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IN association with Audience with... Philip Howard T ogether with CCS, The Caterer invited chef-restaurateur Phil Howard to be interviewed by its editor Amanda Afiya and to share his invaluable experience with 50 young chefs. Janie Manzoori-Stamford reports

ext year, the Square restaurant in London’s Mayfair will celebrate its 25th Nbirthday. Reaching such a milestone is an accomplishment in any industry, but even more so when you consider that Philip Howard had only three years’ experience when he was made head chef and that the restaurant has retained two Michelin stars since 1998. It’s an achievement that countless chefs would love to emulate, though it wasn’t always plain sailing for the chef. Howard, who battled a cocaine addic- tion during the Square’s infancy, is the first to admit that it has been years of hard work, sacrifices and ups and downs. “But on the other hand, it has given me a life beyond my wildest dreams. I might have had some shit days, but I’ve never had a boring day,” he says. With a larger-than-most dining room, the Square, in its current home [it relocated from St James’s in 1996] boasts a lively atmosphere that eschews any pretensions to be a hushed temple of gastronomy. However, the scale of the operation had its challenges, as Howard admits: “In the early days, it was a lot of hard work because when you’re open seven days a week and you’re doing 100 covers a night at that sort of level, it’s not easy. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons I’ve always been such a teamwork man. You can’t try and run something like this on your own.”

Releasing potential The only way to stand at the pass and plate every single dish sent out at a restaurant of this size is to be a complete control freak, which he says can be tempting when you’re just starting in front of house to look after the customers. appreciate we’re not perfect. That’s combined out, but if you succeed in pulling your team This simple recipe for success has resulted with the fact that I can’t be strategic in my cook- together in order to deliver, it’s empowering in immense critical acclaim and numerous ing. I have to cook what I want to cook; so often in the long run: “It means you’re not trying plaudits from consumers and industry peers a percentage of every menu is usually quite to do everything and as an individual you’ve alike, including two Catey awards (see time- simple because I believe in and want to cook it. got so much more potential. If you try and do line panel) and two highly coveted Michelin “All that really matters as a head chef is the whole thing yourself, you can never do any stars, which have been held for 17 years. Are that you’re effective and how you go about more than that.” there ambitions to go for the hat-trick? that doesn’t really matter. You’ve got to get Howard describes the Square as an honest “Of course, I’ve thought about three stars. a team of people to achieve what you want restaurant. It’s an ethos that radiates from both We’ve had two for so long now that thinking them to achieve and some people choose to the menu and the style of service. The priority, about getting three is inevitable,” says How- beat it out of [them], and other people not. he says, has always been about cooking deli- ard. “I like to think I’ve always been honest The reality is three stars is all about a qual- cious food, not trying to be too clever, progres- enough and spent enough time in the kitchen ity of cooking achieved consistently, and sive or innovative, and employing great people plating food and doing hard services to I do believe that a lot of what we do cook is

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as one of the best in the world, has unsur- prisingly undergone countless stages of evolution in the time since the Square opened, so how does Howard know which food trends to embrace and those to avoid? The Square has had its moments in the media spotlight, gracing the covers of countless magazines, but “You’ve got as new sensations arrive on the scene, there’s to get a team pressure to feel top of the game forever. “But that doesn’t happen so inevitably of people to and, particularly in the last 10 years as things have changed so much, I’ve had phases of achieve what worrying whether my career is progressing enough. What do I do to keep it relevant? Damn, you want them I’d better start cooking my beef at 62 degrees, to achieve and not roasting it in butter. And so in that time I’ve done a lot of eating and cooking, and see- some people ing what other people do, but it’s still about choose to beat being honest.” it out of [them], Maximising flavour A vacuum-packed loin of lamb cooked in and other a water bath might come out a consistent colour and tender when sliced, but the people not” problem is it doesn’t taste of anything, insists Howard. With that, the Square has reached a point where meat is roasted on the bone to maximise flavour. Traditional cooking techniques are employed because, he says, it’s about being honest and asking: “What will

ia actually benefit the eating and what am I just ed

m getting off on as a process?” ty i

l All this comes from a man who didn’t a t

pi initially set out to be a chef. But while a micro- os

H biology degree might be unlikely to sow the seeds of a love for food, being forced to start of suitable quality. And I certainly think more cooking as a self-sufficient university student recently the consistency has improved too.” certainly did. But while the imminent publication of “I suddenly found this thing that I abso- a Michelin guide was once anxiety-inducing lutely knew I was put on the Earth to do,” says for Howard, who would find it impossible not Howard. “And it wasn’t because I was par- to get his hopes up, last year, for the first time, ticularly good at it; I just thought, this is me, the big day arrived without all of the usual cooking is what I want to do.” stress. “I only clicked that it was Michelin After graduating and a spot of travelling, day when I saw Twitter going mad,” he says. he returned to the UK hell-bent on pursu- “I thought, ‘that’s nice’. It’s not that I don’t care ing this new-found passion. He sent letters to any more. I want the Square to go on and fulfil all the great and good of the day’s restaurant its full potential with our new head chef Gary scene, and ultimately bagged a job offer at the [Foulkes], but it’s no longer a particular goal.” Roux brothers’ City contract catering business ▲ The British food scene, these days billed Roux Restaurants. Howard found himself in www.thecaterer.com The Caterer | 5 Audience with...

See video highlights from ‘An audience with Philip Howard’ on The Caterer’s YouTube channel

www.youtube.com/caterersearch

▲ a busy kitchen where he believes he benefited no idea existed. Howard was so completely an exciting prospect, it was laced with uncer- from a learning curve far steeper than any he blown away that when he was lucky enough tainty, as far as the bill was concerned. might have found in a top-end restaurant. to end up in conversation with White at the “Jen [Howard’s wife] and I would go down “That’s something to consider as a training end of the night, he asked for a job. at the ripe old age of 23, earning no money at chef,” he says, suggesting that leaving college “I worked at Harvey’s for about a year and, all, and sometimes he would give us Cham- for a job in an independent restaurant has its like pretty much everyone else, my exit was pagne, wine, a menu and no bill, which is kind downsides. “[After a year at the restaurant] with a P45 and not through my choice,” he of what he insinuated when he called,” says you might leave being able to make a fantas- explains. “I was absolutely furious that he Howard. “Then sometimes we’d get a bloody tic rye soil or an amazing oyster meringue, sacked me. I was working six days a week and bill at the end of it and, at that point in your life, but if you’re really honest, it’s not particularly more and he sacked me one night for boiling you can’t handle a bill like that out of the blue.” useful for all but the select few. a bloody pomme purée.” The couple became determined never to “In a small brigade you cover the ground so be caught out like that again. One day, White much faster because you’re always in the shit Up for a challenge called again and Howard felt certain that and understaffed and you’ve got to do it. You’ll Howard, who has never been known for being this latest offer was definitely a promise of become a great cook pretty quickly. If you then hot-headed, rang his ex-boss the next day and a freebie. Having convinced his wife of this, decide that your calling is to make an oyster let him have it. It would turn out to be a good the pair went for dinner and, once again, they meringue, you can find somewhere to do it. move (“I think he liked that I challenged him”) were presented with a bill. The key is to learn the trade [first].” because the pair stayed in touch after Howard “Jen had a big problem with that and While the job was laying the foundations went to work at Bibendum with Simon Hop- she made that very clear to me in that hushed of Howard’s skill base, it was a night out for kinson, who is widely regarded as one of the little dining room,” remembers Howard. dinner that would do the most to shape his first chefs to really bring provenance, season- “The maître d’ obviously went into the kitchen culinary ambitions. A meal at Marco Pierre ality and flavour to the foreground. and said ‘Monsieur, we have a problem on White’s legendary restaurant Harvey’s intro- White would regularly invite Howard back table two’. Marco came out and said something duced him to a level of cooking that he had to Harvey’s to try new dishes. While it was like, ‘What? You can’t afford your dinner?’,

