Emily Roux. Rebecca Dickson

It’s a particularly chilly December night in London, but Caractère, a one-Michelin-starred restaurant in Notting Hill, is slowly filling with guests. It’s a sought-after reservation, not just due to Caractère’s popularity, but because chef and owner Emily Roux is collaborating on a special holiday menu with her father, Michel Roux Jr., one of London’s most famed culinary figures. 

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“We often get asked around Christmastime, ‘How does the Roux family do Christmas?’” Emily, 35, tells Observer, a few weeks into January. “So many people were interested, so we created our own little Christmas menu. The first year we did it, it was over four nights, and the demand was humongous. The next year, it was even more successful. This year, we extended it into January.” 

The lure of the Roux family itself surely contributes to guests’ curiosity. Michel closed the influential Le Gavroche in 2024, which he had helmed since 1991 after taking it over from his equally renowned father, Albert Roux, and uncle, Michel Roux. Emily grew up with the restaurant and spent many hours peeling potatoes and chopping vegetables in its kitchen from an early age. She and her dad now collaborate a few times each year, often doing a special menu for Father’s Day at Caractère. The Christmas event is an opportunity for regulars and newcomers to get a peek at the Roux family legacy. 

“Opening Caractère was very much a decision of [creating] my own thing,” Emily says. “But we both get on extremely well.” She adds, “I’m an only child, so we were always a tight little family.”

Emily was immersed in food and cooking from an early age. She grew up primarily in London, although her family also spent time in France. Both her father and grandfather were well-known in the culinary world; Michel Jr. was one of the U.K.’s first real celebrity chefs. When he became a judge on the BBC’s MasterChef: The Professionals in 2008, he started being noticed on the street. “Things have changed so much, but at the time, there wasn’t really anyone that recognizable besides Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay,” Emily says. “It was quite a pivotal moment.”

Although there was no pressure from her family, Emily knew by age 12 or 13 that she also wanted to pursue a career........

© Observer