the future, phytosanitary and fraud documents. These have been postponed until 2023 and we were really happy to have this news as we will need to have certificates for all the dairy and all the meats. That will be another load of work.

In France, prices have also increased since Covid and the war in Ukraine. On our side, it does not have much to do with Brexit. But to export the goods to UK we now have to pay for customs agents on boths sides of the border to clear the goods. The time it takes to cross the border is taking longer and longer.”

Le Marché - A Family Firm

Here’s a story about two of our wonderful staff - Martin Fry, 73, and his grandson Robert Fry. Martin has spent a lifetime in the trade and started working with us six years ago. He still pops in for the occasional shift and introduced us to his grandson, Robert Fry - whom we call ‘Tash’ - who rapidly worked his way up to the post of Warehouse Manager.

Martin Fry (left) and Robert Fry, a.k.a. ‘Tash’

Martin : I’ve retired three or four times – unofficially or officially, I don’t know. I am 73 and still here. I have worked with Marcus ever since I retired, about five or six years ago. I enjoy the fun – we have a right giggle.

Tash: My grandad trained me. He bought me into Le Marché, trained me up, taught me confidence. He can talk to anyone - even in the street. I used to be shy. I have learned a lot of passion from him. I never used to care about a lot of things. I have been here five years now. I started making boxes on the back of a van to packing. From packing I went to checker. Then to assistant manager then from that to warehouse manager.

Martin: I remember once, years ago, delivering to a restaurant down the back alley. It was dark and I walked down there and fell down a hole. They were digging the foundations. I sued them and I won. But had to have an artificial knee.

Tash: We see each other every day. Even though he has practically left my grandad is so engrained in this place. Every day he asks me what’s going on at work.

Martin: I am 73 and still here. Marcus [the boss] is friendly – you can have a laugh and joke with him. That’s the main thing. He’s not like a manager; he’s like one of the workers. I like the banter and how the produce changes monthly. You name it I can cook it. I like doing a Sunday roast. Tash loves it, too.

Charity Event - Lake District Farmers

Here’s a flashback to a charity event we supported for Lake District Farmers at the Abbey House Hotel. This was a fantastic weekend, with a Gala Dinner on the Friday and Saturday nights. Le Marché supplied the fresh produce for a stellar cast of chefs which included Matt Abe, Lisa Allen, Em Brightman, Hélène Darroze, Mark and Shauna Froydenlund, Monica Galetti and Angela Hartnett.

The menus included creations such as

• Cornish Cod with Golden Oscietra, Potato, Jus Gras

• Hand Dived Scallops with White Cannelini & Black Pudding Ragout, Celeriac & Pickled Celery, Sweet Potato

• Pork Belly with Apple and Date Puree, Rob's Roasted Potatoes, Crispy Sage

• Araguani with Chantilly Cream, Lemongrass Cremeux

Credits for the food photography to Food Story Media Ltd.

Buzzing at The Beehive

We’re proud to serve The Beehive - one of the best gastropubs in the country, who have just scooped 11th place in the Top 50 Gastropubs Awards. It’s run by chef Dominic Chapman, who has previously worked in Michelin-starred establishments such as The Hind’s Head in Bray, on behalf of Heston Blumenthal, and Royal Oak in Payley. Watch a video of our recent visit here.

Chef Dominic Chapman from The Beehive

Recent dishes on the menu include: Grilled Octopus with Caperberries, Paprika & Lemon Vinaigrette or Brixham Lemon Sole with Hassel-back Potatoes, Samphire, Cockles & Lemon Butter Sauce.  

Dominic says: “It’s all about the food -we are a food led business – seasonal ingredients, vibrant colours, fresh flavours and trying to get better all the time. We always improve our products to serve the best food and ingredients at the right time of year and to have a happy team. It’s s about running a business that works and creating food that people want to eat.”

Credit: The Beehive

“We’re heading towards asparagus now, we’ve just been through Yorkshire rhubarb and sea kale now,” he says. “In spring, we have Jersey Royals, peas, broad beans, lamb and more fish on the menu - wonderful British products.”

Credit: The Beehive

The Secrets of Sand Carrots

Sand Carrots (Carotte de Créances or Carotte de Sable) are a classy French crop and hugely popular with our chefs as they offer an excellent flavour and shape - nearly perfectly straight!

You can find them on the menus of chefs such as Clare Smythe at Core, which holds three Michelin Stars. Or Dominic Chapman at The Beehive, who serves them with his rolled shoulder of stuff pork - braised in stock with star anise then finished with butter. See him use them in a pork dish here.

Sand carrots are grown in Normandy, in and around eight villages close to the Créances basin, an area which has cultivated the crop since the19th Century and was granted AOC status in 1960. The farmers use long, narrow fields with sandy soil that's been fertilized with seaweed for generations, making it rich in iodine and sulphur. The most widely grown carrot is the Rouge de Caretan, a heritage variety.

The carrots are stored in the ground, often protected by a layer of straw, and only lifted when needed for market. They are always sold unwashed which helps preserve their unique flavour.

Korean Restaurant Sollip Scoops a Michelin Star

Did you read our article about Sollip last year? We’re thrilled that our friends Chef Woongchul Park and his wife Bomee Ki have scooped a Michelin Star for their fantastic restaurant and the quality of their cooking.

Michelin says: “Their food adds to the capital’s already diverse assembly of cuisines – by making use of skills learnt in Europe while adding techniques and flavours from their homeland. The result is cooking that really feels it comes from the heart; it’s not showy or over complicated, just polished and poised.”

Chef Woongchul Park and Marcus Rowlerson, Managing Director at Le Marché

Top Chef Inspires Primary School Children

In our second film for 3AM Kitchen (watch it here!), we invited top chef Chris Bolan from Michelin-starred Trinity Restaurant to work with the children at Rhyl Kitchen Classroom. We partner with this community kitchen in North London to help train the chefs of the future.

Chris began his day at the Market with Marcus, choosing the best seasonal produce. At the the school, we started with a classy dish of ‘Tuna Ceviche, Winter Citrus, Garlic Flowers’. The tuna loin was rolled in Earl Grey tea, coriander seed and salt before searing in the pan. The pupils were astounded by the flavours of this dish - an experience they will not forget.

Next, the children rolled gyros flatbreads and chopped vegetables to roast before cooking off the breads in the wood fired oven.