Step Aboard. Savour French Classics. Stay for the View

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Julien Jourdain
Executive Chef

Imogen
Head Chef

Elda | Lika | Esme
Core Kitchen Team

a journey from calais to ipswich
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Julien’s journey from Calais to Ipswich began at the age of 15. Knowing that traditional schooling wasn’t quite his calling, his parents enrolled him in a catering college. It wasn’t love at first sight but everything changed during his first placement at a local restaurant. There, Julien discovered a real passion for the culinary world. He threw himself into the work, and looking back on that time, he fondly recalls it as “a lot of fun.”

The day before the summer holidays, Julien’s father made a surprise announcement… Julien would be heading to England the very next day to work at a friend-of-a-friend’s restaurant in Ipswich. With little time to prepare and no idea what to expect, Julien set off on a journey that would change his life. As fate would have it, the restaurant he was bound for is the very one he now proudly owns.

Unfamiliar with England and assuming Ipswich was somewhere in London, Julien hopped into a cab from the train station and confidently asked to be taken there. The taxi driver, to his credit, kindly explained the distance and the likely fare before pointing him toward Liverpool Street Station instead.

Eventually, Julien arrived at the boat on the quay in Ipswich. He was barely through the door when the head chef greeted him with, “We’re fully booked tonight, get down to the kitchen now!” Thrown straight into the heat of service, Julien thrived. Over the next two months, he worked tirelessly, absorbed everything he could, and loved every minute of it.

That first experience made such an impression that Julien spent the next four years travelling back and forth between France and England, summers aboard the boat in Ipswich, winters at The Great House located in Lavenham.

As his catering college exams approached, Julien found himself increasingly disenchanted with life in northern France. He missed Suffolk, the boat, the pace, the people. After a year of trying to settle back home, he made a bold decision (in classic Jourdain style), he announced he was moving back to Ipswich, starting the very next day.

Then, in 2018, came a twist of fate. Julien learned that the boat, the very place where his culinary journey in England had begun was up for sale. Without hesitation, he seized the opportunity and bought it that October. He wasn’t just back in Ipswich; he was back as head chef and owner.

This is, at its heart, a story of passion for cooking, for hospitality, and for Suffolk. Julien’s journey is proof that when you follow what you love, incredible things happen. And as for this old Belgian boat? Its story is far from over. With Julien at the helm, a new chapter is only just beginning.

 To be continued…