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Timeline “I suddenly found this thing that I 1989 Philip Howard (PH) goes to work with absolutely knew Marco Pierre White (MPW) at Harvey’s I was put on the 1990 PH is sacked by MPW and goes to work for Simon Hopkinson at Bibendum, alongside Earth to do” chefs such as Bruce Poole and Jeremy Lee

1991 PH patches up his relationship with MPW and returns to Harvey’s; Harvey’s co-owner Nigel Platts-Martin (NPM) opens the Square with PH as head chef

1994 The Square is awarded its first Michelin star

1996 The Square relocates from St James’s to Mayfair

1998 The Square is awarded two Michelin stars; PH wins the Chef Award at the Cateys

2005 PH and NPM open a second restaurant, the Ledbury, with protégé Brett Graham as chef-patron

2006 The Ledbury is awarded a Michelin star

2009 PH opens a third restaurant, Kitchen W8, this time teaming up with restaurateur Rebecca Mascarenhas

2010 The Ledbury is awarded two Michelin stars

2011 Kitchen W8 is awarded a Michelin star with former Square sous chef Mark Kempson in the kitchen; PH is named Independent Restaurateur of the Year at the Cateys; PH wins Craft Guild of Chefs Special Award

2012 PH makes his debut on the BBC’s Great British Menu and his turbot dish is chosen for the banquet About CCS 2015 PH is announced to be running the CCS is proud to support respected chef Panoramic restaurant during Royal Ascot Philip Howard at this unique event. ‘An Audience with Phil Howard’ was both stimulating and, at times, extremely frank and honest. It about an opportunity at his planned new ven- was fantastic to hear first-hand some of his experiences ture with business partner Nigel Platts-Martin. over the years, as well as the advice given to the aspiring “Marco asked me to go back to Harvey’s and audience. Having previously had a pleasure of working said he would train me up to be the head chef with Phil as part of the CCS’s The Quarterly magazine, we [of the new restaurant] which, at my age and knew this event would prove to be incredibly insightful. with Marco where he was, I just couldn’t say Antony Ward, marketing manager, CCS no to,” explains Howard, who through what he www.chefs.net describes as a slightly bizarre chain of events, ended up as Platts-Martin’s business partner on the new restaurant, without his former which I didn’t take too lightly, but my wife “This was towards the end of service and mentor. And so, the Square was born. went mad. there were quite a few people in the restaurant. “What’s nice about the Square is we had no “They started having this huge argument He took this pile of £50 notes and sparked it vision about what we were trying to achieve and, in the end, he took this big wodge of cash up on the tabletop in Harvey’s and just burnt when we opened it. I had a huge amount of he kept in his apron from the betting shop, the lot… and we paid our bill! It was classic.” passion, a little bit of knowledge and a razor- threw it down, and said: ‘I’ll cover your bill’. Such a tempestuous relationship makes it sharp partner. We opened a restaurant and My wife said ‘I don’t want your money’ and all the more remarkable that within a year of tried to make people happy, and that’s all we’ve he said, ‘Well, if you don’t take it, I’ll burn it’. leaving Harvey’s, White approached Howard really done, seven days a week, for 25 years.” www.thecaterer.com The Caterer | 7 Audience with... Angela Hartnett In the third of our events in association with sponsors CCS, Michelin- starred chef Angela Hartnett joined The Caterer editor Amanda Afiya to share her career wisdom with aspiring chefs at Westminster Kingsway college. Hannah Thompson reports

or someone who only started cook- becoming a bit more serious about it. I worked ing after university, chef Angela Hart- at Midsummer House as a waitress and F nett has managed a spectacular career. convinced the chef that I could go into the From her first proper kitchen job in the infa- kitchen. So that’s where I started. mously tough setting of Gordon Ramsay’s Aubergine to becoming a favourite at what Where did the idea for a restaurant come from? was then Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH), My grandfather was one of three brothers and she then went on to work at Zafferano and they all had fish and chip shops. My view was to L’Oranger, before becoming head chef to Mar- run a small restaurant and run it with my boy- cus Wareing at Pétrus in St James’s, London. friend at the time. I thought it would be easy. Once nicknamed “Dizzy Lizzy” by Ram- I never thought I’d go on to do what I do now. say, she soon became one of his most trusted chefs, and counts Wareing and Jason Atherton You started working for Gordon Ramsay among her peers. in 1994. How did that come about? Having travelled abroad to set up Dubai res- There weren’t many restaurants around then, taurant Verre and Florida site Cielo for GRH, compared to this massive influx everywhere she then had her name over the door at the like we have now. Not many people wanted to Connaught in London for over five years. work for six days a week so it was almost easier. Since establishing herself as an authority I applied to lots of places, but Gordon’s seemed on Italian cuisine (taking inspiration from like a great place to work. I did a day there, 7am her maternal grandmother from Bardi in to midnight, and came away buzzing. Emilia-Romagna), the chef is now a media staple, appearing regularly on magazine food He is known for being intimidating. How pages and prime-time television, having writ- did you cope with that? ten three of her own books. If I’m honest, I didn’t think about it too deeply. Now she is chef-proprietor of her own It wasn’t until my first week or so was over that restaurant, Murano, which she opened in I realised how hard it was. I didn’t even think 2008, is on the board at Robin Hutson’s to ask about the hours. Lime Wood Group, as a result of her restau- I didn’t understand what intimidation in rant there, Hartnett Holder & Co, and is also a kitchen hierarchy meant, because I hadn’t embarking on a long-term expansion plan for come through that harsh training route. brasserie-style sister group Café Murano. And I think maybe the difference is that Gordon is yet the busy chef still found an hour to talk only two years older than me, so even though career moves, kitchen hierarchy, the chang- he had done more than me at the same age, keen and showed ambition, he was willing ing face of hospitality and the importance of a to me he was a bit like an older brother. to support that. He gave me my restaurant. tasty plate of food during our recent interview I admit, the first three months were hor- I would never have been able to go into it just at Westminster Kingsway, sponsored by CCS. rendous. Every day I was getting shouted and by myself or have the finances to buy Murano screamed at. I would think, “Right – Monday, at the time. It was huge in that respect. Beginnings no bollockings, Tuesday, no bollockings…” He gave me the chance to try lots of differ- What made you want to become a chef? and then I tried to get to the end of the week. ent things. We went out to cook for the troops I loved the idea of running my own restau- When I first had a week without any bollock- in Afghanistan and to numerous food events rant; being able to close when I wanted to ings, I realised I was doing OK. I made friends in Singapore and Aspen – Gordon was the and having long holidays. Well, that didn’t for life. There is some real camaraderie there. name. At that time I was just enjoying it. quite work out. But I was always quite good at cooking – food was always important. It was Do you think it gave you a strong foundation? The Connaught just a natural part of the family. Without a doubt. I wouldn’t be sitting here You had a really high-profile opportunity to I studied history at university, but after that [running my restaurants] without Gordon. take on the kitchens at the Connaught – the I worked in pubs and a few brasseries before He gave me ample opportunities. If you were first female chef to do so. What was that like?

