“Never trust a skinny chef”

I’ve always thought it was a funny saying, you hardly ever see a fat chef!

You tend to work a lot of hours and that means your on your feet a lot and if your working in a kitchen worth a mention your walking around it as fast as you can! I’m not sure if one could say its exercise but you burn off fat that’s for sure. You also hardly ever eat and when you do you eat it standing up and you shove it in just slow enough your body realised you are actually eating but fast enough so you can get it out the way and crack on with mes en plast. The irony that a team of chefs who’s job is to make sure people eat and have an amazing experience while eating , normally dont give a fuck about each others food and eating experience!

From working in kitchens for 18 years now I’ve certainly had my fair share of pretty amazing staff food and some shocking staff food. I found it very interesting working in other countries and seeing how they treat meal time. I worked in Madrid when I was 21 and I had a few jobs when I got there. I couldn’t speak a word of spanish so it was pretty hard finding a job. I would take a shit job for a week to pay the rent then keep looking into finding a job in a top restaurant or hotel. In all the jobs the staff food was taken very seriously. Every day in every job (6 places) they made everyone sit down at least once a day to eat as a ‘family ‘. I had never seen this in England. I remember one day I’d been out for a pretty heavy party the night before and in Spain that means you probably did get much sleep… I hadn’t done enough prep for lunch and I didnt have time to sit down at 11am for staff food. I just stayed in the kitchen prepping (a perfectly acceptable thing to do in the uk if you were in the shit) but the chef came in not to ask if I needed a hand but to bollock me for not coming to sit down!! He said no matter how in the shit you are you can sit down for ten minutes and eat.  He was right.

I spent a few days working in Sweden and it was in a 2 Michelin star restaurant called Faviken. They only serve food in the evening for just 24 people. However the first real service that everyone was getting ready for was the staff dinner, it was planned but I didn’t see a menu or a timetable some how then chefs just knew their jobs and what they had to prepare. Like clock work at 5.30 everyone just grabbed a bowl or plate of prepared food and went up stairs into the attic of the restaurant in this amazing barn and a beautiful buffet was made. Everyone sat and talked and ate. The morning shift chefs are then left and the evening chefs then had a briefing. The manager stood up went through all the guests dinning by name, any food allergies and likes or dislikes they had. Then the chef stood up  and discussed the menu. After that everyone grabbed some dirty plates all went downstairs and started setting up for service. It was the most organised kitchen I’ve ever seen and nobody told anyone what to do. They just knew.

These experiences and more of course are what I have used to try and shape how my own restaurant will function. I was determined from the start that we will sit down as a family and eat together. I realise that the things we put in place from the beginning are what will form the bones of my restaurant. If bad habits start from day one then it will be very hard to get out of them.  The best restaurants in the world have great structure and habits.  New members of staff see that they can get into the rhythm easily and can concentrate more on their jobs I believe.

Also I wanted to make sure the food we ate wasnt rubbish! No one wants to sit down and eat shit staff food.  So far so good, we did eat some nice food we have all sat done since day one and eaten together. Often my wife and son join us which amazing. My manager Sophie’s partner also pops in and I love it.  The feeling of family makes a strong team and I believe that the  time we spend sat eating for half an hour each day is gonna make us work together better. 

If we all start getting fat then maybe I’ll change my mind!

So what do chefs eat at home? It’s a question I get a lot and it’s funny because I think most people believe that’s chefs must get home and start cooking fillet steak, triple cooked chips, mushroom duxel and  a green peppercorn sauce at 1am!? The reality is i normally eat a whole pizza and drink a load of beer. Not a great habit but I think the constant walking around the kitchen and drinking water all day has stopped me becoming a fat trustworthy chef!

Then lock down happened and the walking around all day (and up and down stairs at my restaurant because the chefs bring out all the food at GL50 and the kitchen is subterranean) stopped. The late night eating and too much wine continued so something had to change. I’ve decided to try eating like Normal people, 3 meals a day and the last one at 6pm. It’s been a week and my body is confused. I’ve not eaten dinner at 6pm for about 18 years I think.  I wake up very hungry but other then that hopefully I’m gonna be able to re train my body after this and make a change for the good. Cooking at home has improved, been getting amazing meat from the local butcher and my restaurant supplier, Waghornes. Fresh fish delivered from Padstow fish man and doing cooking videos for the restaurants facebook page has encouraged some nice meals. Feeding  my son news things is bringing me a lot of joy of course its also making my sad when I make a delicious pasta dish that he immediately spits out! Turns out he prefers pearl barley to pasta, but that’s fine, now we know.

I’m also trying  to get some form of exercise done every day which while at home is ok, I think when we are all back to work I will struggle to carry on so time will tell.

I still look very trustworthy at the moment but hoping by the end of lock down to look much less so!