It's a little-known fact that stellar chef Pierre Koffmann is a total rugby nut - so much so, that he says the reason he first came to Britain was not to work but to watch France play England at Twickenham. So it makes total sense that he's agreed to run a pop-up restaurant at the stadium for international matches.
"It's a small restaurant, 100 seats," Pierre told Hot Dinners, "so it's exactly the same menu that we do at Koffmann's. There won't be a choice but for the first date there'll be crab salad to start, beef cheek to follow and cheese and the croustade aux pommes et armagnac as well. When [guests] come in the morning, they need drink and finger food and in the afternoon after the game there'll be charcuterie and soup - after spending two hours outside, they're going to need something to warm their bellies!'
Pierre himself will be in the kitchen on the day. "I'll be there - normally I support the French, but for those days I'll support the English."
'He's probably happier talking to people about rugby than food,' said Koffmann's partner Claire Harrison. "So that's why we wanted to recreate Koffmann's at Twickenham. Pierre's such a rugby nut - they usually do a Q&A with a rugby player and they've asked if Pierre would come out of the kitchen and do it."
The restaurant will be running for the November 2012 internationals at Twickenham and beyond, and bookable as part of a package by Tiger Events - a hospitality company run by former England rugby player Matt Poole.
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Read our interview with Pierre Koffmann.
