Fred Sirieix: A Life Through Food

The Food Programme

BBC

Arts, Food

4.4 • 943 Ratings

🗓️ 27 November 2022

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Fred Sirieix, the French maître d’ joins Jaega Wise to share his ‘Life Through Food’ and passion for hospitality. It’s been a decade since Fred started to appear on television, and he’s best known for being the Front of House on the long-running Channel 4 series First Dates. But before that, Fred had reached the top of his profession working in some of London’s most prestigious restaurants, and has been flying the flag for Front of House roles since he left catering college.

Fred has presented and co-hosted many programmes, including Million Pound Menu, Remarkable Places to Eat, Michel Roux’s Service and Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip. In a world full of celebrity chefs, Fred has become Britain’s only famous maître d’, and his role on television is helping to raise the profile of Front of House jobs.

In this programme, Fred takes us back to his upbringing and training which installed his passion for hospitality. He discusses why he thinks Front of House roles are perceived differently in the UK compared to France, and tells Jaega more about the art of hospitality which is essential to the success of any restaurant business. Jaega also speaks to Fred’s friend and former boss, chef Michel Roux Jr, and we hear about Fred's quest to demystify wine.

Presented by Jaega Wise and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You don't need us to tell you there's a general election coming.
0:04.7	So what does it mean for you?
0:06.7	Every day on newscast we dissect the big talking points, the ones that you want to know more about.
0:12.4	With our book of contacts, we talk directly to the people you want to hear from.
0:16.8	And with help from some of the best BBC journalists,
0:19.5	we'll untangle the stories that matter to you.
0:23.0	Join me, Laura Kunsberg, Adam Fleming, Chris Mason and Patty O'Connell for our daily
0:28.4	podcast.
0:29.4	Newscast, listen on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.
0:38.0	Hello, you've downloaded a podcast of BBC Radio 4's The Food Programme.
0:43.0	Welcome to our world, from cooking to culture, politics to pleasure.
0:48.0	We hope you enjoy it.
0:50.0	Welcome to the Food Programme, that place for Hungry Mind, with me Jaga Wise.
0:55.0	Now, have a think.
0:56.8	How many celebrity chefs can you name?
0:59.6	I bet there's quite a few.
1:01.6	But can you think of a famous front of house there's only one I saw
1:07.1	myself as you can imagine being in the theater of dreams and playing for
1:10.2	Manchester United right and you have all these players that Rinaldo, whatever they're playing. It was me. I was in the middle of the theatre of dreams there. I was not playing football. I was serving in a restaurant, but I saw myself as a superstar waiter,
1:23.8	Superstar footballer, and you've had all the arenas,
1:27.0	they are cheering.
1:28.0	Oh, look, wow, he's opened a bottle of wine,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.