Raymond Blanc is to be honoured next month at a dinner to mark the 40th anniversary of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, cooked by prominent chefs who have passed through its kitchen.

The six-course dinner, on 16 April, will be hosted by Robin Gill at Darby’s, his restaurant near the new American Embassy in Vauxhall, with Raymond in attendance.

Robin will be joined by fellow-alumni including Luke Selby, now back at Le Manoir as executive chef, Eric Chavot, and James Goodyear of Evelyn’s Table.

Scores of chefs have trained under Raymond’s tutelage in Le Manoir’s kitchens before going on to great culinary achievements of their own.

“As a self-taught chef, this is something I am truly most proud of,” he said. “To have nurtured so many successful chefs through our kitchens at Le Manoir and to have helped create a network of incredible talent across the world… there is nothing greater.”

Following the closure earlier this year of Michel Roux’s Le Gavroche, Le Manoir now stands alongside Alain Roux’s Waterside Inn as the twin peaks of classic French gastronomy in England.