"Fine dining is not an elite sport": A Conversation with Culinary Strategist Michael Caines MBE, The Stafford
One year after MICHAEL CAINES at The Stafford opened in St James’s, Michael Caines has plenty to reflect on. His first London restaurant secured a Michelin star just five months after opening, followed soon afterwards by three AA Rosettes, while the wider food and beverage offering at The Stafford has undergone a significant transformation under his direction.
The Knife caught up with Michael to discuss the restaurant’s first year, bringing his idea of "terroir cuisine" to the capital, his partnership with Executive Head Chef James Willis, why fine dining needs to remain relaxed and inclusive, introducing younger diners to good food, and the plans already taking shape for 2027 and beyond.
September marked one year since MICHAEL CAINES at The Stafford opened. Has the restaurant become what you originally hoped it would be?
I think so, although we’ve still got more ambition when it comes to the physical side of the restaurant.
Aesthetically, it hasn’t changed enormously from what was previously The Game Bird, other than the plates, the menus, tablecloths and the way we orchestrate the service. Last year, when we started the project, there wasn’t really the capital expenditure available to make major physical changes.
But the experience is very different, and we’ve achieved a huge amount. It’s important to remember that my role isn’t only about MICHAEL CAINES at The Stafford. I oversee the whole food and beverage proposition: private dining, The American Bar, room service, breakfast and the fine dining restaurant. There’s only one kitchen, so all of those things have to work together.
Over the year we’ve changed everything. We’ve introduced two new menus at The American Bar, changed breakfast, developed private dining and our wine dinner programme and, of course, earned the Michelin star.
The restaurant itself is still a work in progress. We’d like to make the space more intimate and bring it more up to date, and 2028 is the year we’re looking towards for more significant physical changes. Between now and then, there are things we can do to keep evolving the experience.
As your first London restaurant, what have you learned about London diners over the past year?
London diners aren’t fundamentally different from diners anywhere else, but what they do have is an enormous amount of choice.
London is one of the most exciting places in the world to eat, from casual dining right through to fine dining. There’s an incredible talent pool in both kitchens and front of house, fantastic wine lists and bars, and new openings happening all the time. That means you have to be competitive. First and foremost, the experience has to be strong and you have to give people a food memory to take away with them.
We’ve learned a lot about what we offer, but also what we don’t currently offer and where we need to improve, particularly in attracting more evening diners.
At the same time, we know the quality of the food and service is working. People enjoy the food and they come back, and that’s a true sign of success.
The Stafford has been something of a hidden gem and historically quite an American-centric hotel. We’re trying to reshape that a little, while bringing more creative ideas into the overall offer.
You describe your approach as "terroir cuisine". What does that mean when you’re cooking in the heart of St James’s?
It’s definitely more challenging because there’s nothing quite like having that immediate sense of place. In Devon, I can talk about lamb from across the estuary, look out towards the sea and tell you where the fish has come from. You have that very obvious geographical context.
In London, terroir cuisine is more about representing the bounty of England and Britain. We want to source sustainably, work with farmers and producers who share our ethos, use seasonal British ingredients and be conscious of things such as biodiversity and endangered species. We work with Lake District Farmers, source fish directly from boats in Cornwall and Devon, and work with producers closer to London where we can. Kent is the Garden of England and it’s just outside the capital.
It doesn’t mean everything has to come from Britain. If we source something from elsewhere, we want the best and we want it to come from people with a similar mindset.
Ultimately, when I talk about terroir cuisine, I’m talking about a sense of place. At The Stafford, that means championing the best of British ingredients, which I believe are amongst the best in Europe.
Are there any dishes from the first year that you feel have come to define the restaurant?
People talk a lot about the lobster salad and the turbot with scallop mousseline and mushroom. We also reworked the beef Wellington from The Game Bird and that has been incredibly popular.
The scallop ceviche with citrus vinaigrette has stayed on the menu, as has the lobster salad, and dishes such as the duck with cabbage and apple have also been very popular. The green apple dessert is another signature that we’ve rotated back onto the menu.
