Marcus Wareing: ‘I’ve sacrificed more than any other chef’

Marcus Wareing is gearing up to start filming the newest series of MasterChef: The Professionals. It has been ‘a bit hectic,’ he admits. He tells me that he only sees co-host Monica Galetti every nine months, when they film. Presumably this is because they are both so busy with work.

That hasn’t stopped him from preparing for this interview, however. ‘I’ve gone through your [set] questions and I’ve written them down,’ he says, ever prepared. ‘They’re actually really interesting questions to dig deep into… it’s not really questions I thought your magazine would be asking… normally I flick through. I just love the imagery of it,’ he says, either not realising, or simply not caring, that this is basically the equivalent of me admitting to coming to one of his restaurants to take a photo of the food and not eat any.

Marcus was born in Southport, Lancashire, in 1970. The 55-year-old was the son of a fruit and potato merchant, which sparked his interest in food. He started his culinary career at the Savoy Hotel under Anton Edelmann, before going on to join Albert Roux at the Michelin starred restaurant Le Gavroche. Here he first met Gordon Ramsey, who he later went on to work with at Aubergine and on other cookery projects. The pair were inseparable (Ramsay was Marcus’s best man) until a much-documented feud that lasted for many years, to the delight of tabloid journalists in the British media (in 2008 he called Ramsay a ‘sad bastard’ who he ‘still adores’ in Waitrose Food Illustrated magazine, of all places).

Marcus earned his first Michelin star at the age of 25. Great British Menu followed, then came MasterChef and a slew of cookbooks alongside other television appearances. This year he was awarded an MBE. Today, Marcus is mostly out of the kitchen. One of his roles is as an ambassador for Seven Seas, the Omega 3 suppliers. ‘I love fitness… I am going to do 10-15K today, because it’s just great for thinking,’ he says. Due to his active lifestyle, people often ask Marcus what supplements he takes, the chef tells me. Being an ambassador for the brand was a natural fit, since he’s been taking their supplements since childhood. Running, however, was not something he had time for earlier on in his career.

‘I’ve sacrificed more than any other chef,’ he says. It’s an enormous claim. ‘It’s my way of saying to myself; you can’t compete with me, you can’t keep up with me … you couldn’t drag me out of the kitchen [at the start]. Aged 11, my dad had taught me how to work like no other young person,’ he says.

‘When I came to London at the age of 18 it was no fitness. It was just pure work — head down. Once you sort of get into marriage and having a family it makes you do other things,’ he says. He doesn’t run to music, preferring silence so that he has time with his thoughts. The marriage in question is to Jane Wareing, who he met aged 22 at Gravetye Manor in West Sussex. Marcus was the sous chef and Jane the front of house manager: a tale as old as time, as far as hospitality goes. She seems to be, based on the way he talks about her, pretty crucial to the Marcus Wareing operation as a whole. Without her I suspect that his life would have far more work in it, but far less joy. They have three children together aged 24, 21 and 18.

Marcus will be cooking at Wimbledon again this year for many of the tennis championship’s punters and he may be part of a new TV show, in a different style to MasterChef, but it is still currently up in the air. Although he is the least busy he has ever been, he also works with Speakers for Schools for the charity Futures for All to help young people break into the workforce. Marcus mentors adults too, as part of Forward with Marcus Wareing, his culinary training program. ‘I've got a lot to give back. I've got a huge amount of experience. So now, believe it or not, I enjoy not running restaurants,’ he says.

Your aesthetic hero

Muhammad Ali, for many reasons really; for his connection with people; for what he stood for — not as a fighter, but his political views and what he fought for in America. For not fighting a war; changing his name from Cassius Clay, his ‘slave name’, as he called it; and also for the beauty and the brilliance of him in the boxing ring and for creating a style of boxing that's never been replicated and never will be. I just think his philosophy in life was quite extraordinary. He said, in an interview with Parkinson, once: ‘If I was a bin man, I’d be the greatest bin man of all time.’ That’s one of those messages that, as a young person, sticks in your head.

The last thing of note that you bought for yourself

Recently, I was very fortunate to have been awarded an MBE. So I went and bought a suit from Hackett, which is really nice, to go and collect it in. I’ve not bought a suit for ages, really, and I've got lots of jackets and lots of different things, but it's quite rare. And I was like, I've got those things in the wardrobe already, but Jane said: ‘No, you're going to go out and buy a new suit.’ So I bought a suit, which meant that everyone [in my family] bought something. But it’s a special occasion — it is your life's work.

