British chefs in Paris shake up old food stereotypes

There are lingering stereotypes about British food: it’s bland, beige and hardly the healthiest. From beans on toast to canned spaghetti and battered dishes, this cuisine has long struggled to earn respect beyond the UK's borders.

But in Paris, a new generation of British chefs is proving the clichés wrong. 

David John Kelly has called Paris home for 17 years. Trained in French cuisine, he recently opened Project Sausage, a deli dedicated to modern takes on British classics: sausage rolls, pork pies, scotch eggs and Cornish pasties.

“From day one, I never opened this (deli) for British people, I opened it for French people”, he says. “The goal was to introduce the French to a Cornish pastie… and surprise them by showing that the British can cook, and that British food is actually really nice,” he adds. With expert technique and high-quality French ingredients, he’s winning over a notoriously tough crowd.

Kelly’s mission is personal. He remembers an unappetizing childhood in England, dominated by frozen meals and the infamous beans on toast. “The food was horrible when I was a kid,” he says.

A history of survival

Britain hasn’t always had a poor culinary reputation. Up until the 17th century, British diets were similar to those across Europe. Starting in 1604, the Enclosure Acts privatised communal farmland, displacing small farmers and accelerating the rural exodus.

During the Victorian era and the Industrial Revolution, working-class families relied on simple, cheap and filling ingredients: potatoes, bacon and onions. Two World Wars made matters worse, with rationing that lasted until 1954, over nine years since the end of the war. Hearty, simple foods like beans on toast became the symbol of survival cuisine, shaped by post-war industrial food production.

The rise of modern British food

The 1990s marked a turning point for British cuisine. Young, charismatic chefs like Jamie Oliver brought a modern, energetic image to kitchens and TV screens. He used his fame to campaign for better school meals and food literacy, helping change public perception and even influencing government investment in school canteens.

Oliver wasn’t alone. Pioneer chefs such as Gary Rhodes and Rick Stein had already begun elevating simple dishes with local ingredients and global flavours. London’s dining scene responded with a surge of Michelin-starred restaurants and the rise of gastropubs as trendy culinary destinations. That momentum has now given rise to a new generation of chefs — many of whom are bringing their inventive take on British cuisine to Paris.

Paris embraces British creativity

Jack Baker, 31, is among them. He leads Le Canard Sauvage in Paris, a new restaurant in the heart of the very trendy 11th arrondissement (district). 

Born, raised and trained in the UK, he champions instinctive, seasonal cooking influenced by British, French, Italian and Basque flavours. “It starts with the ingredient… we change the menu every day,” he says.

According to Baker, Parisians are increasingly curious about refined British cuisine. “Well-prepared, slightly elevated British food definitely interests the French,” he notes.

For Kelly, British chefs benefit from creative freedom. “You have young cooks coming here and having trained in London and coming to Paris. They kind of bring a lot of that different way of cooking with them, you know, a lot of different influences.”

Unlike French or Italian cuisine, British cooking has no rigid rules — there’s little risk of a culinary faux pas. Perhaps that freedom is exactly why British food is finally having its moment in the sun.