Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons: our Suppliers
The relationship we have developed with our suppliers at Le Manoir is very unique. There is a huge element of trust and you will see that we share the same values. All of our suppliers are very carefully selected for their attention to detail and strive to be the best at what they do. Without them we wouldn’t be able to succeed as we do here in the kitchen of Le Manoir. To celebrate our ongoing relationships I would like to showcase the people that make our job possible.
Raymond Blanc Gary Jones Benoit Blin
Chef Patron/Chairman Executive Head Chef Chef Patissier
Richard Vine Baby Salads & Veg
www.richardvine.co.uk
Richard supplies Le Manoir with specialist baby salads and micro herbs. He is a true artisan and his innovation for producing the best is second to none. His tireless inquisitive nature and rigorous attention to detail to how things grow is a real inspiration. He is unique in the business slowing down growth to maximise flavours for greater impact. Everything is produced as naturally as possible without artificial heat, light, or the usual chemical fertilisers; instead he uses seaweed. Pest control is via natural predators or organic based methods such as garlic liquid as well as companion planting such as marigolds. Everything from preparation of seed beds through sowing to actual product picking is all performed by hand. He is responsible for bringing some truly delightful produce to incorporate into the dishes at Le Manoir, be it Sea Kale, Oyster Leaves or Buckler Sorrel.
Martin Mash / Mash Purveyors
www.mashpurveyors.com
Based in New Covent Garden Mash Purveyors Ltd has been supplying premium Fruit and Veg to Le Manoir for a number of years. Martin Mash is director of a company that has been established for 150 years, nurturing relationships with growers in the UK and abroad. What attracts us to Mash is their quality produce and ethical work sense. ‘Fresh tastes better’ they proclaim, but only if handled correctly and at the right time of year. Le Manoir is constantly updated with weekly seasonal changes and Mash Purveyors can be truly relied upon to source the very best.
Oakleaf
www.oakleaf-european.co.uk
Oakleaf is another company with real honesty and passion for what they supply. Started in 1995 by John Piper and Patrick Mulhall they are based near Rungis International, the world’s largest food market outside Paris. They source regional produce and share with Le Manoir an emphasis on seasonality. ‘Buy the best, from the best, to supply the best’ is their motto and the Oakleaf team constantly has an ear to the ground buying the best produce from both Rungis market and regional UK growers. They have taken the time to know the growers and have become the expert link between the farmer and the chef.
Jody Scheckter / Laverstoke Park
www.laverstokepark.co.uk
Like Raymond Blanc, Jody Scheckter is a man with a vision. Along with the help of his wife Claire, he started the biodynamic farm in Hampshire to produce the best-tasting, healthiest food without compromise for their family. However, it was soon realised that as a smallholder this meant eating beef continuously for eight weeks whenever a cow was slaughtered the decision was made to make the same food available to the public. The farm’s aim is to become self-sustaining and self-sufficient. Animals are slow-growing and live in a healthy environment. Laverstoke Park follows nature but uses the latest and best scientific research techniques and equipment. They share many of the same beliefs that we have here at Le Manoir. Jody believes that quality begins with the soil and all the living organisms within it; if care is taken at this level, it will filter through to the grass that the animals graze upon. He has identified that 1 square meter contains 23 different types of grasses, clovers and herbs. Care is taken right the way through and Laverstoke even has its own onsite abattoir in order to reduce the stress of their animals at slaughter. Uniquely Jody has a herd of 1,500 buffalo and Le Manoir is proud to use the mozzarella he produces from their milk; a truly great British product, better then anything we can source in Italy.
Lord Newborough / Rhug Estate
www.rhug.co.uk
Rhug organic farm is in the county of Denbighshire, Wales and is the enterprise of Lord Newborough. His philosophy echoes that of Le Manoir. To quote Lord Newborough, ‘The real passion and vision for me is the need to not only preserve the land I farm ethically so that future generations can enjoy it, but to produce high quality meat that is good for you and tastes as I remember good food tasting’. That he certainly achieves from the incredible slow growing free-range Rhug brown chickens to the award-winning organic Welsh Lamb, both are on our menu at Le Manoir. Rhug estate is fully certified as organic by the soil association and continued efforts in land management and environmental practice ensures that they are a true credit to how good British produce can be.
Mickael Retailleau / Classic Fine foods
www.classicfinefoods.com
Mickael Retailleau and his team at Classic Fine Foods are responsible for sourcing the highest quality premium fine foods. Supplying Le Manoir with Iberian Hams, Truffles, Valrhona Chocolate and artisan Foie Gras from Le Committee De Renaissance. Their specifications are to the highest grade and so run alongside our own criteria for absolutely the best produce.
Tim Boyd / New Wave Seafood
www.new-wave.co.uk
Tim Boyd started New Wave Seafoods 20 years ago with the aiming to source and provide the freshest seafood direct from around the UK. Tim and his team have been delivering fresh fish and shellfish to Le Manoir on a daily basis for the past 13 years and we have always been delighted with their quality and service. The business has grown substantially adapting to the issues surrounding fish supply.Le Manoir and New Wave Sustainable share a strong commitment to responsible fishing and also to sustainability, through our mutual involvement with the Marine Stewardship Council. The majority of their fish is from the South-West of England and each aspect of the supply chain is scrutinised so they can offer clear information, confidently assuring the fish caught is from a sustainable source.