A book that you’ve found inspiring

I’ve never been a colossal reader. I’ve never had time during my working career. I read when I’m on holiday. I also don’t have an amazing attention span for focusing on something, unless I’m in a kitchen, but my son has introduced me to an author named David Goggins. He is a retired navy SEAL and a black man — in his time there weren't many black people in the marines, so he was part of the top elite. My eldest son is in the forces and he said: ‘You’ve got to read this.’ It is about how he never gave up. I read both books and now I am halfway through reading them both for a second time. I find them so inspiring because they just give me energy. He gets a lot of stick on social media, but he is the genuine article.

An exhibition that has really impressed you

Do you know, I am going to be really stupid here as I've actually not really been to many. There is one that I do want to go to see. It's the Bayeux Tapestry, which is coming to the British Museum. My wife and I watched The King and Conqueror, the TV series, and I loved that. I love history and I love watching period dramas. I remember watching it on the news and seeing that it was coming. It is quite extraordinary that they are going to move it here. My son is into fashion, and did an art A-level, along with my daughter — they've always gone out to so many different museums and things, and I never really had the time to do that, but this is the one I do want to go and see.

A possession you’d never sell

My watches, I think. They're the things that I will leave to my family. I love watches. I had quite a few of them at one point and, unfortunately, they all got stolen bar one, which was on my wrist. I had them all marked out for my children's 18th birthdays. My eldest son had his, but my other son and my daughter obviously didn't, and I had two watches lined up for them. The watches I've got now are the two things that I won't sell, because they're you — they're quite personal. I don't have jewellery. They're the only bit of jewellery that I have that I can pass on to my children.

The music that you work to

Work? No. Work out? It’s my Spotify playlist, really, whatever happens to turn up on my phone. I never used to listen to music. There was never a radio in our house, or on in the car or at work. Now I like all sorts.

The last podcast you listened to

My son introduced me to The Rest is Politics. I listen to a lot of LBC Radio and Times Radio. Every now and again I'll pop this on, and it's really good. I like both of them and they're both really good at debating. They make a good podcast.

Your favourite painting

When I opened a restaurant at The Berkeley they did all this beautiful design work, and I said to the designer: ‘What about paintings?’ He took me to art fairs around London and he chose this, which is called Oranges and Lemons by Tobias Till. It’s a massive piece showing London over different eras — it’s about six feet long. I’ve looked at it for 10-ish years and there’s always something on it which you’ve never seen before. When I closed the restaurant I took it with me.

What you’d take to a desert island

Guess what? Omega 3. Because I won’t be able to catch enough fish.

The thing that gets you up in the morning

Noise, my wife getting up going to the gym or pilates and my work — it makes me really energised.

The items you collect

Wine. Since I've run restaurants, wine has been the alternative passion. I sometimes look at them as pieces of art, some of them undrinkable because of their age or their value, even down to simple bottles of rosé. I just love that whole world. I used to love just standing listening to the sommeliers’ knowledge and their passion about wine in my restaurants, and that's become one of my collecting things right now. I like to look at the bottles. Sometimes we go into the cellar and have a drink and just stare at them, because they’re beautiful.

The person that would play you in a film of your life

It's very funny, I was chatting to my wife about this one earlier and of course you want the obvious ones — all the good lookers. But I was on The One Show last year, and I sat next to Tim Robbins, who was promoting his new TV show, and he had the same beard and the same sort of coloured hair as me. We just look like father and son side by side, it's so funny. He is also an incredible actor.

The most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten

I've had a lot on many different occasions, but where I'm from, there's a town outside Southport called Ormskirk, and there was a chef called Mark Birchall who was working there, and as time went on, this guy just got more and more known and recognised. Moor Hall now has three Michelin stars. Jen and I went there with our family, and just had one of the most extraordinary meals. I hadn't seen a dining room and a kitchen work together so beautifully, and also at the same time deliver stunning food.

The best present you’ve ever received

My wife stopped me from going to work on my 40th birthday, and we went into central London. She took me for a fabulous breakfast in a restaurant in Mayfair and then we walked to a shop called Pogson & Davis and she bought me a tailor-made suit. Jen had set this all up. It was a really little shop just around the corner from Claridge's with two amazing proper tailors — real characters. We drank champagne, chose some materials, and made this suit. I can see them right now in my head. I put on a shirt and a tie, and one of the men saw me doing my tie up and said: ‘Leave it to me.’ He tied the most perfect tie — absolutely perfect. I've never undone it. I've still got it today, 15 years later, I tell my children: ‘Do not touch that tie.’ It's the only tailor made suit that I've got, and it was my birthday present from Jane.

A hotel that you could go back and back to

Gravetye Manor, where I worked. It was an amazing place. I always wanted to run a country house hotel, because I just love the countryside, and I met my girlfriend there, who's now my wife. We go back periodically for birthdays and celebrations.

Marcus is working with the Omega 3 supplement brand Seven Seas to raise awareness of Omega 3 and healthy ageing. You can find out if you're getting enough Omega 3 in your diet with a quiz from Seven Seas here.