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Current restaurants

Murano, Mayfair, London ●● Opened 2008 (bought from Gordon Ramsay in 2010) ●● 70 covers ●● Michelin-starred ●● Typical dishes: duck and black truffle agnolotti with onion stew; heritage tomato and burrata panzanella; and crab ravioli with tomato water, peas and broad beans

Café Murano, St James’s, London ●● Opened 2013 ●● 70-120 covers ●● Typical dishes: octopus carpaccio with orange and hazelnuts; saffron risotto with tiger prawns; and fettucine with broad beans and sprouting broccoli

Café Murano, Tavistock Square, London ●● Set to open in June 2015 ●● 150-250 covers

Hartnett, Holder & Co (Lime Wood), Hampshire ●● Opened 2012 ●● 75 covers ●● Typical dishes: pork belly with parsley root and apple remoulade; and halibut, cucumber, winkles and lardo di colonnata “It’s just about Merchants Tavern, Shoreditch, London ●● Opened 2013, shareholder with head chef doing very good Neil Borthwick, Dominic Lake and Patrick Clayton-Malone food – keeping ●● 130 covers ●● Typical dishes: crab and scallop tortello it simple” with lemongrass sauce; and Barbary duck breast with wet garlic, orange and endive

We were in a hotel that didn’t allow outside guests in, and that was a challenge, because if they had a whole hotel with people at a confer- ence, we were empty. I don’t think we should have agreed to not let outside guests in. It was a hard learning curve – I’d be more sceptical now.

You’re known for Italian cuisine. When do you think you really started cooking your own food compared to what Gordon wanted? I would say it started at the Connaught. I loved the job and I still think it’s a brilliant, Murano is more the style of food that I want, A word from CSS iconic hotel. The customer base was phe- and I think Café Murano and Lime Wood have nomenal – we cooked for Sir Paul McCart- that too. I don’t like all the foams and gels and Antony Ward, marketing ney and Michael Caine. But I did have some stuff. It’s just about doing very good food – manager at CCS: “As the people call up and ask, “is she still there?” as keeping it simple and using very seasonal world’s foremost suppliers they did not want a woman cooking. I had a produce. It’s never lost money and it contin- ia of the finest quality catering equipment great manager, Anthony Lee, who is now at ued to grow straight away. It had great reviews. ed m and professional clothing, we are extremely the Hotel Royal, and it put me in good stead We’ve been lucky. ty i l a pleased to support the series of ‘An Audience for Lime Wood [and her restaurant with head t pi with…’. It was fascinating to listen to Angela chef Luke Holder, Hartnett Holder & Co, at Your ‘split’ from Gordon was amicable. os H and hear her advice for aspiring chefs. It’s the Hampshire hotel]. Was that important to you? a fantastic opportunity to see some of our hy by by hy Yes, I don’t like to fall out with people.

rap industry’s leading chefs interacting with the You were at the Connaught for five years, then Gordon and I got on very well and I was audiences and talking about issues about you opened Cielo in Florida. Was that tough? emotional when I left. It had been 17 years. He ▲ hotog p which they are extremely passionate.” I was interested to understand the US market. said, “Don’t worry, people move on!”

www.thecaterer.com The Caterer | 9 Audience with...

▲ Murano and Café Murano When Murano became yours in 2010, you must have felt a great sense of responsibility? It was enormous. At the end of the day, you have to pay the staff, the mortgage, the debt. I don’t think people realise that I took out a bank loan and my house was mortgaged up to the hilt; if I defaulted I would lose my house and my business. It’s only in September this year that it’s all paid off. The bank has been gob- smacked, but we’ve been determined.

Two years ago, you opened Café Murano, and the second site is coming this month. Talk me through that? The idea for Café Murano was to roll out a concept that maintained the same quality, but that we could sell and make money from. I wanted somewhere you could come to have the old classics. We even had a lasagne for two people that sold like the clappers. It’s about not trying to be too clever. You have to turn covers to make money. At Murano, people can sit at the table for hours, but if you’re at Café Murano, we’d get eight people on one table – not just two people Go online to The Caterer’s YouTube channel all night. I was taught a very basic business to see the full audience with Angela Hartnett model. Murano works well though, because our staff levels are kept tight.

So Cafe Murano is your pension. How many outlets can you see? We’d like five to eight, but we’re not sure at the moment. Let’s see how [the June opening of] Tavistock Street goes.

What drives that expansion? We’re at that stage where we’re not big enough to get our own accountant and our own HR, but we soon will be. Once we’ve got the third site, it’s not much more work – you’re just rep- licating. I think it is a scalable model. www.youtube.com/caterersearch

Will we see it outside London? Robin obviously values your approach. How If we could – we could take it to somewhere does sitting round the board table change you? like Edinburgh or Dublin. It’s just about I think it makes you a lot more astute, as you getting the maths right. have someone to bounce ideas off. There’s a real honesty. There always has to be some- Partnerships one who makes the final decision, but Robin You must get approached about lots of will let everyone else make a point, and then he different things? How do you consider them? makes a decision. You also manage your time Never say never – I’ll always have the conver- a bit better when you can’t do everything. You sation. Someone approached me about a hotel can’t be in on every decision, so you have to in Oxfordshire, and I said, I’ll happily talk trust that people will bring you the right info. to you about it, but I can tell you I’m not going to do it because I’ve got my partners at Lime Your partner Neil [Borthwick, head chef Wood. But if something came up in Dubai at Merchants Tavern] is also a chef. Do you or New York, there’s always a conversation to both talk a lot about food? be had. We do talk about it, we do like good food, but The hardest thing is to say no, sometimes. we talk more about running restaurants as this You’ve got to think it through and think, “Can is his first head chef role. We talk about what I physically do that?” he needs to do, such as how to nurture young which wasn’t working; the atmosphere was people and bring them forward. How did the partnership with Robin Hutson a bit stiff for a weekend away. come about? I was interested in working with Robin; How involved are you in Merchants Tavern I’d met him a few times at the Connaught, I’d heard a lot about him and found him in Shoreditch? and he had done this Hospitality Action event, inspiring. If I don’t want to work with you, Not much in the day-to-day running, as Neil which I’d cooked at. He just asked, are you it doesn’t matter how much cash you put writes the menu and I never do a service interested? He had a fine-dining restaurant on the table. there. But I do know all the chefs and I know

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what’s going on. I think you have to – it’s quite personal, and I live in east London so I do visit. Angela Hartnett on new talent

Just prior to opening, Neil had a serious head injury when he came off his bike. How difficult was it to deal with? It was easier when he was in hospital as there was someone to care for him. When he came home, it was harder. It’s still hard, because it still affects him, but I can be a bit like, “Let’s get on with it, no-one’s died!” It has been quite a stress on our relationship, but we seem to have got through it. You do have to see your cup as half-full. The restaurant’s now doing well and moving in the right direction.

Do you consider yourself a restaurateur now rather than a chef? I suppose in lots of ways, yes, but I do still do services when head chefs are away. I’m in the restaurants every day. I cook most at Murano and Lime Wood.

