True courage: Richard Shepherd’s Great British odyssey
by Heather Gibson
Michael Caine hosts a table, Dudley Moore plays piano, artists exchange pictures for food - all in a day’s trade for Langan’s Brasserie during the late 70’s and early 80’s. Richard Shepherd was first its rescuer from insolvency and then its visionary. His story is one of high stakes, personal sacrifice and enduring passion.
“Ihad been friends with Peter Langan for a while. The reputation that he had was an act. He was not an alcoholic then. He was highly intelligent and well read, with a lot of taste and style. Peter asked me to come on board and I thought ‘why not’? I felt I had been kicked in the guts after a disagreement at the Capital Hotel.
Of course, people thought I was mad and I knew I was taking a risk.
Three months after joining I realised that the business was insolvent, there was no money. So I went and made a deal with the authorities to get some time to pay back monies owed,writing £268,000 of post-dated cheques. I paid it back within two years. It is not a risk I would be prepared to take again.My son has told me that he wouldn’t want to come into the business as he saw what it had done to me.”
Following on from this tricky moment, Richard Shepherd CBE has been at the helm of the Langan’s restaurant business for more than 30 years.He presently owns five London establishments with an annual turnover of over £10 million. Awarded his CBE in 2000 Richard has also won a Catey Award three times.
With Michael Caine and Peter Langan as his original busines partners, Langan’s Brasserie became the first London restaurant to attract celebrities in abundance. From actors to royalty,Michael played “an amazing part” courting the famous, whilst Peter would provide the public face. Richard, evidently,was unfazed by the limelight; a character trait which must have proven a major factor in the lasting success of the restaurants today.
“For ten years there were a minimum of 20-30 paparrazi outside the front door for lunch and dinner. However, I knew that it would not stay fashionable forever and set about ensuring that we developed a regular clientele from TV, sport, media and radio to create a popular ‘club’.This was helped by the likes of Tony Vickers, John Bromley and John Hockey.We turned the business around from being 80% celebrity and 20% business to 80% business and 20% celebrity.”
Following the tragic death of Peter in 1988,Michael and Richard had by then established ownership of the Brasserie plus two other restaurants originally owned by Langan - Langan’s Bistro and Odin’s.
“Prior to his death, Peter had told me he wanted to go to America and set up business there.We had made arrangements to support him by buying out his shares in these other restaurants. So it was a very tragic loss and a sad time.
Moving forward…
Around 1993 I found a property called Greens in Westminster through Simon Parker-Bowles, which we bought and it became Shepherd’s.Michael and I went to look at it together.With time to kill he suggested that we go for a walk. We ended up on a council estate and Michael said,‘do you know the last time I was here? It was picking up a cheque from the dole office. And guess who was behind me? Sean Connnery!
In 1997 I bought out Michael’s shares. There was no fall out and we are still on good terms.”
Keen to build up “asset value” Richard acquired a site on Old Brompton Road in 1997 becoming Coq d’Or. He also did a deal with P&O Ferries to set up floating Langan’s Brasseries on 10 ships.
Richard knew he wanted to be a chef from the age of twelve. He believes it was a logical decision due to his early experiences of work. At the time Richard could not have stayed on at school and learnt the necessary skills to become a chef, as this was not part of the curriculum.
“I had a happy childhood which was not privileged. I had to take on part-time jobs in cafes and hotels and that is why I chose cooking as a career path. My parents were always supportive and at the age of 15 I left home.
I was not prepared for leaving home.The job was with a hotel in Great Malvern and I had the attic room. I can remember not even unpacking my suitcase, lying on my bed and crying for two weeks. However, I knew that giving in was the easy option.”
After his apprenticeship Richard moved to London working at both Simpsons-on-the-Strand and The Savoy, before leaving to work in the South of France.
“In France I had an education on absolutely everything about cooking and food. It taught me that the French had a respect and love for cooking which came from the heart and culture, not a textbook.”
A difficult time…
Upon returning to London Richard commenced the next phase of his career, first working at The Dorchester.
“I was not welcome by the staff as I had been brought in from the outside by Eugene Kauffler.This was unusual at the time as most staff had to start at the bottom and work their way up. I discovered all sorts of theft and, having been approached to join the union which was a closed shop, I refused.My colleagues sent me to Coventry and it was a difficult time. When I left to start at The Capital I was asked if I would consider returning at a later date as Mr Kauffler’s successor. After being approached and declining, Anton Mosimann was brought in and in my consideration he did a better job than I could have done.”
Richard then recruited Brian
Turner to join him at The Capital
Hotel and achieved recognition by
attaining one of the UK’s first
Michelin stars in 1974.“We worked
very hard and were two young lads
who had developed a good
reputation,” recalls Richard. A
disagreement prompted his
departure and Brian’s promotion to
Head Chef. Richard joined Langan’s
in 1977.
Richard has no current plans to expand and is focused on stability.“I am very happy with the company’s performance at the moment. It is a very sound business and I want to maintain that.” Shortly after he joined Langan’s Richard brought his brother into the business to look after the accountancy and set up the administration correctly.
“It was a great comfort to know that my back was covered. He was my greatest confidante and when he died in 2004 it hit me big time. I had lost my best friend less than 18 months before in 2002. In 2005 my General Manager Peter also left to emigrate to New Zealand after 26 years service. It felt as though I had lost both by left and right arm.”
Passionate…
An original member of the chefs Club Nine, which included the late Peter Kromberg, and Michael Bourdin, Richard is passionate about his heritage and the education of future chefs.
“Club Nine was a very proud achievement.We became friends meeting up to talk together about our problems. And it emerged that we shared the same problems.The Club was the forerunner for the Academy of Culinary Arts.
“The industry has moved on.You can eat as well in England as you can anywhere else in the world.Yet, I am nervous that it is becoming too fragmented. It is splintering off into too many different directions. I think people experiment with food before getting the basics right. People take a bit of this and a bit of that and the purity has disappeared.
“It is easy to knock colleges. But we need to put more apprenticeships into place; teach stocks, sauces, fish and meat. Many cooks today cannot bone a side of meat and often use boil in a bag sauces.
I have tried to have the courage to create fabulous dishes of real British food like bangers and mash, fish and chips which have been on our menus for over 25 years. Customers like it and it is done well. I do not like what I call ‘lego on a plate’ where the food is piled up and falls apart the moment you cut into it. There is too much snobbery. With the media’s help we are likely to start believing our own hype.”
In a career spanning nearly 50 years, Richard has carved a place in culinary history. From humble beginnings to the risky business of creating a restaurant group, he has stuck to his foundations and never forgotten that love for what you do is essential. His passion, reflected in both joy and worry for the future of cooking, is evident in equal measure.
“The fun is no longer there. Bureaucracy has taken over by people with clipboards ticking boxes. Industry had a reputation for developing on the job and I believe apprenticeships should be used as a way of teaching students how to do something well.
It is not just a job, it is a way of life. It is my life.”
Photo credit: Suzanna Fields
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