I arrive at the restaurant 15 minutes ahead of schedule to find my lunch companion, Michel Roux Jr (chef, author, TV star and head of arguably Britain’s most important culinary family) already here. I half-expected him to be wearing chef’s whites, but he’s in jeans and a grey-blue jumper, his broad smile instantly recognisable. I apologise for being early. “I’m always early too,” he says.
We’re at Caractère, the Notting Hill restaurant run by Roux’s daughter Emily and her husband Diego Ferrari, who are both chefs. I was surprised that Roux didn’t choose Le Gavroche, the famous Mayfair restaurant where he’s been chef patron for more than three decades. But it isn’t open for lunch and, if it were, I’d be dining alone. Roux works almost every service and plans to until it closes in January, when its lease is up.