Yes Chef! has just been on a two day whistle-stop trip to the
Channel Islands, where we spoke to Michelin-starred chef
Mark Jordan from Jersey's Atlantic
Hotel and Christophe Vincent, formely of the
Michelin-starred Christophe's, now executive chef of the Fermain Valley Hotel in
Guernsey.
Somewhat serendipitously, during the seperate interviews with each
chef, it emerged that both had spent significant and formative
years in the kitchen of the late Keith
Floyd's pub-restaurant, the Malster's Arms.
Both worked at the flamboyant cook's ill-fated Malster's Arms (the
failure of which eventually contributed to Floyd's bankruptcy) in
the 80s, Vincent as his head chef, and Jordan as a young
sous.
Vincent recalled how different the Keith Floyd he knew was from
the grey, frail, confused man portrayed in the Keith Allen 'Keith
meets Keith' documentary which was aired the night he died. "He
was so full of life, and always running around like a mad-man,
keeping us all entertained," said the chef, who described the
Malsters Arms as "the best pub I've ever been in."
For Jordan, Floyd was perhaps his stongest career influence. "I
was only about 15 when I started working for him," he recalled. "He
had had a big rift with his son at that stage, and I was about the
same age - so he treated me a bit like I was his own.
"He used to drive me around in his Bentley to meet these legendary
chefs like Marco and taught me an incredible amount about
ingredients and the joys of working with local producers."