Up and coming You’ve seen a lot of food fads come and go – what new techniques do you feel have come into your kitchen? What I can’t stand is people following trends that then taste of nothing. Like soil or using a blowtorch. What is the point if it tastes of nothing? You can’t knock what some people do, like Heston [Blumenthal] a, but they are geniuses. Not everyone can do it – I can’t, I don’t understand all that stuff.

How important are accolades to you and the team? It’s always lovely to win something and it’s great for the team to be nominated. Last year we took the team to the Cateys and it’s a great feeling. It’s about being recognised by their peers – that’s really important. We always make sure they’re entered into things – it’s important to be part of that.

Staying grounded How important is it to stay grounded and how do you do that? My mum, that’s how! It really is friends and family. At the end of the day, you have to keep it in perspective. We’re not curing cancer, it’s food. It does sometimes get a bit bonkers. What do you look for when recruiting? How do you feel about the standard of Have there been any moments where Keenness and enthusiasm. I don’t mind chefs in kitchens today? you’ve wanted to throw in the towel? taking on apprentices or young cooks, but People want to work less and be paid more Every day at Aubergine! No, I’m joking, but I do want someone with staying power. and we have to change to fit, because the there have been some hard times. I don’t Young chefs need to spend at least 18 months industry has changed. We need to sort out mind the hours or working hard, but person- in a kitchen so they can see the seasons. different shifts, look at recruitment, what nel and HR issues can be tough. People want We’re also setting up a meal scheme for packages we can offer. The biggest things for your time now and you have to invest in that. the young chefs so they can go out and see staff is for them to decide what they want to Sometimes it gets quite exhausting. what restaurants are like. They don’t get a lot do and then stick with it. of money at the start, and if they can’t afford We had a chef who was working seven Have you made any personal sacrifices to eat out, how can they get educated? We are shifts and he found it too much. He was good along the way? trying to change our philosophy and invest in at his job, but he was stressed. We asked him Maybe you do sacrifice your social life. Chefs their training. We do exit interviews now as what he wanted and he requested fewer shifts. tend to party hard together and work hard. we need to be aware when we’re losing staff. We said yes. Talk to your employees. If I can’t But I’ve have some great opportunities – You also need to make sure you give staff accommodate your goals in my restaurants, I I’ve cooked at the Olympics and at the Berlin decent food and sit down and eat with them. can see if I can help with someone else I know. World Cup, so I can’t knock it. www.thecaterer.com The Caterer | 11 Audience with...

Tom Kerridge Westminster Kingsway played host to the chef, who talked about embracing his role on TV, why Wetherspoon is his inspiration and the kit he can’t live without. Amanda Afiyaand Janie Manzoori-Stamford report

om Kerridge, chef-patron of the two- “People kept coming the kitchen at Michelin-starred restaurant Michelin-starred Hand & Flowers and Adlards. He parted company with the restau- T the one-year-old Coach pub – both in back and asking to eat rant 18 months later in order to find his own Marlow, Buckinghamshire – was not origi- site with his sculptor wife, Beth. nally destined to be a chef. That’s hard to imag- at the four tables kept After initially hoping to open a restaurant in ine when you consider that these days he’s the free for drinkers, and London, the couple’s limited budget meant face of BBC Two’s Food & Drink programme, they ended up taking over a run-down pub in author of three cookbooks, a past Great British I would say ‘quick, give Marlow and, after a refurbishment, the Hand Menu winner and Saturday Kitchen regular. them a knife and fork!’” & Flowers opened in February 2005, adding Kerridge was a child actor, with roles such four guest rooms two years later. The restau- as ‘borstal boy’ and ‘thug one’ on television sional people who are also having a laugh.” rant picked up its first Michelin star in 2007 shows like Miss Marple and London’s Burning, Kerridge went on to do a year in the kitchens and four years later it became the first gastro- but his first notable job in catering was a stint of five-star London hotel the Capital in 1994. pub to be awarded two stars. as a commis chef at Calcot Manor in Tetbury, Three years at the Stephen Bull restaurant fol- Christmas 2014 saw Kerridge and his team Gloucestershire. lowed, then two years with Gary Rhodes at his launch their second pub, the Coach – a no res- “The moment I went into a kitchen, I loved Pimlico restaurant Rhodes on the Square, ervations, all-day dining venue inspired by the it,” he says. “I loved the idea that the guys were before Kerridge joined Odette’s in Primrose business model of pubco JD Wetherspoon – very similar to the naughty boys I went to Hill as sous chef. with The Independent’s Tracey Macleod school with, but there was a hierarchy and a A stint at Monsieur Max in Hampton came describing it as having the “ability to balance structure and a learning curve. I felt like I was next, and then, in 2003, Kerridge moved technical finesse with the instinct to satisfy”. in an environment with incredibly profes- to Norwich to take over the running of Always keen to give back to the industry he

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so quickly fell in love with, Kerridge took a cou- the business in.” Then Beth came back from ple of hours out from his busy schedule to the loo and said, ‘I’ve just read a tiny little share insights into his incredible career, the thing…’ and I said ‘no way!’ We’re both com- growth of his business, the career progression fortable in pubs, so we started looking. for his team and his flourishing media career, during The Caterer’s recent interview spon- At the time, did you plan to make it a sored by CCS at Westminster Kingsway. pub-restaurant rather than a pub-pub? It’s not on the drinking circuit of Marlow, How did you come to buy the Hand because it’s too far out if you’re walking, and & Flowers? it’s not in the restaurant strip as such – if you Beth and I had been looking for a restaurant don’t know it does food, why would you go in north London, but when we were about six there? It was a catch 22 – too far out to get weeks away from completing, it all fell drinkers in, but there was nothing about it that through. We were a bit despondent, but it was ers, and I had a red mullet soup as a starter and would bring people in to eat because we hadn’t probably a blessing in disguise because, when it was one of the most incredible-tasting, achieved anything yet. It took word of mouth we went down to the West Country to see my simple bowls of soup. to get going. mum, we had dinner at a lovely pub called the He had lots of press cuttings in the corridor We had 14 tables and we kept four free for Trouble House Inn in Tetbury. The head chef towards the toilets and one of them jumped people who just wanted to come in and have a was Michael Bedford, who was previously at out at me: “I didn’t have the money to buy my drink. We did live jazz on a Sunday, full Eng- City Rhodes, and the place had a Michelin star. own place, so I took on a tenancy from a brew- lish breakfasts – everything possible to make ▲ I was eating his food, wearing jeans and train- ery, so they owned the building and we just put it work like a pub. It slowly started to build, www.thecaterer.com The Caterer | 13 Audience with...

▲ which was really lovely. We were over-deliver- ing on what it looked like we offered, so people kept coming back and asking to eat at the four tables kept free for drinkers, and I would say ‘quick, give them a knife and fork!’ We opened in March 2005 and by October 2005 every night all 14 tables were sold. And then it got to a Saturday being fully booked a week in advance, which we couldn’t believe. When we took it on, we worked with a Greene King accountant, and I remember telling them there’s no reason why we can’t work really hard and earn £10,000 a week in turnover. He laughed at me, and I thought, I’ll show him. The first time it turned over £10,000, I rang him up and mugged him off massively.

