Caines’ Warm Lobster Salad
CHEF PROFILES
From Tragedy to Triumph: Chef Michael Caines’ Bold New Chapter at The Stafford
THE STAFFORD | $$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
By Eric Barton | Sept. 10, 2025
AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. Email him here.
Michael Caines’ story has been told before, though usually in shorthand: working as a young chef at Gidleigh Park, losing his right arm in a tragic car accident, winning two Michelin stars anyway.
But there’s something far deeper in his origin story, a tale that continues to vacillate between good times and bad, ending just how you hoped it would. Consider, for instance, when I ask him about his childhood, and his answer starts in a kitchen in Devon, where he was the youngest of six children, adopted at just six weeks old. “I have fond memories of baking crumbles, making jam, and, of course, enjoying big Sunday dinners with the family,” he told me. Those early years, plus holidays spent in France, set the stage for everything that followed.
If you want to understand Caines now—his new restaurant at The Stafford London, his Lympstone Manor in Devon—you have to see how those pieces fit together. There’s the rigorous training with Raymond Blanc, Joël Robuchon, and Bernard Loiseau. There’s the survival mode that followed his accident and the Michelin stars he earned and held for nearly two decades. And there’s the terroir cuisine that ties it all back to place: “Recognizing that everything I needed to create was right on my doorstep,” as he put it.
Michael Caines
At 19, Caines left Devon for Blanc’s restaurant at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons. The lessons from Blanc—“never to take criticism personally”—still guide him. Robuchon taught him precision and technique, while Loiseau insisted on regionality and the joy of eating. Each left an imprint. “Without that experience, there would be no Lympstone Manor today,” he said.
Then came Gidleigh Park. At just 24, he took the head chef role, “on top of the world” before the crash that nearly ended everything. During recovery, his father placed an easel in front of him. Caines began painting left-handed. “That moment made me realize it wasn’t all over, I could still create,” he said. Within six months, he had earned his first Michelin star. By 1999, there were two. He kept them for 18 years.
Stoke Marsh Farm Hereford Beef
That grit, coupled with the abundance of Devon—“incredible seafood, fishing ports, and farms”—led to his terroir ethos. At Lympstone Manor, it’s become a philosophy. At The Stafford, it’s now a London debut. MICHAEL CAINES at The Stafford prints menus in-house, which might seem like a small detail, but he says there’s a big reason: “Because we print menus in-house, we can adapt quickly and reflect what’s truly in season.”
Orkney Scallop Ceviche
The suppliers he rattles off are a who’s who of British food: Flying Fish Seafood, grower middle-men Natoora, wholesale grocer Le Marché, specialty supplier Walter Rose & Son, and King’s Caviar. Some hold Royal Warrants, meaning they regularly feed the royals. All share his insistence on provenance. “Britain may not have historically been renowned for its cuisine, but we have a world-class natural larder,” he said.
His role at The Stafford goes beyond the restaurant. He’s shaping the hotel’s entire culinary offering, from in-room dining to private events. More than anything, he seems energized by collaboration. He mentions Simon Ulph, the executive head chef, who is encouraged to create new dishes alongside Caines’ signatures. It’s part of a shift, he admits, as he’s grown older. “My focus has shifted toward nurturing the next generation of chefs and leaders,” he told me.
Green Apple
For a man with Michelin stars, AA Rosettes, and now his first London restaurant, his vision remains rooted in Devon and family. On rare days off, he keeps it simple: “For me, the perfect day off is time spent with my children, my family, and my partner, Pippa,” he said. Maybe a coastal walk. Maybe watching the Grand Prix. “But above all, it’s about being with family.”
Chocolate Orange Confit Mousse
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