As maître chef des cuisines at the Savoy hotel for more than 20 years, Anton Edelmann was not only the bearer of one of the longest and most respected titles in any kitchen but also in charge of 90 chefs with whom he was responsible for over 2,000 meals a day.

Today, he is a partner in Anton’s, a restaurant with eight chefs and room for only 90 customers, which opened earlier this year. The restaurant is down a narrow country lane close to Bishop’s Stortford, only a mile or so from the M11 motorway that divides Hertfordshire from Essex.