Although you were doing the turnover quite quickly, how profitable was it? It’s always been profitable to a point, but that profit has always gone back into the business. There are probably 10 members of staff at the Hand & Flowers who earn more money than me. It’s never been about money for me –it’s about making a living for people and being able to do what we do, and Beth being able to get to a point where she can make art. It was very difficult in 2008 because the recession hit and small businesses were affected the most. In the restaurant and hotel industry there are a lot of people who work on “I’m massively determined – I run credit and they start getting squeezed because people can’t pay them on time and they start going under. an incredibly polite dictatorship On a Friday night we would finish service and I would get my two half-broken Kenwood at the Hand & Flowers” food mixers out and make 150 loaves of bread throughout the night. The next morning, Beth would take the loaves to our little stall in the centre of Marlow and sell the bread, and we would clean down and get back onto doing the next service. It would be a 48-hour shift Friday/ Saturday and the bread would make about £180. That money would go towards paying our mortgage. We were doing everything to stay afloat and make the business work, to pay the suppliers and the staff. It was massively difficult, but you come through the other side. Doing Great British Menu in 2010 was a great turning point. Fortunately, I went on to win, and when you win and you come across well on telly, people want to come and eat in the pub. That Great British Menu effect is incredible. It allows the British public to see other chefs up and down the country that aren’t But the first couple of months were quite other side because all of a sudden the food usually in the media. There are some really bumpy, because it’s a pub with no linen on the snobs disappeared and the people who want innovative, quirky and amazing chefs out tables; there was none of the faff that people to eat out and enjoy themselves and turn up in there that people didn’t know about. expected from a two-star. We had people jeans and trainers came and applauded it – saying, “Well, it’s not Le Manoir, is it?” Nope, they loved it. They embraced the fact that it was How was trade affected when you got it’s not Le Manoir, we’re a pub on the way to offering a fantastic standard of food at value your second star in 2011? Henley. We had a lot of consumers not under- for money in an environment that everyone is The second star was huge. It was mental. For standing why it had achieved two-star status comfortable with and it’s now gone the other the staff it was just the most phenomenal and I think we got knocked a lot in the indus- way, which is brilliant. achievement. My general manager, Lourdes, try. It’s not about how many canapés or petits has been with me for nine years and Aaron, fours you serve – [Michelin inspectors make] How did you deal with that period mentally? my head chef, has been with me for eight a judgement on what they are given. You’d set your stall out, you hadn’t gone out years, so it’s a team of people that grew The first couple of months were difficult, to win two stars – they had come to you. together. It was the most jaw-dropping, and we had a couple of reviews that weren’t I care what people think of me as a person; ▲ outstanding moment ever. pleasant. But then it came right round the everything I do I want to be credible and rock

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Tom Kerridge on...

The skills shortage Everybody is saying they don’t have any staff, but since I was 18 years old, every kitchen I’ve ever worked in has been short-staffed. I don’t know that it’s any worse than it has ever been. As a workforce, people want more from their industry than just 100-hour weeks, bollockings and shit staff food. Just because I went through that doesn’t mean to say 18-year-olds now have to do that. The industry has to change and, as employers, we have to look at what people want. At the Hand & Flowers, they get a share of the tips through tronc and chefs de partie are probably as highly paid – if not higher – than they are in London. They get days off, they get private healthcare… they’re completely looked after.

Phones down during service Yeah, you haven’t got time for it. But I’m not anti-social media, or phones. If you’re a chef with a tiny brain like me and you’re easily distracted on Twitter or whatever, that’s not going to help you get your mise en place done. You have to be a grown-up and responsible about it. Everywhere I’ve worked it was very difficult to have the radio on in the kitchen because the head chef was a grumpy fucker that didn’t want it there. I’m massively into my music, so we’ll always have the radio on. I also love my football, so tonight the Champion’s League match will be on in the kitchen – no sound – but it will be on. We try to make sure that even though you’re My biggest learning curve has come in the working hard you know what’s going on outside last couple of years from recognising that the four walls of the kitchen. It’s not great for I have a voice. Before, I thought I was a bloke society for chefs, when they leave, to just drag that was sometimes on the telly, but I didn’t their knuckles and grunt at people because really realise that people watched it. So when they don’t know what’s going on in the world. as running a restaurant. It’s not a doss. It has I say or do something it has a repercussion. They need to be able to have a conversation. to be fun because no one wants to watch I learned from making daft, clumsy comments people having a rubbish time on telly – unless in interviews or on social media, but hopefully Kit he can’t live without it’s Big Brother! You have to enjoy the show in the last year we’ve kind of turned it around. We bought a Pacojet for the Hand & Flowers that you’re making, but at the same time I when we opened. It was the first piece of take it as seriously as anything else I do. Female chefs equipment I bought. The rest of the kitchen It’s a weird industry, because it’s full of We need all sorts of people and this goes back was all bought at auction and the first kitchen massively paranoid people. I don’t mean just in to what we said about changing the industry was done for five grand. I tiled the wall myself. front of the screen, but because it’s freelance – to make it a more staff-friendly. We’ve got to It all fell off. We had a shelf fall off in the middle the people in charge of the cameras, the sound attract chefs in general, not just female chefs. of service with a load of crockery on. I did that guys… they’re always looking for the next job. The gender of the chef makes no difference myself. I don’t do that anymore. So it’s different from catering in that sense, but – it’s the attitude to the work that’s needed. We bought a Pacojet because of its size in terms of the hours, the money, and the way We have four female chefs at the Hand and because it meant we could make real that people work, it’s very similar. & Flowers in a brigade of 16, so that’s not ice-creams and not have to buy in stuff. Now Contrary to what people think, you don’t earn bad, and we have two at the Coach. In general, our chicken parfaits, mousses and pestos are big money on telly. Everyone is passionate about kitchens are work-hard, play-hard places, but all done in it. We have six Pacojets across both it and you end up with, hopefully, a beautiful the banter does have to change. A conversation sites. There’s two or three working at any one product that’s sold to the customer and lasts between four blokes is different from one time, plus three as back up because we can’t half an hour. It’s the same as a main course. between two blokes and two girls. live without them. At the Cheltenham Literature Festival, the Being a chef comment I made about female chefs was a TV Is it worth it? Undoubtedly. There are moments massively clumsy one, and when I look back it I’ve always been really comfortable in my own when I’ve been so tired, but you come through was clever journalism that led me down a blind skin. The one thing I’ve learned from television and think this is brilliant. It’s the best industry alley. Those are the things that I’m more aware is, to be good, you have to take it as seriously ever and I wouldn’t change a single thing. of now. www.thecaterer.com The Caterer | 15 Audience with...

▲ solid and honest, but I have an incredibly thick skin. I’m massively determined – I run an incredibly polite dictatorship at the Hand & Flowers. But once I make my mind up on something and I have decided it is going to happen, it will happen. I will smash everything down in its path to make sure it happens. So in terms of people knocking it for not being what they want it to be, I think, well, hang on a minute, we were given two stars as a team and we will stand strong – we don’t even have to defend it. If people don’t get it, it’s not our fault. If reviewers don’t like it, if bloggers don’t like it, that’s fine. Obviously no-one likes being told they are rubbish in a review that is read by everyone because you have no comeback. We do 160-170 covers a day, 85 covers a service, with people going away having had a fabulous time. That tells you we are getting it right. Dave from Bolton has come down for his wife’s 50th and has had an ace time – and that’s all that matters.

