Want to improve your use of colour when plating, watch this: https://youtu.be/wtHP_frvqW0
Welcome to the Food Envy Podcast, where today’s episode offers an exclusive seat at the table with Chef James Peck. In this engaging session, we delve into the art and techniques behind creating visually stunning and delicious dishes. Chef Peck opens up about his journey, the inspiration behind Restaurant Ember’s awesome menu, and the finesse of open fire cooking that makes every dish special.
As we navigate through the conversation, James shares the subtle yet impactful role of wood aromas in the restaurant and his personal approach to the ever-evolving art of plating. He draws from a rich tapestry of influences, discussing the Nordic roots that inspire his creations, the wisdom gleaned from foraging, and the mentors like Niklas Eskstedt and Theres Andersson who’ve shaped his culinary perspective.
This episode isn’t just about techniques; it’s a deep dive into the philosophy of food presentation, discussing the intentional simplicity of menus and the breathtaking impact of three-star plating.
Chef Peck reflects on his aspirations, the demanding yet rewarding process of maintaining consistency, and the allure of analog cooking methods in a digital age.
We round off our conversation with insights into the industry’s celebrated figures like Chef Grant Achatz and a look at the ever-present debate of whether cooking is more of a craft or an art form. We also admit to being massive fan boys of Adam Handling plating skills as his really at the forefront of UK plate design today
And for those craving a real-time culinary spectacle, stay tuned for James’s live demonstration, featuring a signature scallop dish that exemplifies the elegance and complexity of his work.
Join us for a session that promises to enrich your understanding of culinary arts and inspire your next dining experience. Whether you’re a professional in the food industry or a passionate foodie, this episode is a must-listen for anyone fascinated by the creativity and dedication behind world-class cuisine.
Chapter Markers
0:00 – Intro
1:23 – James and Restaurant Ember
2:04 – Open Fire Cooking
2:21 – the importance of the smell of wood
4:02 – James plating style?
5:31 – How does he cook on open fire?
6:29 – Nordic inspirations
8:43 – Foraging
9:49 – Chef Anthony Ruffalo
11:18 – How do you start the visual design process
13:13 – the balance between taste and visuals
14:07 – How Chef Sat Bains draws his beautiful plating design
15:34 – Chef Niklas Eskstedt is a big influence
17:11 – Chef Theres Andersson from Eskstedt at the Yard is the level James is inspiring to get to.
18:05 – Aspirations for his restaurant
20:43 – Consistency & re-learning cooking over wood fire
22:04 – creating an analog inspired restaurant
23:42 – how wood fire dictates plating
26:02 – Simple sounding menu is intentional
27:46 – 3 star plating is mind-blowing
30:30 – The wonder of great food and plating
31:29 – Chef Grant Achatz – Alinea
31:49 – craft v art
35:08 – Most stunning dish he ever eaten was at Pollen Street
35:54 – Chef Adam Handling best plated food
37:35 – What are you plating for us today?
39:52 – Scallop Demo
43:49 – Bonus Demo
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I’m just enjoying cooking the food that I love to eat and love to cook and people seem to enjoy it based around kind of De F Army smokers are the key point it’s a bespoke piece for us so it was in between an Argentinian assador like a Japanese rata Grill us grade
Scholet which I’m going to play for you a little while I’m going to do them in like a Nordic style okay there’s no point in taking something really earthy and natural and organic and cooking it in such a primal way they’re serving it on a really modern fancy polish play
Worked for a couple of chefs where they’re surrounded by cookbooks and they sketching then they want to be left alone in zone I just wish I had that kind of creative power I respect that so much because it’s just it’s an it’s a level of cookery only a few Ever Getting
To achieve where did you begin to have the audacity to think that you can do that to then it being one of the most iconic dishes we’ve ever seen the nine for me how desolate the landscape is and how much they do with it and it’s really
Inspiring plating is such a key point in in food because it CU that’s where people can really showcase their skills if you can make a dish look insane and taste out this world that that is Art and craftsmanship welcome to the food NV podcast where we are exploring the
Visual side of food today I’m here with James peek from Ember restaurant or restaurant Ember either as come which one is it which restaurant Ember yeah restaurant Ember okay great so thank you so much for uh taking the time to talk to me today thanks very um what I’d
Really like to get from you first is possibly a little bit about your restaurant and a bit about you really so where jum to start this beginning of the restaurant yeah let’s let’s talk about the restaurant coming out the back end of covid I wanted to do something that
Was totally different and separate ourselves from just a restaurant I think being aware that the landscape is going to get tougher I want to make a place which is theatrical some an exmilitary Chef turned kind of having a stab at uh doing it for myself so we’re sat in at
The minute number 13 which is a cocktail bar it’s only a month old but the restaurant Ember it’s been a year and a half now since we opened and it’s just a fun nostalgic eclectic kind of place to be um that focuses on the experience and the customer Journey from start to
Finish just having a good time and there’s just no stuffiness and it’s all based around wood so so it’s open fire cooking open fire cooking completely charcoal Japanese charcoal and British kill and dry wood 100% I have to say walking in your in the actual restaurant
