Top restaurateur Russell Norman tells Katherine MacAlister why he’s looking forward to Wilderness

Someone famous has arrived at Wilderness judging by the crowds gathering and the phones being held up, the selfies and the cameras flashing.

Having snuck into the middle of the Banquet Tent, the star had arrived – not a famous guitarist or comedian, rock god or supermodel, but Russell Norman, restaurateur of the moment, and the man everyone wants to be seen with.

Forward to 2014, and if anything the furore has only increased, Russell’s TV programme earlier this year, BBC2’s The Restaurant Man, only heightening his appeal. Yet amid the stark competition from Yotam Ottolenghi, Mark Hix and the Sam Clarkes of Moro fame, Polpo looks set to triumph again with its Venetian banquet at Oxfordshire’s most eclectic festival.

“We were delighted and humbled to be asked to Wilderness last year for the first time and it was wonderful,” said the 48-year-old restaurateur, who currently has eight establishments to his name including the applauded Polpo. “So this year we are determined to have a great time and make it even better, because although Wilderness has a sympathetic audience you can’t rest on your laurels.”

Polpo does however lend itself to the Venetian masked ball theme, its cuisine being based on the same city: “The Polpo sense of conviviality and communal dining does suit the Wilderness feast scenario and puts us in good stead,” Russell agrees.

Will Russell Norman also be heading the hedonistic Wilderness procession and dancing into the wee hours of the morning? “Hell no, I’ll be tucking my daughter’s up in our tent and reading them a story, I’m much too old for that,” he laughs.

Hardly. Having started out as a teacher, Russell always gravitated towards restaurants, working in them at weekends and jacking in the day job to become a full time front of house.

Eventually headhunted, he worked his way through the greats, until eventually setting up shop on his own with an old college friend. The success of Polpo was almost instant, the intimate atmosphere, and small sharing plates being replicated everywhere.

So does he mind? “Not as much as I used to. What is galling is when your ideas are nicked lock, stock and barrel, without them even attempting to conceal it. But then others say that no ideas are original and that was the case for me. Polpo was a combination of my visits to Venice and New York, pictures on my camera, notebooks in my rucksack. It was like putting together pieces of a puzzle.”

As for being busy, Russell revels in his hectic schedule: “I quite like to be stretched and enjoy being involved and busy. I never get the feeling that I’m doing too much and can always take on an extra project.”

Neither does he admit that he is famous, despite having witnessed Russellmania for myself, saying people usually only stop to ask him about restaurants and how to run them. “I always give them the same advice: don’t do it.” But he did. “Yes I resigned from my job the day after the Lehman brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 25, 2008, when we were deep into the recession. In fact there couldn’t have been a worse time. So it was terrifying, but we believed in what we had. No one was doing a scruffy, aesthetically downtown vibe with food you want to eat, and it was a good combo, people came in their thousands and still do, so I never take anything for granted.”

Often confused as a chef, Russell says that ironically he cooks at home to relax: “I am a very enthusiastic amateur chef,” but feels his front-of-house background gives him the upper hand. “I know what customers like and always tell my kitchens not to serve what chefs want to cook but what customers want to eat. I’m the chief taster,” he grins.

SEE IT
Russell Norman will be creating two Polpo menus for Wilderness on Sunday. 
The Wilderness Festival runs at Cornbury Park from today until Sunday. Tickets for the banquets are on sale at wildernessfestival.com

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