Henry Harris - From Simon Hopkinson’s Bibendum to Running London’s Greatest Restaurant; Bouchon Racine

Today we're joined by the wonderful Henry Harris fresh back from Sri Lanka — complete with tales of dog bites, hoppers, sambals and chicken curry for breakfast — Henry arrives in glorious form, reflecting on the journey that took him from the dining room floor to becoming one of the most admired chefs in Britain. From his early days around his father’s restaurant Le Grand Gésier in Brighton to falling in love with hospitality over long lunches and simple French food, this episode is packed with the stories that shaped him.

Henry looks back on the pivotal people and places that defined his career: the magic of Karl Lauderer at Manley’s, the terrifying but transformative start to his cooking life, and the years spent learning under the legendary Simon Hopkinson at Hilaire and Bibendum. He recalls topping and tailing endless French beans in silence, watching great classical cooking up close, and later finding himself surrounded by an extraordinary generation of chefs who would go on to shape British food culture. There are wonderful glimpses of old restaurant London here — a time of Bobendum lunches, roast chicken revelations, and a generation of cooks learning that true greatness often lies in doing the classics absolutely right.

At the heart of the episode is the story of Bouchon Racine: how a failed pub project, a false start in Farringdon, and one overlooked pub near the station eventually became the home of one of London’s most beloved dining rooms. Henry speaks beautifully about building the restaurant with Dave Strauss, doing the maths on a spreadsheet, keeping expectations modest, and discovering that what they had created was somehow outperforming even their most hopeful plans. He shares the philosophy behind the blackboard menu, the joy of cooking the food people actually want to eat, and the pleasure of running a restaurant full of character rather than polish — a place with good bones, brown carpet, old mirrors, cycling prints and the unmistakable feeling that you are in safe hands.

The conversation wanders delightfully through stories of Racine, restaurant politics, pub culture, set lunches, offal, tartare, tongue sandwiches, and the dishes Henry believes never go out of style. He talks with disarming honesty about business partners, missed opportunities, Michelin disappointment, and the changing face of London, but always comes back to the same idea: restaurants should restore people. Warm, generous and full of hard-won wisdom, this is a portrait of a chef at the happiest point of his life — still cooking, still caring, and still finding enormous meaning in feeding people well.

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