In the kitchen with Michel Roux Jr

"I'm not so keen on the peaty ones; personally I like Speyside best. I'm after one that could be drunk very slowly but that's not too expensive – a good house whisky – plus two or three special ones. And of course they'd definitely be Scotch." (Tasting sessions were ongoing at Le Gavroche last week, and the search continues. Watch this space.)

We're in the kitchen of the famous Mayfair restaurant, which was founded by the French brothers Albert and Michel Roux in 1967 and which in 1982 became the first UK restaurant to be awarded three Michelin stars. Michel Roux Jr took over as chef-patron in 1992.

He's lightened and modernised his father's classic French menu and Le Gavroche now has two Michelin stars – as has Fairlie's eponymous Perthshire restaurant. He's happier this way. "Three Michelin stars," he has said, "can be like cooking in handcuffs." Michel Roux Jr and his extraordinary family's remarkable if subtle influence over British eating habits is the subject of a five-part television series, The Roux Legacy, from tomorrow. As I'm about to discover, that legacy is alive and cooking in Scotland, and extends beyond the three Chez Roux brasseries at Gullane, Inverness and Lochinver.

Today, Roux Jr is calm and collected as he surveys his 22 staff studiously preparing today's lunch for 60 covers. Le Gavroche is fully booked every day for lunch from Monday to Friday and dinner Monday to Saturday.

There are plates of exquisite little deep-fried sage leaves and several deep red poached eggs in wine. Piles of world-class Scottish langoustines and scallops, Scottish salmon, snipe, woodcock, oxtail and veal tongues are being magically transformed into delicious and intricately executed dishes. I meet Sara Danesin Medio, the Italian finalist of MasterChef 2011, who is here on work esperience. In this busy, steaming, full-on kitchen she's waiting in some agitation to grab a corner of someone's cooker so she can make a coconut macaroon in a bain marie. Then I spot sous chef Monica Galetti, who's much more smiley in real life than she appears as Roux Jr's stone-faced MasterChef sidekick.

At each instruction from the boss – who eschews the usual chef's Birkenstock sandals for German handmade Heschung boots at £500 a pop – the usual cry of "Oui chef!" from the staff is transmuted to the more casual form of: "Ouai! [Yeah!]" The terms may be more relaxed but the tension of bringing together each component of every dish at the correct time is the same as in every top-class kitchen.

For all his upbeat manner and positive demeanour, Roux Jr is clearly a taskmaster for whom only perfection will do. I hear him deliver an insult in French to a young commis chef (something about his sauce being so thin he could go fishing in it). The young man simply blushes, nods, apologises and starts his sauce over again.

"You see?" says Roux Jr. "That's what I like in my staff – the proper attitude. The defining trait you want in someone is the ability to take a negative remark without going off in a huff. If someone has the right attitude and talent, I will invest my time in them." If they are deemed to merit it, two youngsters every year are taken on to the two-year Roux apprenticeship scheme, which apart from learning the trade in the kitchen includes accommodation at a Roux-approved house and enrolment at Westminster Kingsway College's School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts. Today five staff are Scottish, five French and four Italian, and there are others from Spain, Portugal, Samoa and India.

Lyndsay Michie, from Ballachulish, is in her second apprenticeship year. "I arranged to meet with Chef Albert and we had lunch at Rocpol Reserve in Inverness [the five-star hotel that is home to the northernmost Chez Roux]," she explains. "He invited me to come down for lunch with him and Michel Jr. It's been a hard two years, as this is my first real experience of working in a top kitchen."

What has Michie learned? Without hesitation she replies: "Attention to detail, perfection and, above all, patience."

Rosie Kirkness from Gairloch is another apprentice. Today she is on the veg section – an especially pernickety assignment – but she has done stints on pastry, fish and canapes. She has only a few months left. "If I were to work in Scotland," she says, "it would be Edinburgh or perhaps Inverlochy Castle [near Fort William], but not Glasgow, as the standard is not there. I want to retain the high standards I've learned here."

Then there's commis waiter Lauren James from Kilbarchan, who has been doing the job full time for six months having graduated in hospitality management from Glasgow Metropolitan College (now City of Glasgow College). "I emailed Chef Albert and I did a trial, so I must have done something right," she says. "I love the experience but I don't speak French, though I am hoping to learn." All communication in the kitchen takes place in French.

James is in charge of the coffee and must check every detail – not only the cleanliness of the cups and saucers but also the polished teaspoons. She also makes sure the petits fours are beautifully plated in the appropriate quantity for each table. Her station is next to the pass – the bridging point between the kitchen and front of house (FOH) – and she liaises with FOH and the pastry section. It's clear she has a warm working relationship with Roux Jr, who jokingly calls her the Govan. "Nobody understands my accent except Michel," she beams.

Women are in abundance in this kitchen. Is that because they are better at the work than men, I ask Roux Jr, whose daughter Emily is finishing her apprenticeship with the three Michelin-starred Alain Ducasse in Monaco. He doesn't want to say. "I have always looked at the person rather than the gender," he replies.

