A word with Anthony Raffo and Fiancée Marie Danzanvilliers
Q&A by Majella Taylor:
When you step into Anglo, you are instantly transported to a peaceful mountainside dwelling, where it’s welcoming and cosy and you could hide out there for days. The stress of the fast life lies in your wake and all you need look forward to is kind and gentle service and food to delight every sense. Anthony Raffo and Fiancée Marie Danzanvilliers are at the helm of the Farringdon based, Mark Jarvis owned restaurant, Anglo in Farringdon, London. They have been there for two years and I have been lucky enough to experience and observe their journey. They are a beautiful partnership of two very gentle and hospitality passionate souls. They were kind enough to take some time out of their busy schedule to answer some questions for me.
Anthony,
What is your philosophy? Your ethos?
My philosophy and ethos to life is much the same as in the restaurant and that is to be as responsible as possible and change what I can for the better however small these changes may first appear.
At Anglo we have made a few changes to improve the dining experience. We feel it is our responsibility to use only the best British seasonal foraged and responsibly farmed produce. We have also made a conscious effort to reduce our impact on the world around us. Such as offering one menu to reduce our food consumption and waste, reducing our plastic usage, using natural wines, British where possible and reducing the amount of meat and fish we offer from responsible sustainable suppliers. We have made these changes and more to be more sustainable and responsible but without impacting on the quality of our final product and the diners overall experience.We are very excited to be also opening a greenhouse for Anglo on the roof top of a nearby building. Growing as many herbs and vegetables as the space will allow to put into our dishes. Again, one greenhouse won’t change London or the world but it’s small things we can do to make what we are doing more responsible and sustainable. Now for the what it has to be the uk countryside. Absolutely breath taking and so much to offer then it may first appear. As I mentioned before my love of foraging and getting away from the city of London and getting lost out there is my real happy place. But not only being great for my mental health it can also be a great source of inspiration for a dish, I can’t remember where or from who I first heard the saying “what grows together goes together” but it’s definitely true. From brambles and wild fennel flowers I’ve found growing on the coastline to meadow sweet and hay in the meadows. There really is a whole natural larder out there and it’s become a passion of mine to explore it. I can remember the first time I tried spruce tips who knew that a hardy rough spiky tree could produce soft succulent citrus favoured needles. Even the young green pine cones once cooked long and slow taste incredible. But not only this when you get out there the change in weather and seasons can really show you when it’s time to move on from a certain dish or ingredients. It’s this connection with the British nature / countryside that is the biggest inspiration in my cooking.
How passionate are you about sustainability?
Sustainability has become such a buzz word for restaurants over the last few years. It has become the trendy way to describe your restaurant. I am absolutely fine with this as long as it’s not just a word that it’s actually backed up. Even if it’s small changes like recycling, reducing waste and sourcing your ingredients from sustainable supplies. It all helps I believe there is no such thing as a 100% sustainable restaurant with zero waste there will always be some waste to anything that humans are involved in.
But referring back to the first question if we all make small changes where we can it will add up to a big difference.
What would you say are your signature dishes?
This is a question that chefs often get asked and a lot dislike as one or a handful of dishes can’t define who you are as a cook. They more show how you are as a chef at that particular time they were created.
I do however evolve dishes over years to constantly improve them and update them to my maturing style. One of these dishes is my Tunworth cheese course a British Camembert made in Hampshire where I grew up. This dish has seen many changes over the years but the core has always stayed the same, this is an amazing cheese with chutney and bread, reminiscent of a British classic the Ploughman’s. The latest version of this dish is a Tunworth aerated mousse, prune gel made from British plums and old sourdough tuile, made from our homemade sourdough loafs that don’t get sold fresh that day instead of going in the bin.
I’m constantly creating new dishes and for me that’s the most fun part of being a chef and it’s also great to have the space like Anglo where I have complete freedom to do so. I could create a dish tomorrow and think right this one will always be on the menu or definitely back on next year when it’s back in season. But then come up with something completely different and that I feel is much better so the previous dish may never see a diner again. It’s all a journey and I feel if I had set rotating menus i would get incredibly bored.
I would say my signature style however is using only British seasonal foraged and responsibly sourced produce. As well as fermentation and pickling that features heavenly on the menu. An almost forgotten until rather recently way to preserve food to use throughout the year as well as changing some foods flavour profile dramatically. It has become another trendy thing to do now for restaurants but again I’m very happy about that and hope it remains that way for a very long time. But championing only British ingredients are at the forefront of everything I do. It makes no sense to me to have an avocado on the menu that’s had to travel thousands of miles just to get to me. It does grate me a little when I see these great titans of our industry saying they cook modern British cuisine but finish on a mango of passion fruit dessert on their menu.
Who or what is your inspiration?
For the who my inspiration has to be Noma a truly ground breaking restaurant in Copenhagen. Guided by Rene Redzepi this restaurant has really changed the way I and many chefs around the world look at cooking. For me it makes complete sense their ethos to use only what they can gather at that particular time from where they are.
They also are heavily involved in foraging and have a whole fermentation department, the things they are discovering and making there just blows my mind. Ofcourse their operation is a lot larger and more globally recognised then what I’m doing at Anglo but I definitely take inspiration from them and not copy but use as a rough blue print of how I’m cooking and the direction I want to take Anglo. New Nordic cuisine as a whole is amazing to me and has exploded over the last 10 years. The love they show to humble ingredients the simplicity and elegant plating very organic and natural but tasting deep and complex is just incredible. I often wonder why this “new” food culture hasn’t trickled down to us from our Viking neighbours. We have very similar climates and seasons as well as terrain, foliage and wild stock. Yet we have been left behind on the world stage of catering a little and something I’d like to change hopefully one day in my own little way.
