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Guide reveals the chef's special
By Fay Maschler, Evening Standard 29.08.06
Morgan Meunier outside his restaurant in Islington
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To all but the most devoted food buffs the name Morgan Meunier may mean little. But all that is set to change for the 33-year-old Frenchman. Despite his relative anonymity, he has been named as one of the top three chefs in London.
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.
Reader views (2)
During one of my trips to London, I had the chance to have Diner at Morgan M and I have to say that I was delighted by both Ambiance, Service and Food.
Plate presentation was very nice and creative, taste and flavour were excellent.
I have already given the address to my friends.
- Annie, Chalon sur saone - France
I visited Morgan M early in the year and my partner and I had a meal that was decent but unremarkable. My partner's fish was overcooked and chewy and when we told Mr M this afterwards there was no whiff of an apology, he just basically told us in so many words that we were idiots who didn't know what we were talking about and the fish was meant to be like that. Unbelievable and rude. If he can't handle the odd bit of critisism then I suggest he doesn't bother with the show of coming out after the meal and asking how it was, because it was obvious that he didn't really want to know. He certainly 'provoked some emotion' in me. We won't be returning.
- Debra, London
