Raymond Blanc awarded Lifetime Achievement Award

Raymond Blanc has been awarded a special Lifetime Achievement Award by The Good Food Guide 2011 today, as it celebrates its launch and 60th anniversary.

Created in 1951 to raise the standards of dining out in Britain, The Good Food Guide has become indispensable for the UK’s restaurant lovers.

Raymond Blanc has been a stalwart of the Guide since his first listing in the 1978 edition, when he was awarded a top score*.  As the review pointed out, “even the loud American pontificating at the next table fell silent while eating.”

Since then, M Blanc has appeared in 32 editions of the Guide.  The Lifetime Achievement Award, the first to be handed out by the Guide, recognises the chef’s passionate commitment to consistency, quality and seasonal produce and reflects the influence and élan that he has had on the UK dining scene.

When Raymond Blanc’s first restaurant, Les Quat’Saisons, changed location to become Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, it was given a provisional entry in the 1984 edition of The Good Food Guide even before it opened.  This unusual entry was included due to the ‘enormous enthusiasm… for M. Blanc’s cooking’, and included a glowing tribute from novelist Ian McEwan.

For almost a decade (1999-2008), Le Manoir received one of the highest accolades – a cooking score of 9 out of 10.  Today, it maintains its stellar reputation, with The Good Food Guide 2011 naming it the third best restaurant in the UK.

Elizabeth Carter, Consultant Editor, The Good Food Guide, says:

“In its 60 year history, The Good Food Guide has borne witness to, and in part brought about, a changing approach to dining out in the UK. “Few chefs have had more of a hand in shaping modern British dining than Raymond Blanc, a true culinary giant who has impressed diners and inspired fellow chefs since 1978.”

Raymond Blanc added:

“I am immensely proud to have been awarded this Lifetime Achievement Award from The Good Food Guide.  Over the years it has become a wonderful symbol of high standards and quality and I am thrilled that Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons has been in no less than 32 guides.

I would like to share this award with my team who have worked tirelessly to move ever forward in the relentless pursuit of excellence.  It is not an easy or comfortable journey but it is certainly an exhilarating one.

The Good Food Guide is one the most valuable restaurant guides in the UK and one that I am proud to be associated with.  It is a personal honour for me to see so many chefs who have trained here with me at Le Manoir to go on and be acknowledged in their own right in this respected guide.”

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