You have the rooms very close to the pub. How much of a difference have they made to the business? It’s made a difference to the business in that people can stay there, but the reason why we bought the rooms is because they’re my pension. So I’m a chef without a pension scheme and like every person out there, you start thinking, how do I save up? If it’s your business and you are not an employee, you’re not quite sure how much to put away into a pension scheme. The Hand & Flowers owns three houses – eight rooms over three houses – that we hope will eventually be paid for, so those three houses will end up being our pension. They are an investment. Of course, there are a lot of people in the industry that don’t actually have any assets, and the moment they walk away from a business, it ceases to be what it is. Yes, we own the lease of the Hand & Flowers, but it isn’t the freehold of the property, so once the lease is up, what do you have?

So how does it work at the Hand & Flowers? It’s a Greene King pub. You hear so many horrible things about pub companies and landlords, and I honestly could not tell you of a better company to work with. When you sign the lease, you have a list of how much the beer costs. You know how much every barrel is going to be, so you have to write your business plan according to that. If it’s not going to work, don’t take it on and then moan that somebody else isn’t helping you. a go at their own business and are determined interesting and affordable drinks and food, but Greene King has been really encouraging. to make it work. That way, they can go in I didn’t want to serve a three-course meal. We’ve been open with them from the start once every six weeks or so, check everything is The Coach site is quite small with an and they’ve been the same with us. Once they right, and say great, see you in six weeks. They L-shaped bar. It’s got 17 seats at the bar and got to know us, and we got a Michelin star want it to work. about another 20 around the outside. It’s com- within 10 months, they realised we must be pact. It’s a tiny little high street pub and, as doing something right. Tell us about the Coach. a business model, it can be stolen and it can fit The relationship has grown massively. They Pubs have to offer something to everybody. into any other tiny pub space in the country. are a good company and I would argue that About 12 of us from the Hand sat down and It would be better if it was in a town because most pub companies are the same. They’re talked about what we want from a pub: where you’re more likely to have passing trade. full of people that don’t want hassle. They should it be, how can we make it work. We We looked at the morning trade and thought, want young people in there that want to have wanted it to be a place where you could have as a business, Wetherspoon is amazing.

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pint at 4pm. Then they do a happy hour, or a A word from CSS curry night on a Monday, and this is driving business all day long. Antony Ward, marketing It’s seen as a drinking pub, but actually the manager at CCS, says: reality at Wetherspoon, I would guess, is about “As the world’s foremost 51% of its turnover is food-led. That’s quite a suppliers of the finest quality catering big margin for a drinking pub – it’s busy and equipment and professional clothing, we are it’s what people want. extremely pleased to support the series of An So we stole it. We looked at the Coach and Audience with… It was fascinating to listen to thought, why can’t we do a Wetherspoon-style Tom and hear his advice for aspiring chefs. It’s pub that is of a standard that we want and a a wonderful opportunity to see leading chefs place that we would like to be. The business interact with the audiences and talk about model is amazing, but we wanted more. We issues about which they are passionate.” have a head chef that’s been at the Hand & Flowers for five years, so we decided that if he would make the pies, we’d do whatever else. “I like robust, three- Do you hanker after a glitzy restaurant course, à la carte food in the middle of London at all? that’s full of butter, We have quite a few offers, some of which we take very seriously; some we completely dairy, stocks and ignore. I don’t hanker after a two-Michelin- starred environment with loads of sommeliers sauces. I like that and and £250 tasting menus. It’s not for me. It’s it suits me in a pub” not my style. I like robust, three-course, à la carte food that’s full of butter, dairy, stocks and sauces. I like that and it suits me in a pub. But Watch our interview with Tom Kerridge never say never. If the right thing comes along, we would look at it. It’s taken us 10 years to get to the point They open up in the morning and do where we could open the Coach. Staff is a big the full English breakfast for something like issue. The only reason we opened the Coach is £3.99 and there’s always loads of blokes in because we’ve got this wonderful core of staff high-viz jackets on their way to work. They’re that have grown with us. Nick [Beardshaw], paying rent on that site, so they open the doors. the head chef at the Coach, has been with us Then they do coffees and cakes for mums for four and a half years at the Hand as senior that have just done the school run, and it’s sous chef and this is his chance to grow. busy again. Then they do a lunch special The idea of opening somewhere without where you can get a pie and chips for £4 and having any key members of staff is terrifying. maybe a free half pint of beer. Then in the If we were to do something else it would have afternoon they’ve got the builders that started to be heartfelt, solid and with key staff – until work at 7am coming in for their afternoon www.youtube.com/caterersearch that comes along, we won’t even look at it. www.thecaterer.com The Caterer | 17 IT'S A 2016/17 FRESH TAKING THE NEW New INSIDE OUTDOORS

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“Using the Urban Cultivator has added a new dimension to our cookery. We have been able to dictate the size and variety of the herbs we use and grow them all year round. It’s hassle free and the produce is fresher than anything we can buy in. Zero food miles equals maximum taste.” Simon Hulstone, Elephant Restaurant Audience with... Simon Rogan Westminster Kingsway recently played host to accomplished chef and restaurateur Simon Rogan, who talked to young and aspiring chefs about trials with Chelsea FC, cooking kebabs, and why he was always destined to be his own boss. Amanda Afiya reports

t was probably inevitable that Simon Rogan, But that wasn’t to say cheffing was a done time job at a Greek restaurant, I thought “this who boasts five restaurants with three deal and, as Rogan moved into his teenage is great, who needs football?” I quite liked IMichelin stars and an incredible 18 rosettes years, the possibility of a career in the kitchen working there, smashing plates on the floor. between them, would end up working with was up against stiff competition – the chance food in some shape or form. to play professional football. Your potential as a footballer was really Rogan’s father worked in the fruit and In this interview with Rogan, which was quite promising though. vegetable markets in Southampton, and his held recently in association with CCS at West- I had trials with Chelsea from the age of 12 to early memories are of meeting his dad from minster Kingsway College, we found out how 14 and my hometown club of Southampton as work and revelling in the wonderful aromas this promising footballer transformed into well as Portsmouth, but I broke my leg and so coming from the varied produce, destined for one of the country’s most talented chefs, why it just wasn’t to be. the ocean-going liners – and then having a the sleepy village of Cartmel proved to be I took a full-time job [at the Greek restau- good rummage through the boxes to see what the ideal location for his two-Michelin-starred rant] and went to college on day release in he and dad could bring home. restaurant with rooms, and why he feels it’s Southampton. I went there thinking I was He fondly remembers coming across kiwi, important to trust your instincts. going to be the bee’s knees as I had two years papaya and star fruit for the first time which, on everyone else. But when I got there I was even then, piqued his interest. This, coupled At 12 you were cooking the family meals. with all the young chefs who were employed with the fact that his mum worked long Wasn’t that unusual for a boy of that age? at all the good hotels around the New Forest hours, also meant that he slowly developed It was. Like most guys, I wanted to be a foot- and I realised that I knew absolutely nothing. an interest in preparing the family meals – baller, so I had to juggle my love of cookery I left my job in the Greek restaurant and “nothing too extravagant, just the odd spag bol around sport, but I was never disciplined went to Rhinefield House in Brockenhurst, and curry” – and from there emerged the enough to be a professional sportsman. And Hampshire, and got an apprenticeship under first hints of his forthcoming career. with the money I earned when I was in my part- chef Paul Norman, who had been at the Savoy

