Chef
Neil Borthwick
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- London, United Kingdom
i. Biography
The Climb
At The French House in Soho, London, where Neil Borthwick has been chef since 2018, the work reads as an argument for patience over theatre. The food is Old-school French in spirit, direct in its pleasures, and built on the idea that care matters more than complication. His own line — “I don’t do shortcuts – it takes the same amount of time to do something properly as to do something badly!” — names the standard plainly enough. The kitchens that shaped Neil Borthwick’s career were all places where discipline counted. He worked as chef at Connaught hotel in London (from 2002), then as chef at Maison Pic in Valence, France (from 2006), and later as chef at Michel Bras in Laguiole, Aveyron, southern France (from 2011). He went on to become executive head chef at Merchant's Tavern in Shoreditch (until 2018), before taking up his current role as chef of The French House (since 2018). The sequence shows a cook moving through exacting rooms where standards were high and the work had to hold up under pressure.
Today
Since 2018, Borthwick has been chef at The French House in Soho, London, and the kitchen’s brief is described in plain terms: good honest simple tasty food. That plainness is the point. The cooking is classic French food with British ingredients, deeply French and completely unfussy, and it relies on technique, seasoning and timing rather than display. Seasonality and memory shape the plate more than trend does. That gives the food a settled feel, with each dish arriving as a considered answer rather than a rushed composition. The effect comes from exact decisions made in sequence, not from layering on extra gesture. The same logic sits inside his comment on shortcuts. Time is not a thing to be saved by cutting corners; it is part of the method. In Borthwick’s cooking, the difference between doing something properly and doing it badly is not the clock but the choice: stock, seasoning, timing, and the old habit that still works.
Signature
Neil's signature dishes include Quail, remoulade, hazelnut pesto & foie gras, calves’ brains with beurre noisette and capers, crispy pork jowl, Madeleines, and Dover sole meunière with caviar-laced velouté. Taken together, they point to a classical register: rich, precise, and attentive to texture, sauce, and finish.
Recognition
Borthwick’s recognition rests on the specificity of his roles: Merchant's Tavern in Shoreditch from 2013 to 2018, and The French House in Soho from 2018 to the present. The through-line is Old-school French cooking without fuss. In a London dining culture often pulled toward novelty, his work keeps returning to classic French food made with British ingredients, to simplicity that is not casual, and to flavour that depends on doing each step properly.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Neil
Where did Neil Borthwick work before?
Earlier in their career, Neil Borthwick worked at Connaught hotel, Maison Pic, and Michel Bras.
What is Neil Borthwick known for?
Old-school French cooking.
