Jean Delport aiming for two stars after ‘life-changing’ GBM experience

After the “life-changing” experience of cooking at the Great British Menu banquet, Jean Delport has quickly shifted the focus to his next goal – earning a second Michelin star.

South Africa-born Jean wowed the judges in the BBC’s hit cooking show, getting both his fish course and main course through to the banquet at Blenheim Palace.

Jean is executive chef at Restaurant Interlude in Sussex, which he opened in 2018. It has held a Michelin star since 2019, adding a green star to its honours list last year.

Of the 32 chefs who competed in Great British Menu this year, Jean was one of just three to make it through to the banquet, alongside Sally Abé and Champion of Champions Amber Francis.

GBM A CHILDHOOD AMBITION

Reflecting on the competition, Jean told The Staff Canteen: “I've been watching the show since I was a kid in South Africa, following it for a long time. That's where I really got introduced to the UK food scene, following the top chefs like Tom Kerridge and Sat Bains and watching these top guys smash it.

“I wished I could be part of something like that. For me, from the outside, it was obviously untouchable.

“Then fast forward 15 to 20 years, I’m in the UK now and the opportunity came up. It’s something that I've always considered doing, since I moved here. I just felt like now was the right time, the position of the restaurant was strong and I'm really confident in what we’re doing, so I wanted to put myself out there and showcase and just test myself to see how it goes.”

He added: “I've always been quietly confident that I can do these things and do it quite well, but you don't know until you do it.

“When I go into something, I do it full on. I'm not there to just kind of take part, I'm there to win, I'm there to go all the way. That's my mentality with everything. If I’m going to do it, I’ve got to do it to the best of my ability. I have really high expectations of myself.

“Ultimately, I was there to get to the banquet straightaway. Before I even started, I said I want two courses to the banquet and just kind of try and see if I can do something I’m proud of myself for.”

Asked how he found the competition in reality, compared to what he expected, Jean said: “To be honest, it was all consuming, to be fair. It was a lot more consuming than I thought. It took up a good chunk of about six months of my life really.

“I knew it was going to be hard work, I'm not scared of the hard work. I didn't realise how much depth I would have to go into.

“I did ask lots of people some advice, phoned around to do some due diligence and understand what I'm getting myself into. But once I get into it, I don’t really sleep. My mind is always racing.

“The cooking part is the fun part, once you’re into it. For me it's a lot more fun then. It’s stressful, but it's a good stressful for me and then that part comes naturally I find.”

'NERVOUS FUN'

Having grown up watching Tom Kerridge twice cook at the Great British Menu banquet, Jean would this year cook multiple times for the multi-Michelin-starred chef, who has been a judge on the show since 2021.

“Cooking for him was massively nerve-racking,” admitted Jean.

“Cooking for any Michelin star chef, we always beat ourselves up about it. Once Tom was in the room and Lorna (McNee) was there, you try not to think about it too much, but you just know that it's going to be a tough battle.

“You generally can pass a few small mistakes off which people wouldn’t recognise. I knew for a fact that he would pick up on that automatically.

“It puts you on edge and just the nerves in that kitchen are completely different to anywhere that I’ve ever been, or worked in a different service and stuff. It was fun, a nervous fun!”

instant impact

Many successful chefs on Great British Menu have to wait until their second or event third attempt before they make it through to the banquet, including this year’s finalists Amber and Sally.

But for Jean, his achievement of getting two courses through was amplified by it being his first time on the show.

“I got the two biggest courses through, which I’m quite proud of,” he said.

“If I was told that before I started, I would have snapped your hand off for that. I was really proud, even to just get one there, that was going to be enough. But I always tell myself to do more than I can achieve, just to make sure that I get where I want to be, and I was able to achieve what I wanted, so it was really amazing.

“I think my dessert had a really good chance as well, but I suppose you can’t do three things!”

Aiming for two Michelin stars

So what is next for Jean?

He hopes his televised success will be a big boost to Interlude, and already has plans in motion for diners to try his full GBM menu, including the winning Dover sole and goat curry dishes.

“Ultimately, that's really why I needed to do it,” Jean explained, discussing his decision to participate in Great British Menu.

“We (Interlude) needed to shake it up, put our name back out there. I'm really proud of what we have. We have a beautiful spot, beautiful estate and the restaurant is stunning, and we are really proud of what we are cooking. So I really wanted to put it at the forefront again.

“It is a difficult time. We have experienced a few quiet spots. You ultimately just want people to come through and enjoy what we do. That was one of the main goals for us, showcasing what we can do.

“Growing up, a Michelin star was untouchable. That was like my dream, so coming across to get that was good.

"I think cooking for GBM was a completely different experience, but for me it had the same fulfilment. It was something that I looked up to for a long, long time. I never really expected myself to be strong enough to be able to go on a show like that and compete and do as well as I did.

“I look back at it now and it's probably one of the biggest achievements I’ve ever had, up there with winning our star.

“I think I maybe sat on my hands too long and I should have probably applied years ago, but I just have never had that confidence. I'm glad I did because it's been fulfilling, it’s been life-changing and it's something that I'm very proud of now I get to look back at it and be part something bigger, a community now that I’ve always looked up to.

“It's amazing. Different experiences. It puts you into a realm of different people and you can't really put a price to it, it’s really priceless.”

He added: “Ultimately it helps us with an amazing amount of PR and things like that. For me, we’re constantly pushing and trying to evolve. Our massive new goal is now two stars. We are pushing really hard for that. So hopefully this gives us traction and another forward spring into that.

“If opportunities will hopefully come from this then we can just keep pushing our boundaries as much as possible. We want to still cook really good food and have a really good restaurant. Hopefully we can just keep on growing. The UK food scene is difficult, but it’s still buzzing and there’s still loads happening.

“It's exciting to be part of that. For us to kind of contribute and really be at the forefront of that is where I want to be.”