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In the kitchen at Fera at Claridge’s

for 12 years. He took me under his wing and “I was totally in love at Rhinefield my mum bought me this book gave me a classical grounding. Within four or called Great Chefs of France by Quentin Crewe five months he got me from the very bottom with what I was doing. [and Anthony Blake] and it blew my mind. It to the top of the class. had all the old-school, three-star chefs: Paul By then I was getting paid £60 a week and I wanted to make Bocuse, Alain Chapelle, Roger Vergé, Louis I think I gave my mum £25 of that. So all the myself the best Outhier. It was a massive, massive inspiration. reasons for taking the career in the first place It was Louis Outhier that I wanted to work ia – the money, the excitement – were turned on I could possibly be” for because I loved a dish he did – a little foie ed m their head. But now I was totally in love with gras parfait decorated with almonds and truf- ty i l a what I was doing. I wanted to make myself the I worked for JC on and off for about eight fle ‘eyes’, so it looked like a hedgehog. In those t pi best I could possibly be. and a half years. I followed him around wher- days it was amazing and I had always wanted Once I had finished college, I stayed another ever he sprung up, including for Keith Floyd to work for him. But unfortunately, he retired year and then decided to apply for a job for a at the Maltsters Arms in Tuckenhay down in before I had the chance, so I ended up in a res- edows/hos m

young chef called Jean-Christophe Novelli, Devon. That was a pretty amazing experience taurant in Paris called Lucas Carton, under an n e

B who had just opened his first restaurant. – he kept us on our toes down there, did Keith. amazing chef, Alain Senderens. That was my I went as pastry chef, because I had specialised I also worked for Marco Pierre White and John finishing school before I decided to come back deo by by deo in pastry at Rhinefield. Within two months Burton Race, and I did a stint in Paris as well. to England and seek out my first head chef job. vi d d I was sous chef – typical JC fashion. I’d had the an

hy hy classical grounding, now we had this mad, Quite a long time in Paris. So you came back from Paris and then

rap flamboyant Frenchman with these techniques Yes, nearly two years – it was an incredible took on your first head chef position? and new ingredients. And obviously he taught experience. I’d always planned on going to Yes, at Bailiffscourt in Sussex. I stayed there ▲ hotog p me the art of being a restaurateur as well. Paris one day. When I was training under Paul for three years and we got to quite a good

www.thecaterer.com The Caterer | 21 Audience with...

▲ standard... but I was very young, a bit naïve, immature, and I probably ran the kitchen how some of the chefs I worked for did.

It was learned behaviour to a certain extent? Yes, I worked for very hard chefs, probably John Burton Race being one of the toughest. You had to be on your toes all the time. Maybe I tried to act like them because I thought I could achieve the same results? But I hadn’t earned anyone’s respect yet – even when you do earn respect it’s not the way. I learned pretty quickly that the way to get the best out of people is to encourage them. There were a few things going on in my personal life at the time, so I left the job but stayed in the area. Chefs are like nomads – a job finishes and they are off to the next town or city, wherever it may be. But I had a group of friends and decided to look for jobs where I could commute. And among that group of friends was my partner of today, Penny, who I have been with for 20 years now. She really encouraged me to look outside the area. She said she would come with me and support me and so we moved to Hollington House, a very nice country house hotel with a lot of ambition. Unfortunately, I didn’t hit it off with the owner, so I found a job in London in a five-star hotel owned by the Crown Prince of Kuwait. The day I joined Iraq invaded Kuwait, so all his assets were frozen and we had no money to do all the things we had planned. And there was one more disaster on the horizon – Addington Palace, near Croydon. We built an amazing restaurant there. There was myself, Freddy Forster, who won the Roux Scholarship in 2000 and came through West- minster Kingsway; a chef de partie there who was runner-up in the Roux Scholarship, and a pastry chef who had come from Marc Veyrat. We had an incredible team and we came close District were looking for someone to create Two or three weeks passed and he kept to achieving something special. one. So they looked in The Caterer and found phoning me, and then the deal in Brighton fell All we needed was a bit of PR, but the owner a recruitment consultant – a guy called Gary flat. I had nothing better to do, so I left the decided to advertise on the side of a Croydon Peck – who just happened to be a mate south coast at 5am one morning and got to tram. This was not going to provide us with a of mine. He said, “I’ve got just the guy”. Cumbria by 10am. I met with the guys who lot of customers, so I decided that was it and He got in touch and I said: “Where’s owned it and they showed me their vision. that I needed to be in control of my own Cumbria?” Then I looked it up and said, “No. I remember standing in the far corner of the destiny. I decided I would never work for any- It’s too far from London, too far from the garden, which has a lovely river running one else ever again. I did a lot of temping and South East, too far from friends and family.” through it, looking back at the building and a lot of crap jobs that I didn’t really want to do, the weeping willows, and I thought, if I can but I needed to keep the money coming in and provide the product that suits this building, protect my savings because that was my way Watch our interview with Simon Rogan it will be a success. And at least with seven out. I knew there was always going to be some- bedrooms I knew I would get 14 customers – thing amazing at the end of it. which we didn’t always get in the beginning – but I was confident in my ability to make it So you decided that you and Penny a destination restaurant. were going to do something on your About halfway down the M6, I phoned them own. How did that pan out? and said: “I want it, I’m head over heels in love I wanted to go to Hampshire, while Penny is with it.” I hadn’t told Penny, mind you – so we from Littlehampton, so she saw herself in made a tentative arrangement that I would West Sussex. We actually found some prem- take it and bring Penny up the following week- ises in Brighton. We had money, but not really end, which I did, with our newborn son. enough to do what we wanted to do, so we She wasn’t really interested in it at all, but by were always haggling. The deal started to go the end of our visit she could see that it was wrong and around that time two guys who something that I really wanted to do. But she owned the shell of a restaurant in the Lake www.youtube.com/caterersearch wouldn’t join me – not straight away.

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Simon Rogan on...

“Our desire for having things perfect now goes way beyond cooking – it goes to actually growing the ingredients in the first place”

