On Monday 4th February the Culinary society hosted Jeremy King, one of the greatest restaurateurs of our time. He came to deliver a talk based on his many years of experience in the restaurant business, during which he went from being a bartender in a wine bar in Chelsea to being the owner of some of most renowned restaurants and hotels in London, like the Wolseley, Colbert and the Beaumont.
Mr. King started by talking about how he got into the restaurant business in the first place, having first worked in the city, and eventually deciding to give up a place in Cambridge University to become a manager of a wine bar. During that bit of the evening Mr. King provided the boys with an insight into the importance of being genuine when working in the restaurant business. He then went on to talk about the hard work that he and Chris Corbin put into establishing some of their first restaurants like the Ivy, whilst simultaneously treating those present to a number of anecdotes from that period of his life. Mr. King concluded by discussing some of his more recent projects like the Wolseley and Colbert.
During the subsequent Q&A Mr. King described the way he views his restaurants as a stage always coming up with a story for each one of them. However, some more relevant ideas, like the impact of Brexit on the British restaurant industry were also discussed, with Mr. King mentioning the significance of the European influence on British restaurants.
Daniil Filatov