Male or female, his young apprentices are the lucky ones whose patronage and priceless tutelage by the most influential family in British cuisine could take them to the top in the world's best kitchens. How does he choose his apprentices?

"Motivation is the first criterion – not necessarily qualifications," says Roux Jr. "Rosie left school at the earliest possible age, 16, with minimal qualifications. She had worked in hospitality before – that shows motivation – and it is the same with Lyndsay. I look more at their personality and the way they see themselves. Some do fall by the wayside, but Rosie and Lyndsay have made a huge move from rural parts of Scotland to London. When they finish their apprenticeship here they can go anywhere."

The challenge today is to produce a three-course lunch menu at £52 per person, which includes a starter of those red wine-poached eggs and a main of confit neck of lamb with a thyme jus and flageolets. Then there's the evening's dinner menu "exceptionnel" at £100 per person without wine. This includes the classic souffle suissesse created by Michel Roux in 1967 and cooked on double cream (it's never been off the menu since); an escalope of foie gras with gingerbread crumble; roast partridge with red cabbage; and roast bone marrow with ceps and air-dried ham. Together with the a la carte, there are at least 32 dishes to be prepared each day – and that's not counting the canapes, petits fours or the 10 magnificent desserts.

Small wonder, then, that for Roux Jr it's not so much culinary prowess as obedience, team spirit and absolute dedication that are the vital ingredients in his staff. After all, over the years Le Gavroche been visited by the likes of John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Kirk Douglas, Princess Margaret, Rudolph Nureyev and Robert Redford, while more recent customers have included the singer Lily Allen. Roux Jr himself will not divulge any actual names. He says discretion and privacy are vital, before impishly adding, "Today we have a well-known Hollywood movie star in – a British male in his 40s – and last night we had one of the most well-known Asian artists, whose works sell for millions of pounds."

He adds: "We don't want to be a place where people want to be seen as opposed to eat. If they want to be seen they go to The Ivy, where the paparazzi are always outside. They come here to have a proper French meal."

Part of the Roux legacy is the family's enduring friendship with Scotland's top rated chefs. Brian Maule, chef-patron of Le Chardon d'Or in Glasgow, was head chef at Le Gavroche for 10 years from the age of 24, working with Roux Jr, who remains his friend. When I first met Roux Jr in Glasgow last year, he was helping celebrate Le Chardon d'Or's 10th anniversary. Both he and his father say they won't open a fourth Chez Roux in Glasgow out of deference to Maule, whom Albert personally financially helped to set up on his own here. Martin Wishart – The Herald Magazine's chef and patron of his own Leith restaurant, as well as owner of Martin Wishart At Cameron House, Loch Lomond, and Edinburgh brasserie The Honours – also did part of his training with the Roux brothers. When asked to name the young Scottish chef with the most promise, Roux immediately cites Derek Johnstone, head chef of Chez Roux at Greywalls, Gullane, and a former MasterChef winner.

Fairlie was the first recipient of a coveted Roux Scholarship in 1984 at the age of 20. The Roux Scholarship is run by the family – some would say The Firm – as part of its annual search for the best culinary talent.

Fairlie, who was invited on a Roux family shooting party at Floors Castle in the Borders last weekend, recalls: "I had applied to 28 restaurants in France for a position. I received three letters back saying they had no suitable positions and the rest didn't even bother responding. My head chef at that time brought in the entry form for this new scholarship and told me I had to enter, which I did.

"The prize was a three-month work experience or 'stage' in any three Michelin-starred restaurant in France. At that time it was unheard of that a British chef would get access to that level of restaurant; the French had a very dim view of British food and an even dimmer view of British chefs."

Roux Scholarship applicants must submit a written recipe for four people. Fairlie got through the early stages and was invited to the cook-off final in London. He had to produce a classical poulet saute dish with braised cock's-combs, turned mushrooms, mini chicken sausages, braised endive and creamed spinach for the judges.

"For a young chef the competition is a terrifying ordeal," says Fairlie, "probably due to the level of judges they have to cook for, and they know they are up against some of the best young chefs in the country. I was invited to be a judge eight years ago, and the standard of competition is getting better and better every year.

"The scholarship is now recognised as the most prestigious competition in the UK and is widely recognised throughout Europe. Most of the chefs who reach the finals are in high demand from employers and the winners are guaranteed job offers from around the world.

"Looking back at the list of past scholars and how successful they have been, the scholarship has certainly had a ripple effect on the dining scene throughout the UK. Some of the best young chefs today are products of the scholarship."

Back in the kitchen, Roux Jr tells me he's hopeful more Scots will come forward for the scholarship. Then the phone rings and a lively conversation follows, again in French. It's Michel Roux, and he wants a table for 8pm that evening.

Cue another check on the supply list, a nod to the front of house staff, and a somewhat muted, "Oui, chef, a ce soir."

When it comes to family, saying "non" is clearly not an option. n

The Roux Legacy begins tomorrow at 8pm on the Good Food channel (Sky channel 249, Virgin channel 260).