Television desire for having things perfect now goes way It’s a massive influence. I’ve doneMasterChef beyond cooking – it goes to actually growing and Great British Menu. It probably put the ingredients in the first place. That is a 35%-40% of revenue on our bottom line, massive obsession of ours, and growing which is pretty incredible. the perfect carrot is everything to us. But it’s always in the edit, that’s what I’ve So over the years, the last four or five in found. The edit has always favoured me and particular, the style of cuisine has got Cod ‘yolk’ with pea I’ve always been this happy-go-lucky fella who a lot, lot simpler, because we are relying shoot, salt and vinegar forgets to turn things on and stuff like that. on our perfect ingredients – that’s not to Then on the other side there was Restaurant say the technology’s not there, it’s just Wars and some of that was me screaming at that you can’t see it. So there was another six months of renova- people. They showed me hot and bothered, tions to bring the restaurant up to scratch and but that was because I was under pressure, His favourite kit then we finally opened, but with Penny and I was out of my comfort zone, and I was with We’ve got seven rotary evaporators which, our then seven-month-old still down in our a new team, some of whom weren’t up to it. at £10,000 a pop, are probably my most house in Littlehampton. I opened on my own What it didn’t show was the before and after favourite piece of kit. They allow us to with one other chef, two waiters and a cham- – those moments where I put my arm round distil any flavour. bermaid who doubled up as a kitchen porter. them and say, “Look, do you understand?” Penny would wait to see if the restaurant took So for a while it put me off TV quite a lot. Being humble off before she made the gamble and we then I’m quite a private person actually, and I just In the early days it was all about cooking sold everything we had and she joined me. thought, sod that. It’s only now I’ve started and trying to be the best, or one of the best. to do a few things again. You can never be the best, that’s what I keep Right from the outset were you determined telling myself. I’ll always be humble. that it would be covered in accolades? Technology When you open, you’re full of ambition. But It’s not the be all and end all, and yes, we have On Fera at Claridge’s when the customers don’t roll in, it’s the last water baths and things like that, but we very It has been a privilege working at Claridge’s. thing on your mind – you just want customers rarely use them for anything on the menu. Obviously when Gordon Ramsay was there it and you want people spending money that will We might use them in preparation, but we’ve was a huge success, so they were big boots to pay the wages. It’s got to be a successful enter- gone back to basics really. We roast on the fill. Getting a Michelin star for Fera within four prise that makes money, pays debts and bone and we use a lot of barbecues and fire. months was pretty amazing, and the general enables you to re-invest. Obviously accolades There’s no better way to cook is there? acclaim we have achieved has made me very help future expansions, so they are important. proud. It has been a huge learning curve, in a Everybody talks about Michelin stars a lot, Food style very competitive and different market from the but actually there’s only 120-odd Michelin- Our menu is dominated by vegetables these Lake District and Manchester. I am enjoying the starred restaurants in the country. It’s a very days so we try not to do too much to them challenge, and we have a terrific, solid team

difficult thing to get – at the French in▲ because of the quality of our ingredients. Our with huge ambitions to achieve even more. Manchester I’ve been trying for the last two www.thecaterer.com The Caterer | 23 Audience with...

“One of the greatest achievements for me is Cartmel. It’s a thriving, busy place 12 months of the year and that’s because we were the catalyst for all the new businesses that are there now. I’m so very, very happy about that”

The French, Manchester

▲ years and haven’t achieved one yet. No one Since we ended up in the Lake District, Then I decided we’re going to stop using all knows how to get them – all you can do is your which is probably as close to the Alps as we can foreign ingredients completely. Obviously, it best. After one star I want two, and after two I get, we had those sorts of ingredients around didn’t happen overnight, but that’s what we want three. With any accolade, you always us. So we opened L’Enclume very much on embarked on. Our foraging operation was want to be better. that tip. Not straightaway – the first eight very, very strong, but we needed the raw mate- months was the food I was cooking in London. rials to carry this through. So that’s when In those early days, people said that you I knew what I wanted to do, but I couldn’t just we looked at our first farm, so we could be in were influenced by the avant-garde cuisine go in there and open with all this new-found control of what we grew, when we grew and of Marc Veyrat, and then you took your food knowledge. So it was a gradual thing. what we picked. in a different direction. Talk us through the Eight months later, we were at our first tast- A lemon is the greatest thing in your tool- actual food style of the restaurant. ing menu with the sort of ingredients that I’m box. For a chef to squeeze some lemon juice Before I opened L’Enclume I was interested talking about. Somewhere along the way, I got here or there to heighten flavour is the most in foraging – the sous chef at Rhinefield a bit side-tracked. I probably relied too much amazing thing. So all of a sudden, we didn’t House used to take me out to pick wild mush- on technology and technique. People would have that ability. We gradually had to find sub- rooms in the New Forest. read the menu and have no idea what they stitutes for all the things we held dear. But When I was working at Addington Palace, were going to eat, because it didn’t mention I can confidently say that at L’Enclume [which Freddy Forster had just come back from [Pierre] much about food. I suppose I became more boasts two Michelin stars], we don’t use any Gagnaire, having done his three-month stage commercial, more grown-up, and a little bit foreign ingredients whatsoever. We do at Fera there for winning the Roux Scholarship. When more business-minded. at Claridge’s a little bit, but L’Enclume is what he was in Paris he would ring me telling me People within the industry were saying, it is today because of that decision to get con- about new techniques, and it got me interested “Look, do you understand what you could nected to our surroundings. One of the great- in the avant garde. At the same time, I had a have here if you concentrate on what you’re est achievements for me is where Cartmel is pastry chef from Veyrat who had been there for good at and what your strengths are? The now. It’s a thriving, busy place 12 months of three years and he told me about his style of surroundings, the ingredients and the the year and that’s because we were the catalyst cookery and that really struck a chord because livestock are second to none. Concentrate on for all the new businesses that are there now. of the use of alpine herbs and flowers. all that.” I’m so very, very happy about that.

24 | The Caterer www.thecaterer.com IN association with

A word from CSS

Antony Ward, marketing manager at CCS, says: “As the world’s foremost suppliers of the finest quality catering equipment and professional clothing, we are extremely pleased to support the series of An Audience With… interviews. It was fascinating to listen to Simon and hear his advice for aspiring chefs. It’s a wonderful opportunity to see leading chefs interact with the audiences and talk about issues about which they are passionate.”

Fera at Claridge’s

Obviously things started to turn around – Grilled salad at Fera at Claridge’s French, I just thought, sod this, I don’t want to we got accepted by the locals, started winning go through all that in London, it would just loads of accolades and then expanded, initially be too much hassle. Until I got the call from in Cartmel and then beyond. Claridge’s. When you get a call like that, you’ve We started with Rogan & Company, also in got to go there straight away. Cartmel, because we felt we needed to do a bigger restaurant. We wanted it to create more What’s your impression of young chefs today? money to drive the product on L’Enclume fur- I think they’re a little bit impatient, and I think ther – we had a lot of ambition in Cartmel and that, for me, when I trained it was a very dif- we needed more cash. So we opened Rogan & ferent world to what it is now. There were very Company, which was great at first. We did the long hours, and we were shouted at for very covers, but we never really got the formula life. It’s done well in the Good Food Guide and little pay. Things have improved no end since right, so that made us look at other areas. the AA Guide, but not quite in the Michelin those days, but even under those conditions I Then Manchester came. We got a call from Guide at the moment. But we’re trying very still stuck it out because I knew it was worth it. Mike Magrane at the Midland hotel, asking if hard. And then, shortly after that, Mr Cooper’s Just don’t try and be a chef de partie at 21 – it we would be interested in talking to him about opened and it has been a phenomenal success. takes a bit longer than that. a big space. I’ve always wanted to do some- When we recruit, we’re looking for something in Manchester. I quite liked the idea and And then, of course, London. one with passion and someone with a brain. the concept, but they had another restaurant With Manchester I was coming out of the If you’ve got a love of food, you’re semi-intelli- called the French which was already pretty sanctuary of my two-star kitchen. I was under gent and you’ve got that passion, we’re much dying with very few customers. I put pressure, and it didn’t go quite the way confident of making you into a great chef, it to Mike that we should take over the French I wanted – obviously highlighted in Restaurant because those are the three ingredients that as well and do that first. Wars: The Battle for Manchester. At that time I think are essential. The French was one of the first restaurants we also had a pop-up restaurant, Roganic in in the UK to have a Michelin star, and I quite Marylebone, which was there for two years and ● Read about our recent Chef Eats Out event liked the idea of being able to bring it back to was coming to an end. After the opening of the at Fera in a forthcoming issue www.thecaterer.com The Caterer | 25 Meets

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