Guide reveals the chef's special

In the prestigious Harden's restaurant guide, out today, Meunier is behind only Gordon Ramsay and Bruce Poole, of Wandsworth's Chez Bruce. He beats Marcus Wareing and Michel Roux, who came fourth and ninth respectively.

Meunier has been honing his talents away from the glamour of Chelsea and the West End in a small, self-financed bistro in Islington. He opened Morgan M in 2003 after learning his craft at The Admiralty in Somerset House and a string of Michelin-starred establishments in France.

When he took over the lease of the Liverpool Road building - a derelict former pub - there was no running water, lights or central heating. Now he has transformed it into something homely but elegant and sophisticated.

"Morgan Meunier is a slow burner compared with the likes of Ramsay but he is becoming a serious challenger to the heavyweights in London," said Harden's editor Richard Harden. "He has gone away to the relative obscurity of north London and perfected his cuisine. "What he does is good French food, not particularly innovative, not wacky, but classic and stunning."

Meunier came to London eight years ago after falling in love with a British teacher - now his wife - with whom he lives in Stoke Newington. Despite calls for him to try his luck in more central culinary quarters, he insisted he had no plans to move.

"I opened Morgan M all by myself, with money I had saved, and being in north Islington has allowed me to do all sorts of things without financial pressure," he said.

"I can have just one seating a night instead of two and it means we are dead cheap compared to other people. I think it is important to have great food locally and maybe not in the obvious places.

"My aim is to keep on making Morgan M a great venue. Perhaps one day I'd like a bigger place so we can have a bar to sit in before dinner and a garden for coffee after but I don't think I will go far from here. At first we had just a local crowd but now people come from all over."

Meunier, who was born in Champagne, said he was keen to keep the "intimacy" of his current-venture. "I keep it so people are quite close to the kitchen and I manage to always be there and to come out and talk to people after their meals," he said. "I do that every day, not just for the newspapers."

He said the secret of his cooking is a mix of "what I've learned since I was five" and a "more modern approach".

Key dishes - although the menu changes seasonally - include sea bass with lobster and tarragon ravioli and a moelleux chocolate pudding voted best in London by one foodie magazine.

"I just want to touch people through food," said Meunier. "If I can provoke any kind of emotion by what I have cooked, then that is success."

The 2007 Harden's London Restaurants guide is published today.