There are dishes that have defined me throughout my career, but we also have to be brave enough not to let one or two dishes define the restaurant.
The lobster salad is a great dish, for example, but I’m slightly bored of it now! So we’re looking at replacing it with a lobster ravioli.
We don’t want to become too comfortable with a menu just because it works. We have to move with the seasons and introduce new things because that also gives customers a reason to come back.
The Michelin star arrived only five months after opening. Did that come sooner than you expected?
I never said we were going to try to get a Michelin star. What I said from the start was that we would cook food worthy of a star. Those are two different statements, but they really defined our approach.
I’ve cooked at Michelin starred level throughout my career, so I know what it takes. What I didn’t know was how difficult it would be to come into somewhere like The Stafford, completely change the mindset, restructure the kitchen and build a team of people who hadn’t worked together before.
I didn’t want to create a false target and say, "We’ll get a star within a year," because if you don’t achieve it, that can breed negativity. At the same time, I knew the quickest way to put the restaurant on the map was to earn a Michelin star.
Taking away that public expectation meant the team could develop without that pressure hanging over them. It also stopped the conversation becoming entirely obsessed with whether or not we would get one.
You’ve held Michelin stars for much of your career. Did this one feel different, given it was The Stafford’s first and your first in London?
It did. It felt very emotional. I remember watching the livestream of the announcement and it was the reaction of the team that really moved me.
You achieve many things during your own career, but when you take a group of keen young individuals, turn them into a team and work towards something together, achieving it is incredibly special.
The Stafford had never had a Michelin star before. We did something that a lot of people didn’t think was possible for the hotel. There were people who had left because they didn’t believe it was going anywhere, but you can’t allow circumstances around you to stop you being ambitious or creating something of quality. We believed in something when other people didn’t. Through hard work, teamwork and a clear vision, we showed what was possible.
That’s what made it particularly emotional. It belonged to James and the kitchen team, but also Aubin, Luca, Alejandro, Nuno and everybody front of house who had bought into what we were trying to achieve.
It might have been the worst-kept secret that we wanted a star, but we never needed to say it out loud.
The star was followed by three AA Rosettes. Does early recognition build confidence, or add pressure to keep evolving?
Both. It gives you ambition because once you have one star, naturally people start thinking about two. We wouldn’t go out publicly and declare that as the target, but it’s part of a chef’s DNA to always want to get better and perfect what you do.
There’s even a little bit of competition now between the team at The Stafford and the team at Lympstone Manor over who is going to get two first! Anything is possible with the right team, commitment and focus. We’ve got a unique proposition and our own style of food. We’re not simply following what everybody else is doing.
But ambition also means retaining what you already have. Hotels are very different environments from standalone restaurants. We’re open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, so consistency brings its own challenges.
James Willis leads the kitchen day to day. How do the two of you collaborate creatively?
We’ve been very lucky with James. He came in initially to help us out and, within his first week, found himself effectively running the kitchen. There was an immediate and very natural understanding between us. James is a complete kitchen manager. He leads from the front, cooks to a very high standard and is an excellent people manager.
He develops younger chefs, brings ideas to me and to the wider team, and uses his experience to improve every part of the property, whether that’s breakfast, room amenities, private dining or the restaurant itself.
He also makes sure all the things people don’t see are done properly: training, dietary information, health and safety and the organisation required to make a kitchen function. We went from quite a chaotic management situation to a calm, professional environment where the planning and execution of the business day to day was where it needed to be. That is hugely to James’s credit. He gives us the platform to develop consistency and quality, and he’s done that while also making a positive impact on the profitability of the food and beverage business.
Abigail deserves mentioning too. The three of us have worked incredibly hard to reposition the product and develop the team.
How important is it that fine dining still feels warm and relaxed?
COVID reminded us that we’re social. We love going out and being around other people, but informality has become increasingly important. That doesn’t mean things can’t still be of exceptional quality.
