Nico Ladenis (22 April 1934 – 10 September 2023) was a British self-taught chef who was the first to gain three Michelin Stars.

After gaining a degree in Economics at Hull, he worked at The Sunday Times, where he met his wife Dinah-Jane. They have two daughters, Natasha Robinson, born in 1964 and Isabella Wallace, born in 1966 and one granddaughter, Lily-Rose Wallace, born in 1999.

Best known for his fiery temper and his mantra "the customer is not always right", he taught a generation of British chefs who went on to run their own businesses, win Michelin stars and become household names.

Chez Nico, a truly family-run restaurant was for many years, the highest-rated restaurant in the UK. It had 3 Michelin Stars, ten out of ten in the Good Food Guide and 5 AA Rosettes.

Ladenis wrote two semi-autobiographical books, My Gastronomy and Nico.

His mottos were "Precision, Restraint, Simplicity" and "Consistency, Consistency, Consistency".

In 1999, he handed back his stars due in part to prostate cancer and because of his disillusionment with the London restaurant scene. He retired to the South of France in 2000 and returned to England in 2011.

Early life

Ladenis was born in Tanganyika, now Tanzania on 22 April 1934,^{[1] [2][3]} to Greek parents.^{[2] [4]}

Career

Ladenis was a self-taught chef, and did not attend any culinary schools. Whilst working at his restaurant Chez Nico in Dulwich, London in 1976 or 1977 he met fellow chef Michel Roux at a party, who arranged for him to work for a week at the three Michelin star Moulin de Mougins under Roger Vergé.^[2]

In 1989, he opened a bistro-style restaurant in Pimlico, London, called Simply Nico.^[5] In 1992, Ladenis was the first named chef to move his restaurant into a five star hotel, the Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair and his former two Michelin star restaurant on Great Portland Street was converted into the bistro-style Nico Central.^{[6] [7]} In 1995 Chez Nico at 90 Park Lane was awarded three Michelin stars.^[8]

In 1999, he asked the Michelin reviewers to exclude him from the guide, and gave up his three Michelin stars in the process. He said in a press statement at the time that "Working in a three-star restaurant is very restrictive and people do not want to eat very expensive food. You cannot fool around in the restaurant if you have three stars and I want to make it more relaxed."^[9] He later admitted that this was due in part from being disillusioned with the restaurant scene in London, but also because he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer the month before speaking to the Michelin reviewers.^[10] He subsequently opened more restaurants: in 2000, Incognico opened on Shaftesbury Avenue;^[11] in 2002, Deca opened on Conduit street.^[12] He decided to step back from running restaurants in 2003, and retire fully from the business. His two daughters remained involved in both businesses.^[13]

Personal life and legacy

Ladenis was married to Dinah-Jane Ladenis, with whom he had two daughters, Isabella and Natasha.^[14]

Chez Nico, under Ladenis, was one of only seven restaurants in the UK (as of the 2013 edition of the guide) to have received the maximum score of ten out of ten by the Good Food Guide.^[15] He was the first self-taught chef to earn three Michelin stars.^[16]

Nico Ladenis died on 10 September 2023, at the age of 89.^[17][18]

Published works

• Ladenis, Nico; Crompton-Batt, Alan (1987). My Gastronomy. London: Ebury. ISBN 9780852236826.
• Ladenis, Nico; Brigdale, Martin (1996). Nico. London: Macmillan. ISBN 9780333651773.