What are your plans for your career and/or Anglo?
When I was a much younger cook my plan was as I’m sure the same as most, have a successful restaurant of my own. I came very close to this dream with my fiancée Marie Danzanvilliers preparing to open our own restaurant Toasted Hay. We wanted to open in London and seeing we would have to save for one more year to be financially comfortable, we decided to go for a job in the capital to plant our roots. I managed to get a head chef position at a private members club for people in the catering industry in Soho. Then the dreaded COVID hit devastating the industry with closures some permanent. In this time of uncertainty, I started a small bakery out of Anglo with Mark Jarvis doing COVID safe home deliveries of homemade breads and pastries. Getting to know each other better and realising we were very much on the same page as one another and in amongst the swapping of horror stories from past kitchens, he offered me the head chef position of Anglo. To steer it in a direction that Marie and I felt best and basically make it our own and here we are today. The reason for telling you this back story is simply because plans very rarely actually go to plan. There are always twists and turns sometimes for the better sometimes not so.
The dream though has always been and still is to achieve that elusive Michelin star. For the long term I can’t see Marie and myself having our whole careers in London. So, moving into the countryside and doing something special there is a real possibility.
What are your hopes for the hospitality industry in 2022?
My hopes for the hospitality industry for 2022 and every year is that it continues to grow and be stronger then ever. Being one of the biggest employment sectors in the country it simply has to.
Getting better help and clearer guidelines from our government in these times would most definitely help. Getting in a better position on the world stage and being recognised more for what our little island is doing and producing would be fantastic as well. I can definitely see a real change in the industry when it comes to being a more safe, happier work place with a genuine look at having a better work life balance being shown across the board. I think this of course is a great thing and hope that my generation of chefs will be the last to see those bully culture kitchens it just doesn’t work anymore.
Marie:
How do you describe Anglo to people that have never dined there?
How I would describe Anglo’s dining room is hygge. Hygge is a Danish and Norwegian word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment. When Anthony and I took over we completely redecorated the dining room to reflex more our personalities and the way we see Anglo going into the future. It’s a small intimate space with only 14 covers with a simple but warm and stylish interior with nods to British woodlands. It’s a space where people can really relax forget they are in London without being too fussy and over the top as to not distract from Anthony’s creations. I also make sure our small but well thought out cocktail and wine list reflex’s the ethos of the food as well as being interesting and playful. For example, sea buckthorn and rosemary sour and a blueberry wine from Luton both feature on the lists.
Relaxed fine dining is also a phrase I use a lot to describe Anglo.
What would you like people to say about their dining experience at Anglo?
I would of course like every diner to say that they loved every aspect of their time at Anglo. But most importantly to me would be that it was a real experience for them, that’s different to anywhere else they have been. We have worked very hard to offer something different to any other restaurant in London from the food to the wines and service. We don’t want to fit into the norm we want to be the only place that our diners can experience Anglo not just a slightly different version of somewhere else.
To have our repeat and regular customers is a real testament that we are successful achieving this.
How would you describe your style of service?
My style of service is just as unique as the food and the same for Anthony working on his own in the kitchen I work on my own in the dining room. Because of this I get to personally look after every guest that comes to Anglo. This personal approach gives their experience a more welcoming and relaxed feeling, not having one person welcoming them another pouring their water and a few more people presenting and clearing their dishes. I can instantly make a rapport and a connection with them and feel the sort of service that would best suit them as individuals. I’m also in the unique position of being Anthony’s fiancée meaning that I am involved with the dishes from an idea right through to the final article. I then have a personal connection with the process and can describe the dish to our guests just as if the chef was describing it to them. Also if the guests wish me to go in to further detail about the processes and the meaning and reasoning behind it, giving that little extra to the service very few places can say they offer.
Where is the most memorable place you have dined and did it inspire/influence your style of service?
A place that springs to mind is a restaurant called The Five Fields their service is impeccable and never fails to impress. Although it is a completely different style to what I offer at Anglo. As I said before we like Anglo to be the only place you can experience what we offer so I don’t like to take too much inspiration from other places. I just simply like to be friendly and approachable, be myself.
How do you keep that work/life/home balance whilst always working with your partner?
I can see how for some people working with your partner could be very difficult and it’s not always smooth sailing for us. It’s been easier though as this is the way it’s always been having met at work so we’ve never known anything different. It also makes life easier as I don’t have to send the head chef messages or emails trying to chase things up, I can just ask him when I make the morning coffee. Being together or not just being in this Industry can sometimes pose a difficulty of managing a work / life balance, although working together is a plus as we see each other all the time where it could be the opposite where we could be working in different places and never see each other at all. So, for us it just works. Anthony is absolutely devoted to his work and his creativity is truly amazing, but it is hard for him to stop and to switch off. So, to help him do that I plan other things to do and get away. I can see he really appreciates that. Anglo is closed on Sundays and Mondays so we get a weekend of sorts off and away from the restaurant. I would say when we are home it’s a slightly different relationship as to when we are work. At work of course being professional and not letting personal things get in the way of our guests experience with us. At home obviously a much more relaxed and chilled relationship. I have no magic advice to help others just that for us it simply works.
