Talent and charm all part of the Novelli recipe

He may have lived in England for 28 years, but Jean-Christophe Novelli has one of the strongest French accents I have ever heard.

But what he lacks with his grasp of his adopted country’s mother tongue, he more than makes up for with his charm, openness and culinary skills – oh and his legendary Gallic good looks might help a little.

The 50-year-old celebrity chef has had it all, and lost most of it. This might explain his almost apologetic manner these days. “I am a chef, not a businessman. I do not think that a chef can be a good businessman, there is just too much emotion involved.”

He is talking about his near-bankruptcy at the end of the 1990s, when he lost everything.

“I opened my first restaurant in London in 1996. I only had £500 and it was just me, but in three months it became known as one of the best restaurants in Britain.

“I opened another and another – ending up opening seven and making millions. I didn’t listen to anyone and I made some very stupid mistakes. Then I lost everything. The bank manager pulled the plug. If it hadn’t been for Marco (Pierre White)I don’t know where I would be now.”

The Leeds chef, renowned for his loyalty to those he cares about, came to the rescue of his friend.

“It was very important to me psychologically,” says the Frenchman, who has since bounced back. He became a household name when he appeared as head chef in Hell’s Kitchen in 2005 and other television appearances have followed. He now runs a highly-acclaimed cookery school, with his partner Michelle Kennedy, and has his own kitchen gadget range.

The unlikely pairing of Novelli, a suave Frenchman, and White, dubbed the “enfant terrible” of the culinary world, came about when they were starting out.

“It was 1986 I had been voted best restaurant outside London and Marco was voted best newcomer. The organiser wanted to get us together. I didn’t speak much English and the first time I met him it was the biggest shock of my life. He said ‘Are you French? I don’t like the ****ing French.’ I didn’t know whether I should kiss him or punch him. If he hadn’t been so tall I would have whacked him. Then I realised he was just joking and we have been friends ever since.

“We are like brothers. He is fiercely loyal and not only a genius in the kitchen but an amazing man. People underestimate him. He is very intelligent and very funny. We will be friends until we die.”

Like his Leeds friend, JC, as he likes to be known, has had a number of failed marriages, but now has found happiness with Michelle, and the couple have a three-year-old son, Jean.

“He keeps me young. It is a beautiful feeling watching someone you love growing up,” says Novelli, who is more than aware that he is an “older” dad. “I don’t want to be playing dominoes with him, I want to be out doing triathlons with him.”

And that’s exactly what he has been doing. Keeping fit has become something of an obsession, including healthy eating which he is passing on to his son. “He eats very healthily, only drinking water or milk. We have been travelling a lot lately and in 2,000 miles he didn’t have any sweets or crisps,” he says proudly. Spending as much time as possible with his family is clearly very important to Novelli. He tries to take Michelle and Jean with him as he tours the country whenever possible.

He is aware that he did not spend much time with his daughter, Christina, now 24.

“We are great mates now, but when she was little I was working all the time. I loved my work but it didn’t give me time for anything else. Now I love my work at the Cooking Academy, but I still have time to do other things.”

“Other things” include travelling the country. Novelli’s name seems to appear more than most at the various food festivals up and down the UK.

This weekend he will be in Halifax attending the town’s Food and Drink Festival. He has already appeared in Hull and Leeds this year, passing on his knowledge to adoring fans.

“I love food festivals,” he says. “I am still learning all the time. I like to see the best of British produce and meet the people who are doing such great work.”

It is clear that in the 28 years he has called Britain home, his love of the country has not diminished.

Born in Arras, France, a young Novelli always dreamed of crossing the Channel.

“English was everything when I was growing up. If you could speak English you could really get on. England and America were looking forward to the future, whereas France was always looking to the past.

“I remember at school getting on the ferry to Dover and going to a record shop, buying a record and then going back to France and showing it off at school. I went to London for the first time when I was 14 and I promised myself that I would come back. When I was 21 I did, but with a one-way ticket and I have lived in England ever since.”

He inherited his love of cooking from his mother, Monique, a seamstress who used to conjure up classic French dishes with a difference.

“There was always a twist,” he says. “No-one in our family had ever been a chef but we all knew how to cook. It wasn’t until I got my first Michelin star that I realised just how good she was.”

Novelli left school at 14, before becoming the private chef to the French branch of the Rothschilds. In 1983 he came to England and worked for Keith Floyd at his gastropub, The Maltsters Arms in Devon.

He won his first Michelin star at Le Provence in Lymington before becoming head chef at London’s Four Season’s Hotel and then opening his own restaurants. He accumulated no less than four consecutive Michelin stars and has been awarded five out of five AA Rosettes during his career. Voted Chef of the Year by his peers, Jean-Christophe has created exquisite dishes for stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Victoria and David Beckham to name a few.

But his experiences in London seems to have left him with something of an antipathy for the place, which he sees as over-priced and over-hyped.

Instead he chooses to live in a 14th century Hertfordshire farmhouse once stayed in by Henry VIII which also houses his Novelli Cooking Academy, which was voted in the top 25 cookery schools within the first three months of opening.

Jean-Christophe Novelli will be at the Halifax Food and Drink Festival and at the opening of Café Flo Brasserie, Ripon on Friday from 6.30pm to 9.30pm .

HALIFAX FOOD AND DRINK FESTIVAL

Halifax Food and Drink Festival takes place at the Piece Hall from Friday to Sunday and will showcase a plethora of culinary delights from Calderdale, Yorkshire and the rest of the UK.

Celebrity chefs Jean-Christophe Novelli and Antony Worrall Thompson, along with an impressive line up of local talent will utilise fresh local produce and ingredients to share delicious menu ideas and the tastiest seasonal recipes.

Last year over 17,000 people attended the festival and more are expected this year.

Tickets are available from www.halifaxfoodanddrink.co.uk