Eric Chavot

The Michelin-starred chef of Mayfair’s Brasserie Chavot downs pans to talk to Alicia Miller about holidays in his native France, eating his way through New York and a fascination with Nordic cooking

Travelling for food

is what I’ve been doing since I was a child. In the summers I’d be sent from Arcachon, where I’m from, to Paris. I’d stay with my grandmother and eat cherries with sugar and full-fat milk; or for breakfast, freshly baked brioche with a fried egg in the centre. Sometimes I’d go with her to Madiran, where she was born, and we would stay at a hunting lodge and eat braised sweetbreads with onions.

I’d like to open a place in Arcachon.

I could put some of my food memories of the region on the table; the oysters, the market... but for now, when I go home, the best restaurant in town is my mom’s. When she makes an apple tart I know exactly what it will taste like – like any great cook, she has a signature style. But if I’m to eat out, there’s La Co(o)rniche (lacoorniche-pyla.com), which overlooks the water. There’s also a seafood hut down there, serving oysters and fried mussels.

In England, we think we know Indian food

but what you find out there is a different thing. I went to Delhi with Iqbal Wahhab of Roast (roast-restaurant.com) and Vivek Singh (cinnamonsoho.com). When I arrived, the experience was unlike anything I knew; there was spice in the air, elephants and camels walked down the street... Vivek has brought over some of the authentic food to the UK, but there’s still so much more.

I have many favourites, for different things.

I go to Bistro Bruno Loubet for snails and meatballs Mauricette (bistrobruno loubet.com); Bar Boulud for the atmosphere (barboulud.com); One-O-One by Pascal Proyart for fish (oneoonerestaurant. com). Then there’s Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham (lechampignonsauvage.co.uk) and this January I’m cooking at Lancashire’s Northcote (northcote.com)... and I must get to The Hand & Flowers (thehandandflowers.co.uk).

One of my best culinary adventures was to New York.

Sometimes I loved the food, sometimes the atmosphere. I went to Per Se (perseny.com) and Eleven Madison Park (elevenmadisonpark.com). And also to a biergarten at the High Line – it was wonderful (standardhotels.com).

Scandinavia has so much to offer.

I’ve tried the fish in Norway; cooked in Sweden and Denmark, which have excellent restaurants; and been amazed in Iceland – nothing grows and the sea is ferocious, no wonder they drink a lot! I’d like to try more Nordic places, like Frantzén (restaurantfrantzen.com).

In my next life I will travel the world at my pace.

I won’t stay in five-star hotels but B&Bs; (no caravans, I need to sleep!). I will go to China but also spend months in the Med. I’ll discover France again. Recently, I took my sons to Normandy and Brittany... Mont Saint-Michel, Saint-Malo – and Pascal Proyart’s creperie in Perros Guirec. We spent an afternoon by the sea eating ham baguettes with butter and drinking mint syrup in Perrier. A Frenchman’s heaven.