Wine Uncorked: My guide to the world of wine

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Fred Sirieix knows exactly where his interest in service comes from: his parents’ careers in the French equivalent of the NHS in Limoges, where he grew up. He got a job in the first Barrafina as a glass polisher, became a waiter a year after that, and nine months later was a manager. A magazine edition dedicated to the art of service would simply not have been complete without Elena Salvoni. In 10 years here, I have had only two people I would have had to remove from the restaurant if they’d carried on. It was about organisation, it was about trust, it was about efficiency, it was about timing, it was about attention to detail.

This, he says, is what has driven him through a lifelong career front of house both in France and the UK. I love all oysters, but I had some Irish oysters recently and I have to say that they were bloody good. From belligerent Michelin-starred chefs to Bollinger-swigging managers, Britain’s best-known, best-loved maitre d’ is here to lift the lid on life behind the scenes of the world’s best restaurants. Glennon moved to London and, mainly because she liked theatre, took a job as a waitress at J Sheekey, in the heart of the West End.

That’s what I say when I do talks in catering colleges: if you work hard, you’re going to go all the way to the top.

It has led to his current position as general manager of Galvin at Windows, perched high above London at the Park Lane Hilton and, through his role in Channel 4’s First Dates, as the nation’s maître d’, cupid in a sharp suit, making sure that potential lovers have the best possible chance of getting it together over dinner. Jaega also speaks to Fred’s friend and former boss, chef Michel Roux Jr, and we hear about Fred's quest to demystify wine. The renowned seafood, especially oysters served from the marble-topped crustacea bar, was part of the draw, but it was the frictionless service that kept the very rich and the very famous coming back again and again. She had this extraordinary ability to make you feel the world was a safe place just by looking up at you as you came in and fixing you with a smile,” says Jeremy Lee, head chef of Quo. He was voted Educator of the Year in 2012 at the Imbibe awards and in March 2014, he was awarded an honorary degree from the University of West London.Since the original opened on Soho’s Frith Street in 2007, Barrafina’s food, overseen by chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho, has been acclaimed as some of the city’s very best Spanish cooking. As it happens, Glennon was born and raised in Dublin and her route into hospitality was an unconventional one.

Since then he has worked everywhere from Le Gavroche to Sartoria and the Bluebird Cafe, before joining up with the Galvin brothers 10 years ago.He'll then take us on a tour of the regions, showing us how the landscape and climate work their magic on the wine produced around the world, highlighting key producers and notable vintages to suit all budgets along the way. Clinton was Clinton McKenzie, an Olympian and veteran of 50 fights as a professional and arguably one of the best British boxers to never get a world title fight. He was the general manager of Galvin at Windows, a Michelin-starred restaurant in the London Hilton hotel on Park Lane for 14 years, until December 2019. It’s about the smile when you arrive, the way you’re seated at your table, the glass of your favourite wine appearing as if by magic.

During August and September 2023, Sirieix presented the reality series Ultimate Wedding Planner; which aired on BBC Two. Fred Sirieix ( French pronunciation: [siʁjɛks]; born 27 January 1972) is a French maître d'hôtel best known for appearing on Channel 4's First Dates, and BBC Two's Million Pound Menu. His book is not just about air-kissing wealthy punters on the 28th floor, starching napkins in Monte Carlo and relaying some of his earlier escapades - oiling toilet tops to prevent cocaine use - in various restaurant and bars. In 2012 when I was 40 I organised an event, we raised 50,000 pounds in two weeks and I lost on points to Marcus Wareing,” said Sirieix.Until 2019 he was the general manager of Michelin-starred restaurant Galvin at Windows at the London Hilton. When I reviewed it she was 84, and perched every service on a stool by the door, a tidy, silver-haired lady in black with an eye on the room. You need to understand different sorts of people, that a banker is not the same as an 18-year-old student.