From the first time we ate at Le Champignon Sauvage we knew it was a special place and that David and Helen Everitt-Matthias, the husband and wife team behind it were similarly special. It was therefore an absolute delight when we received an invitation to help them celebrate the restaurant's 25th anniversary. It is a mark of David & Helen's standing in the industry that the likes of Pierre Koffmann, Phil Howard and Brett Graham made the journey to Cheltenham to also join the party.
Open 25 years with 2 Michelin stars for 12, it's almost hard to comprehend their achievement thus far and it should be noted that David & Helen undertake every service personally. When the restaurant is open, they are there, Helen looking after front of house and David in the kitchen; when they take holidays, the restaurant closes for the duration. It is part of what makes Le Champignon Sauvage so special, it is a very personal restaurant and when you eat there, you are eating David's food, cooked by David.
Consider this: assuming they work 45 weeks each year for 5 days a week, serving 45 guests each day (the number is probably higher), putting these numbers together they serve approximately 10,000 diners each year. Over 25 years therefore, they have served 250,000 meals. The Olympic Stadium of the London 2012 Games holds 80,000 people; David & Helen therefore have personally served the equivalent of the entire stadium three times over with multiple courses of the finest quality food imaginable.
The Olympic theme actually carries over nicely for a recent article in the Huffington Post by sports psychologist Dr JoAnn Dahlkoetter noted the 'Profile of the Olympic Gold Medal Mindset' as consisting of seven traits: enthusiasm and desire; courage to succeed; internal motivation; commitment to excellence; discipline, consistency, organization; being focussed and yet relaxed; ability to handle adversity. Who can deny these are the very traits consistently exhibited by David & Helen over the last 25 years?
In my mind without doubt, the same pride with which Britain swelled at the performance of its athletes at the Games should be similarly accorded David & Helen for their unfailing accomplishments at Le Champignon Sauvage, though I'm sure they would be far too modest to accept it. David is the perfect role model for any young chef in the business today but gets too little recognition outside the industry because instead of working his media profile, he's working the pass.
Open 25 years with 2 Michelin stars for 12, it's almost hard to comprehend their achievement thus far and it should be noted that David & Helen undertake every service personally. When the restaurant is open, they are there, Helen looking after front of house and David in the kitchen; when they take holidays, the restaurant closes for the duration. It is part of what makes Le Champignon Sauvage so special, it is a very personal restaurant and when you eat there, you are eating David's food, cooked by David.
Consider this: assuming they work 45 weeks each year for 5 days a week, serving 45 guests each day (the number is probably higher), putting these numbers together they serve approximately 10,000 diners each year. Over 25 years therefore, they have served 250,000 meals. The Olympic Stadium of the London 2012 Games holds 80,000 people; David & Helen therefore have personally served the equivalent of the entire stadium three times over with multiple courses of the finest quality food imaginable.
The Olympic theme actually carries over nicely for a recent article in the Huffington Post by sports psychologist Dr JoAnn Dahlkoetter noted the 'Profile of the Olympic Gold Medal Mindset' as consisting of seven traits: enthusiasm and desire; courage to succeed; internal motivation; commitment to excellence; discipline, consistency, organization; being focussed and yet relaxed; ability to handle adversity. Who can deny these are the very traits consistently exhibited by David & Helen over the last 25 years?
In my mind without doubt, the same pride with which Britain swelled at the performance of its athletes at the Games should be similarly accorded David & Helen for their unfailing accomplishments at Le Champignon Sauvage, though I'm sure they would be far too modest to accept it. David is the perfect role model for any young chef in the business today but gets too little recognition outside the industry because instead of working his media profile, he's working the pass.
How many great chefs?
Below is the menu he cooked for us that day. It was absolutely stunning as always. Starting off with the most delectable cod brandade, a dish that fellow guest Allan Jenkins of the Observer would later tweet as 'the dish of the day', this was followed by the Dexter beef tartare and corned beef. We've enjoyed this before, smitten by this dish on the first occasion of our visit there. What is more interesting however is that despite today's esteemed line up of Michelin starred chefs and journalists, David serves them the same food that he serves his paying guests every day, that is, every person who walks through the doors of LCS will always get David's best efforts and best food so that even when special guests come town, David can't change up a gear because he's already there with the public.
Brandade
Dexter beef tartare and corned beef, wasabi cream
Wild sea bass, mushroom tea, bay boletus blancmange
Witchhill potatoes, buffalo curd, turkey prosciutto, leek ashes
Hogget with baby parsnips and woodruff, cockles and samphire
Desserts hold a special place at LCS and David is both an award winning dessert chef and author of the acclaimed book called Dessert. Our table was certainly cooing over the pineapple poached in caramel. In David's book, there are chapters titled chocolate and nut, fruit, vegetable, "root's, pods, seeds and bark" and wild. We didn't quite go down the bark route today but roasted dandelion root cream was nevertheless an impressive finale to the meal. Well, not quite the end for just as we thought it was all done, an enticing plate of petits fours was set on the table tempting us one last time.
Pineapple poached in caramel, coconut gel, pineapple and verbena sorbet
Roasted dandelion root cream, milk ice cream, milk crumble
petits fours
There was much to celebrate that day: 25 years of Le Champignon Sauvage, a makeover of the restaurant with a brighter more airy feel, and David's soon to be released latest cookbook, Beyond Essence. While many have still not discovered how wonderful LCS is, and we certainly felt we were late to the party when we first ate there, the good news is that David and Helen still have the passion to take it forward another quarter century it seems with David telling me that day that he wants to do another 20 years at least.
Winston Churchill is reported to have said of Clement Attlee that he was 'a modest man who has much to be modest about'. David Everitt-Matthias is a modest man but with plenty to shout about, more than most including me, making it humbling to be in his presence. So if he wont shout about it, we will: David and Helen really are great British heroes, food heroes, and even Olympians in a broader sense. If the much talked about legacy of the Games is to champion values of hard work over the instant, transient and undeserved culture of fame, then David and Helen are indeed the role models that people in all fields should aspire to.
Accordingly, we wish David and Helen, and Le Champignon Sauvage another 25 successful years and urge everybody who loves food to visit them and support them if you haven't already. Of course, if you have been there already, you'll need little encouragement to go back, you'll already know just how special it is.
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Le Champignon Sauvage previous blog post
Winston Churchill is reported to have said of Clement Attlee that he was 'a modest man who has much to be modest about'. David Everitt-Matthias is a modest man but with plenty to shout about, more than most including me, making it humbling to be in his presence. So if he wont shout about it, we will: David and Helen really are great British heroes, food heroes, and even Olympians in a broader sense. If the much talked about legacy of the Games is to champion values of hard work over the instant, transient and undeserved culture of fame, then David and Helen are indeed the role models that people in all fields should aspire to.
Accordingly, we wish David and Helen, and Le Champignon Sauvage another 25 successful years and urge everybody who loves food to visit them and support them if you haven't already. Of course, if you have been there already, you'll need little encouragement to go back, you'll already know just how special it is.
Return to homepage
Le Champignon Sauvage previous blog post
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