To Le Manoir Borne

27-Feb-09 - To Great Milton in Oxfordshire to interview Raymond Blanc (RB) for YES CHEF! Magazine, but first a beef about the trains. My route was Worthing to Victoria, cab to Marylebone, and then Marylebone to Haddenham and Thame Parkway. If you know Marylebone station you'll know that it's about a quarter of a mile from the station entrance to the end of platforms 5 and 6. That's something of a marathon for my creaky joints, but can be achieved if I take it slowly, pausing along the way. But no such luck this time: the departure boards finally gave the platform number for the train less than four minutes before its departure, leading to a mad scramble with me puffing and panting and bringing up the rear. I did make it, with seconds to spare, but it's not something I'd care to repeat. But my point is this: the station staff must have known well in advance from which platform the train would leave, so why the delay? I have a cynical, sneaking feeling that they do it to amuse themselves, sniggering at the CCTV screens as we all rush like lemmings through the ticket barriers. It happens at Victoria, too.

But I digress. Le Manoir was looking splendid, as always, and I saw my first daffodils and crocuses of the spring (the gardens are tremendous - they employ seven gardeners). I interviewed RB in his office, which was surprisingly small and unpretentious, and we talked over coffee and a rather delicious piece of sea-bass with pak choi and pepper-and-tomato sauce. I often eat at my desk, but never at that level. The main topic was the credit crunch and how it's affecting high-end destinations such as Le Manoir - you can read the full article in the next issue, which is out at the beginning of April. After the interview we had a quick tour of some of the rooms, all in a different style from traditional Thai to tart's boudoir, and splendidly decorated with original antiques and works of art, all set within those magnificent gardens. It really is an absolutely wonderful place. I wish I could afford to stay there!

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