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David Moore, the restaurateur behind it, has a story. He was born at Beach Hill Clinic in Monaghan in August 1964, the same year Petrus produced one of its most exotic vintages. He drank that wine on his fiftieth birthday, a gift long held by an early backer who sensed Moore was destined for a broader stage.<\/p>\n
When he was young, his mother ran a small hotel. Beef mattered. So did judgement. She could read a customer at a glance and decide who deserved the best cuts and who did not. In the 1970s, Monaghan hardened. At 10, Moore witnessed the bombing which tore through the town on the same day three further explosions struck Dublin, killing thirty-three people. His mother decided they would leave. When they reached Blackpool in 1977 it felt, he says, \u201clike Vegas\u201d, though boarding houses still carried notices warning \u201cno blacks, no dogs, no Irish\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hospitality came to Moore early. \u201cFrom nine I was behind the bar sorting bottles,\u201d he says. \u201cBy 12 I wanted to be a chef.\u201d <\/p>\n
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Pied a Terre <\/p>\n
At 14 he washed dishes in a Blackpool hotel, pleased with his wage. Catering college led him to The Box Tree in Ilkley, where Marco Pierre White\u2019s presence still hung in the air. A chef noticed Moore\u2019s shiny shoes and said simply, \u201cYou will like Le Manoir.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moore drove to Oxfordshire in an Opel Kadett with tiger-print seat covers, booked lunch at 12.15, ate a set menu which consumed nearly a week\u2019s wages, then asked to see the manager. He waited in a corridor alive with French until judgement arrived. He got the job, the only waiter who could not speak the language the house prized.<\/p>\n
At Le Manoir he progressed quickly. \u201cI never had a mentor,\u201d he says. \u201cIt might have helped, but I had to work things out for myself.\u201d <\/p>\n
He lived with Bruno Loubet for a time. Six years passed, shaped by rigour which would later anchor his own dining room. He and his wife, Dr Valerie Woods, bought a flat in Abingdon just as mortgage rates hit thirteen percent. Negative equity followed.<\/p>\n
A short spell at Le Louis XV in Monaco exposed him to Alain Ducasse\u2019s precision and restraint. It taught him how to let flavour speak without ornament. Then, in 1991, he opened Pied \u00e0 Terre with Richard Neat. The room was narrow, the ambition not. Moore lived above it, in what is now the Petite Chambre. Neat, newly returned from Joel Robuchon\u2019s Jamin and sharpened at Harvey\u2019s, helped secure the first star within thirteen months and the second in 1996 before leaving to build his own career abroad.<\/p>\n
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Richard Neat, left, and David Moore, circa 1993<\/p>\n
Handout<\/p>\n
What followed was a remarkable procession of chefs. Tom Aikens retained both stars at twenty-six, becoming the youngest British chef to do so. His kitchen ran hot and few could last. Shane Osborn restored the second star in 2003 and held it for eight years before moving to Hong Kong. Marcus Eaves rose internally, opened L\u2019Autre Pied to a star, then returned before moving on. Andy McFadden followed, later returning to Dublin to open Glovers Alley. Asimakis Chaniotis arrived young and rose fast, becoming the youngest chef in London to win a star. He called Moore his \u201cBritish dad\u201d. Interestingly, Moore judges other dining rooms in decimals. \u201cChapter One in Dublin is a two star but nearer 2.7,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
Today the kitchen is led by Aggelos Kassais, another Greek talent. He spent two years as sous chef at Pied, worked under Claude Bosi at Bibendum, staged widely in Athens and earned early recognition in western Greece. Chaniotis described him as someone who rose by graft rather than display, steady under pressure and generous with his team.<\/p>\n
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