The days when you had to wear a jacket and tie to go to a restaurant are long gone, but there is still an etiquette and an art to dining out. There’s something lovely about good cutlery, fine linen, beautiful glassware and being somewhere elegant. Those details are part of what makes restaurants special.
But you want to feel relaxed. You want to feel welcome. You want the experience to feel effortless. You certainly don’t want to feel patronised. Particularly when people are watching what they spend, going out has to represent value. If you’re paying good money for something that feels stuffy, pretentious and unwelcoming, people simply don’t want that anymore.
Fine dining absolutely still has a place, but it can exist within a relaxed and informal atmosphere. Just because somebody is wearing jeans doesn’t mean they can’t afford or appreciate fine dining.
When you go to France or Italy, you’ll see farmers coming into wonderful restaurants because they love food and wine. It’s a sense of occasion, but fine dining is not an elite sport.
How much fun was it creating the Mini Royals Afternoon Tea for younger guests?
It was great fun because we went through so many different ideas about what it could be: Paddington Bear, Peter Rabbit and various others.
Eventually we wanted something that fitted the concept of the hotel and had a connection to its history. There’s the story of the Queen Mother coming over from the Palace and the historic passages around the wine cellar, and of course we’re right by St James’s Palace and Buckingham Palace, so the royal theme felt right.
Then you can have some fun creatively with what that looks like from the pastry side and with the overall experience. But ultimately it’s also about making it clear that The Stafford isn’t just for adults. We welcome children.
As a father myself, when I take my children somewhere, it’s lovely when they’re made to feel genuinely welcome. Better still when somebody has actually created something specifically for them.
Do you think luxury hotels and fine dining restaurants could do more to introduce children to genuinely good food?
I think we could be more child-friendly in this country. For hotels in particular, you almost have to be because families are staying with you. Standalone restaurants have more freedom to say that they are aimed at adults, but hotels are different.
I’ve just come back from France and took my five-year-old daughter into a restaurant. I was slightly worried about it, but we were one of four tables with children. They were all sitting there eating properly and being included in the experience.
I think there’s an opportunity being missed by some restaurants. Parents in their 30s and 40s still want to go out and spend money, but if they can’t get a babysitter, they won’t go unless you make it possible for them.
You can always find ways around it; perhaps children dine during an earlier sitting, for example.
At The Stafford we have the flexibility to accommodate families, and I think it actually enhances what we offer.
Was Mini Royals a summer one-off, or could we see more family-friendly experiences at The Stafford?
Mini Royals can continue as part of our afternoon tea. We already have quite an extensive children’s offering at The Stafford, from mocktails onwards, and the important thing is demonstrating that children are welcome.
The challenge is more about where and when we serve things because there are limitations with the space. Afternoon tea is relatively easy because it happens at a particular time of day, whereas dining with young children in the evening can be more challenging. But we can always do more.
There are obvious opportunities around Easter, Christmas and Halloween, and events such as Chelsea or Wimbledon. In summer, for example, you could create a family picnic for the park. We have the mindset within the team to create things for children, and a lot of the senior management team have children themselves, so they’re very open to it.
Finally, what does year two look like for you and The Stafford?
We’re very excited about the arrival of our new General Manager, Kremi McCabe, and there’s a real appetite within the team for a more structured approach to planning the business.
For 2027, it’s about consolidating our position, continuing to build on the success of the fine dining restaurant and developing the wider hotel.
We’ve also got some exciting experiences coming up. Aspen Village is launching this Christmas as an après-ski-style takeover of the courtyard. James and I have designed a menu for it and we’re trying to turn what can be a difficult winter space into something really fun.
We’ll continue developing our wine experiences too, making more use of the wine cellar because that’s such a remarkable asset.
Ultimately, 2027 is about putting the groundwork in place for what we hope will be a transformative 2028. We’ve achieved a huge amount in the first year. We might not be able to create quite such dramatic headlines every year, but the measure of a successful business is its performance and its ability to keep improving. The whole team is excited about what we can do in 2027 and 2028.
