Australian-born Brett Graham has achieved two Michelin stars and carved out an enviable reputation at The Ledbury in Ladbroke Grove, London. Eight and a half years on since the restaurant opened, he tells Elite Traveler TV’s Alanna Lawson why he likes to keep things simple.
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The Ledbury has become arguably one of the toughest reservations to get in London at the moment and is now recognised as one of the best restaurants in the UK and rated 10th in Elite Traveler’s Top 100 Restaurants in the World.
Having started his culinary career as a 15-year-old work experience kid in a simple fish restaurant in Newcastle, Australia, Graham went on to do a three-year stint under Liam Tomlin at Banc restaurant in Sydney – experiences that he merits for his successes today.
“Both were very busy restaurants, both were run by people who were incredibly passionate towards not just the food but more so towards the customers, so that was a really important time for me.”
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He adds: “A lot of people I know went straight into fine dining restaurants and I think they missed the simple things a little bit.”
Graham’s time at Banc restaurant paved the way for a move to the UK, where he secured a job at The Square working for Philip Howard, who he describes as a “gentleman”.
When Howard offered him the chance to work as head chef The Ledbury, Graham says he was taken aback as he never envisioned running his own restaurant in the UK and planned to move back to Australia.
But while he admits that adjusting to the London lifestyle was a challenge – “life’s just a little bit easier [in Australia]” – he fell in love with running The Ledbury within a few days.
Click the video above to watch the full interview.
