Chef’s Table: Michael Caines talks championing disabilities and his comfort favourite dishes

Michael Caines MBE has worked with – and finds himself named alongside – some of the most decorated chefs in the world. He has worked with everyone from Raymond Blanc and Joël Robuchon to Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White. Currently the chef owner of Lympstone Manor hotel, he has recently announced plans to open up his first venture in London with The Stafford. 

Michael Caines is a huge champion of disability and amputee charities after having himself lost an arm in a car accident at the age of 25. That has never stopped him on his quest to success, making him one of the most formidable Michelin star chefs currently working. 

So for this edition of the Chef’s Table series, we sat down with Michael Caines to talk about his storied career, his work to champion disabilities, his upcoming London venture and his comfort foods.You head up the fine dining restaurant at Lympstone Manor. What sets your menu apart?
I think what stands out is ultimately our sense of space. We have this incredible landscape overlooking the estate, we’ve got amazing poultry – beef, lamb, pork – and cheeses, wine… We’re using everything from around us, promoting biodiversity, but also encouraging regenerative farming techniques – anything we can do to influence a milder effect on our environment. But more importantly, we’re championing ingredients from our region and putting something quite unique on the plate because you’re getting something from literally a few miles away.

How would you describe your style as a chef? What do you want your guests to experience when they come to your restaurants?
What I try to do in the way I cook is take the basic ingredients and make it taste really incredible. So when people eat the dishes, they really get a unique taste of landscape matched with my own skill and technique. We have a real focus on great technique and delivering incredible flavour by championing the best British ingredients.

You are one of the UK’s most celebrated chefs. Where did your passion for cooking come from?
It started from me being a child growing up in a family of 6 kids. I was the youngest of 6, and we all had our chores, and I enjoyed cooking in the kitchen with my mum, baking cakes. We had a lovely Victorian garden where we used to grow vegetables and I just thought everybody grew up like that – growing their own vegetables, baking, making simple but wonderful meals. That was the norm for me as a kid and that’s really where my passion started for food – coming around the table to enjoy meals with family.It was recently announced that you’ll be opening up your very first London restaurant as culinary strategist at The Stafford. How does that feel?
I’m really excited. I’ve got a broader role as the food and beverage creative consultant with the Stafford Collection. I think we’re really excited about putting some tablecloths on the tables and giving our guests a more fine dining yet informal and relaxed experience. This is my first venture into London, so I’m excited about that. I am looking forward to working with the Stafford collection and looking to the future to expand that project as well.

You recently hosted acclaimed chef Marco Pierre White at Lympstone Manor. What was it like? Can you tell us more about the event?
So with Marco Pierre White, the story goes back a bit because when I was younger, I was working in Paris with a certain Gordon Ramsay, and when he came back to England, he told Marco about me. Marco then offered me a job but I had already accepted a head chef position, and since I was a man of my word, I had to turn him down. Over the years, we bumped into each other, but I was very fortunate to go and do an event in Greece at the end of last year where Marco and I were talking and we got on so well. And he said he’ll come do an event with me. It was an exceptional evening and it was very generous of him to give up his time. And for us as a team we were absolutely honoured to have somebody like Marco Pierre White in our kitchen.You had a longstanding partnership with Formula 1 team Williams Racing. Do you have any fun anecdotes from your time working with the team? Is the atmosphere in the paddock kitchen any different from say, a fine dining restaurant?
I had a 10 year relationship with Williams Racing that came to an end during COVID. The atmosphere in the kitchen…if I look back and I reflect on my time, Williams was the first team to have a Michelin star chef at that time. These people are so passionate about motor racing, but they recognise that racing is only just one part of everything in Formula 1, what it’s actually about is hospitality. But in terms of the kitchen, it’s like having a pop up. You arrive on track Tuesday, the motorhome goes up, Wednesday you do your prep, Thursday’s media day, and then Friday, Saturday, Sunday. As soon as they start racing, they’re all sitting in hospitality so you’re feeding everybody. As soon as the race is finished, by the end of that night, everything’s packed away and the trucks are all leaving to get to the next venue or to go back to HQ and then on to the next venue. It’s phenomenal. There’s nothing else quite like it.

You are a huge champion of amputee initiatives and charities. Why is this cause so important to you?
I lost my arm in a car accident when I was 25 and it was a really challenging period in my life. And I have a duty of care to inspire and help those people who are suffering with disabilities. To show them that with determination, one step at a time, they can overcome and still live a full and active life. And while there are some dark days, those downs give you momentum to get up. A lot of people don’t have any role models – I didn’t. The only person I knew who lost their arm was Horatio Nelson, and he was a war hero. So to be a positive role model for people who have disabilities, to show that actually, It’s about enabling an opportunity for people to live a full and active life is really important. Some disabilities are obvious, you can see them, but there are lots of people that carry disabilities around with them who look completely able bodied. So you need positive role models that you can be inspired by to keep going and having been through a situation like that myself, you recognise that sometimes people just need a bit of light in their life and a little bit of inspiration. That’s why it’s important to me. Away from the restaurant, what is your ultimate personal comfort food or favourite dish?
I’ve got kids so often it’s something which is easy to cook: salads, pasta, stir frys. One dish I cooked this summer at the restaurant was a simple cod dish with bouillabaisse sauce and boulangerie potatoes, and what it made me do is think about how I can turn that dish into something which is doable at home. I cooked it at home and everybody loved it. So that’s the dish I’m into this year. However, Sunday roast at home with the kids is always a must when we have all the kids around.

Who are some of your chef heroes?
I’m gonna stick with the people that inspired me, two of them are no longer with us. I think really there would be no Lympston Manor without a young 19 year old me working with Raymond Blanc. So he is one. I worked with the late Bernard Loiseau and the late Joël Robuchon, who had at one time more stars than anyone and still holds on to an incredible repertoire of restaurants. So those are 3 chefs that really helped shape my career.

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