Alan Henderson / The Live Langoustine Company
Based in the Western Isles of Scotland, Alan Henderson’s Live Langoustine Company have their tanks just 50 meters from the sea. Langoustines are sometimes referred to as “the rabbits of the sea” living in burrows on the sea bed and only coming out to feed and mate. The Live Langoustine Company use creels as a method of fishing which is regarded as the most conservational and sustainable form of fishing and is backed 100% by the Marine Conservation Society. Fishermen go out daily (weather permitting) to an area of the sea called the Minch where they fish using creels/pots. Only the strongest and largest langoustines are kept, all weak and undersize are returned to the sea for another day. When caught, langoustines are kept separate in tubes in water. On landing they are transferred to tanks and kept at 4DegC for 24 hours to allow them to settle and remove any stress that may have built up. They are packed to order and dispatched in individual tubes, which replicates there natural environment, for the journey direct to Le Manoir. The Live Langosutine Company are proud that they have complete control of the langoustine from seabed to our kitchen. They have a fantastic reputation which is second to none, providing an ethical and regular (weather permitting) supply of fantastic quality live langoustines throughout the year.
Rarmin Rohgar / Imperial Caviar
www.imperialcaviar.co.uk
Imperial Caviar and Rarmin Rohgar have been supplying best quality caviar since the early 1990’s. What impresses us is the company's commitment to ethics. They are registered with CITES to guide them as to where and where not to source the caviar. They have a fantastic range of Osietra Baerii caviar from farmed sturgeon. The Imperial team take the time to get to know the sturgeon farmers personally. When they visit the farms and production facilities, they are able to select the finest caviar whilst balancing that with the welfare of the Sturgeon. The captive Sturgeon used is reared in as close to their natural habitat as possible. After 7 to 8 years the eggs are then harvested. These farms feed the sturgeon organic feed, free from genetically modified ingredients or growth promoters. Dependent on harvest quality Imperial caviar offer either the French or Italian Baerii. This is known by experts to be the best ethically sourced aquaculture caviars available.
Loch Duart Salmon
www.lochduart.com
Andrew Bing, sales director at Loch Duart and his very committed team are responsible for providing Le Manoir with the best quality organic salmon. Based at the tip of Sutherland the most North-Westerly part of Scotland, they are committed to offering award winning fish whilst minimising their impact on the environment. They employ an integrated aquaculture, cultivating a native species sea urchin that feeds on the beds below. They grow indigenous seaweeds that take out the nitrates and phosphates that the salmon put in. The salmon are farmed in low density in the open seas so they naturally swim against the currents, this provides a firm flesh similar to that of wild salmon. They employ a year long fallowing system across their sites allowing the area to recover, the fish feed comes from sustainable non-GM sources. Loch Duart really is a beacon in the field of Salmon farming with the objective of growing salmon in as natural a life cycle as possible whilst neutralising the environmental impact. They have been acknowledged by both the RSPCA and Freedom Foods for the great work they are doing.
Johnny Godden / Flying Fish Seafoods
www.flyingkenfish.co.uk
Based in Cornwall, Flying Fish is superbly placed near the landing ports of Looe and Newlyn. This way Johnny and his team can source the freshest fish that Cornwall can offer, specialising in sustainable, day boat, best quality fish and shellfish. Le Manoir can be sure that Johnny’s produce is the best whether it be the pot caught brown crabs landed at Newlyn or the line-caught tagged Sea Bass. Being so close to the ports means that Flying Fish have intimate knowledge about from which boats the fish is landed and the methods by which it is caught. This way they can assure Le Manoir that the fish they supply us is sustainable and meets our criteria for responsible fishing.
M Newitt & Sons, Traditional Butchers
www.newitt.co.uk
Newitts truly is a family business. Established in the charming market town of Thame in Oxfordshire for over 40 years. With a reputation built on traditional values, quality produce and service. Michael Newitt & his son Tom are award winning and nationally renowned, attracting customers from across the UK.
Waterperry Gardens
www.waterperrygardens.co.uk
We are very lucky at Le Manoir to have the fantastic five acre orchard at Waterperry Gardens so close to us. Here Chris Lanczak has been working in the orchard for 40 years and is responsible for cultivating over 50 varieties of apples. From unusual types such as Ashmead Kernel and Kidds Orange to old favourites such as Cox’s Orange Pippin, Bramley and Egremont Russet. Each variety has subtle differences in flavour and texture that we match to our dishes at Le Manoir. Waterperry also provides the most remarkable apple juices each with its own characteristic; juiced onsite they are low on food miles, high on taste!
Bucksum
www.tvfm.org.uk/member/135/bucksum/
June and David Newman have enormous pride in the seasonal produce they grow as part of the Thames Valley Farmers Market Co-operation that providing local food for local people. (Potatoes, pumpkins, squashes, leeks, beetroot, red and white onions, shallots, carrots, parsnips, celeriac, purple sprouting broccoli.) This produce is organic and top quality and we are proud to have them as suppliers to Le Manoir.
Our list of suppliers gives details of who supplies what to us, where they are based and contact details. The PDF document can be downloaded here.
