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Nico Ladenis

Nico Ladenis (22 April 1934 – 10 September 2023) was a British self-taught chef who was the first to gain three Michelin Stars.

Nico Peter Ladenis
Born(1934-04-22)22 April 1934
Tanganyika
Died10 September 2023(2023-09-10) (aged 89)
EducationPrince of Wales School, Kenya and Hull University
SpouseDinah-Jane Ladenis (m. 1963)
Culinary career
Rating(s)

  • 5 AA Rosettes

    Dr of Economics
Previous restaurant(s)
    • Chez Nico 3 Michelin stars
    • Chez Nico, Dulwich
    • Chez Nico, Battersea
    • Chez Nico, Shinfield
    • Simply Nico, Rochester Row
    • Chez Nico, Great Portland Street
    • Nico Central, Great Portland Street
    • Chez Nico (Nico at 90) Grosvenor House Hotel, 90,Park Lane
    • Incognico, Shaftesbury Avenue
    • Deca, Conduit Street
Award(s) won

After gaining a degree in Economics at Hull, he worked at The Sunday Times, where he met his wife Dinah-Jane. They have two daughters, Natasha Robinson, born in 1964 and Isabella Wallace, born in 1966 and one granddaughter, Lily-Rose Wallace, born in 1999.

Best known for his fiery temper and his mantra "the customer is not always right", he taught a generation of British chefs who went on to run their own businesses, win Michelin stars and become household names.

Chez Nico, a truly family-run restaurant was for many years, the highest-rated restaurant in the UK. It had 3 Michelin Stars, ten out of ten in the Good Food Guide and 5 AA Rosettes.

Ladenis wrote two semi-autobiographical books, My Gastronomy and Nico.

His mottos were "Precision, Restraint, Simplicity" and "Consistency, Consistency, Consistency".

In 1999, he handed back his stars due in part to prostate cancer and because of his disillusionment with the London restaurant scene. He retired to the South of France in 2000 and returned to England in 2011.

Early life

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Ladenis was born in Tanganyika, now Tanzania on 22 April 1934,[1] [2][3] to Greek parents.[2] [4]

Career

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Ladenis was a self-taught chef, and did not attend any culinary schools. Whilst working at his restaurant Chez Nico in Dulwich, London in 1976 or 1977 he met fellow chef Michel Roux at a party, who arranged for him to work for a week at the three Michelin star Moulin de Mougins under Roger Vergé.[2]

In 1989, he opened a bistro-style restaurant in Pimlico, London, called Simply Nico.[5] In 1992, Ladenis was the first named chef to move his restaurant into a five star hotel, the Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair and his former two Michelin star restaurant on Great Portland Street was converted into the bistro-style Nico Central.[6] [7] In 1995 Chez Nico at 90 Park Lane was awarded three Michelin stars.[8]

In 1999, he asked the Michelin reviewers to exclude him from the guide, and gave up his three Michelin stars in the process. He said in a press statement at the time that "Working in a three-star restaurant is very restrictive and people do not want to eat very expensive food. You cannot fool around in the restaurant if you have three stars and I want to make it more relaxed."[9] He later admitted that this was due in part from being disillusioned with the restaurant scene in London, but also because he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer the month before speaking to the Michelin reviewers.[10] He subsequently opened more restaurants: in 2000, Incognico opened on Shaftesbury Avenue;[11] in 2002, Deca opened on Conduit street.[12] He decided to step back from running restaurants in 2003, and retire fully from the business. His two daughters remained involved in both businesses.[13]

Personal life and legacy

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Ladenis was married to Dinah-Jane Ladenis, with whom he had two daughters, Isabella and Natasha.[14]

Chez Nico, under Ladenis, was one of only seven restaurants in the UK (as of the 2013 edition of the guide) to have received the maximum score of ten out of ten by the Good Food Guide.[15] He was the first self-taught chef to earn three Michelin stars.[16]

Nico Ladenis died on 10 September 2023, at the age of 89.[17][18]

Published works

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  • Ladenis, Nico; Crompton-Batt, Alan (1987). My Gastronomy. London: Ebury. ISBN 9780852236826.
  • Ladenis, Nico; Brigdale, Martin (1996). Nico. London: Macmillan. ISBN 9780333651773.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Birthday's today". The Telegraph. 22 April 2011. Archived from the original on April 25, 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2014. Mr Nico Ladenis, restaurateur, 77
  2. ^ a b c Fox, Sue (20 October 1996). "How We Met". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2012. (subscription required)
  3. ^ "Birthdays". The Independent. 22 April 1994. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2012. (subscription required)
  4. ^ Kirchenbaum, Grace (8 November 1990). "Reading Food : Cookbooks: A Fan's Notes". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  5. ^ Rose, Don (7 May 1989). "London dining goes far beyond those soggy old brussels sprouts". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2012. (subscription required)
  6. ^ Green, Emily (15 August 1992). "Reaching for three stars on Park Lane: Nico Ladenis has moved into the grand end of the market. Emily Green visited his old and new addresses". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-20. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  7. ^ Hadden, Mark (15 June 2006). "My Gastronomy, by Nico Ladenis". Caterer and Hotelkeeper. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  8. ^ Green, Emily (10 February 1995). "Two temperamental but great chefs". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2012. (subscription required)
  9. ^ Watson-Smyth, Kate (18 January 2000). "Only one Michelin three-star in Britain". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2012. (subscription required)
  10. ^ Bozec, Louise (13 March 2002). "Ladenis to open restaurants after beating cancer". Caterer and Hotelkeeper. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  11. ^ MacLeod, Tracey (1 July 2000). "This one will run and run". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2012. (subscription required)
  12. ^ Johnson, Richard (27 July 2002). "Classic faux pas". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  13. ^ Harris, David (12 March 2003). "Ladenis cuts ties with his London restaurants". Caterer and Hotelkeeper. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  14. ^ Green, Emily (14 May 1994). "A chef now at home in his kitchen". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  15. ^ Duffin, Claire (2 September 2012). "Simon Rogan equals Blumenthal's perfect 10 in 2013 restaurant guide". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  16. ^ Rayner, Jay (21 July 2002). "Deca, London". The Observer. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  17. ^ Daw, Mike (11 September 2023). "Nico Ladenis: Legendary chef dies aged 89". Evening Standard. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  18. ^ Jaine, Tom (11 September 2023). "Nico Ladenis obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
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