Which we’ll go into later the smell is just people smell of the wood is just the die people walk in the first thing go it smells amazing here it smells so delicious and like it might not even be cooking they can smell but that smell of
Wood it just takes them to a place where it makes some think about that campfire cooker and it sends signals to their brain like they’re in for a treat so I think that’s so exciting I think it it creates such a point of differentiation doesn’t it really I know you said
Certainly in this area but I think at all having that sort of visceral emotion or whatever really adds to the performance in the theater of what I think people are looking for in restaurant ding nowadays food isn’t just necessarily enough is it having some point of differentiation but also
Something like that that could hit you as soon as you walk in through the door it’s powerful I think as soon as you smell the smoke and you can hear the music and stuff that all the right senses are going off like okay this is a food party like you know your
Expectation is is already quite High when you’re walk in so you find a lot of people walk in before they even sat down they’ve got a massive grin and like already you’re like Wicked the standard’s been set and it gets us even more enjoyment to continue that that’s
So powerful because one of the things I really enjoy about dining is is the visual side being a photographer visual side is really important to me and it’s that sense of wow when that plate comes down but you get it for people walking through the door and getting smell yeah
Super Lucky yeah and just see you welcome have you been before and as soon as they know we’re all twig and we’re like brilliant yeah let’s give these people a party yeah no that’s really good that’s really powerful how long’s the restaurant been going so we
Celebrated a year and a half just now so yeah super young super new had a a busy first year and a half it’s been packed for of Adventures ups and downs and all the you know the things that come with having a restaurant especially new business over Co right yeah literally
Starting from scratch and finding our way in a landscape that’s quite hairy at the minute but we’ve got a very passionate team so it’s it’s it’s made it exciting more challenging well I’m really looking forward to seeing the plating later yeah so let’s dive into that a little bit so how would you
Describe your plating style I know before we talked you were a little worried because it’s it’s a little simpler than what you possibly thought the podcast was well but for me it’s really interesting to see all food and how you make it look amazing it’s just
To see I’m my background has been quite the mountain where in the Army plating wasn’t a a thing you know slop is slop and whack it out and more tecker fling it on the pl um to going to quite high end in in kind of like higher restaurants of those with accolades that
Push for Perfection so going from kind of whatever for thousands to kind of refinement and 12 C lunches in kind of you know high-end restaurants and and staring in places that only accept Perfection I picked the things I loved from places I’ve been eaten worked in and our style of plating is an
Amalgamation of deliciousness simplicity and um you can see everything you’re eating there’s not an element on the dish you’re like well I can’t taste that where is that like it’s that we want it to look good and there are elements of refinement in our food but ultimately
We’re a busy restaurant so as soon as you sit down it needs to be food that you can get out quick it needs to be it just needs to be visual pleasing so uh uh but but tasty and hot so yeah we pride ourselves on being simple but
Flavor is Primal I think as soon as you Char something that’s half the battle right yeah literally you can burn anything and get away with it nowadays be surprised yeah yeah yeah even chest get burnt yeah well I’m not surprised looking at the rig you’ve got out there
Is there is there a name for that type of it’s kind of so we it’s a bespoke piece for us so it was in between kind of like an Argentinian Assad or and like a Japanese rabata Grill that’s yeah so it’s kind of got a rabata surface area
With a charcoal also has that assado height so we can smoke as well so it’s kind of amalgamation the of a kind of that Korean barbecue and that Argentinian one it’s it’s just kind of its own thing but it’s it’s beautiful so you might must be quite heavily influenced by because you mentioned
Those and we also when we were talking for the the Nordic qu clearly is something that you’re you’re you’re heavily into yeah um tell me a little bit more about those Inspirations um so being an army Chef these kind of people and places weren’t exposed to me so when
I left the forces all of a sudden everything was new so I had a good level of understanding about food but I wasn’t inspired by anyone in particular outside of your mainstream top Three Chefs you know your Gordons um it wasn’t until I started eating out and I started being
Exposed to new Cuisines and I was just getting inspired and one of the Cuisines like the NAIC Cuisine for me it’s just the the how desolate the landscape is and how much they do with it and it’s really inspiring where sometimes we’ll be in the city and you see chefs that
Maybe lack a bit of inspiration and they’ve got the world at their feet can have any product delivered to them same day or next day but you get people that are pushing some of the best food in the world and you know the country is covered in snow and ice for like 11
Months of the year and it’s just it’s just the technique the preservation the cleanliness of the plating and just the whole philosophy of keeping it clean and simple just that kind of of you know Steve Jobs design just like it’s simple you can see it and and it it’s just
There’s a bit of you know hidden technicality and sometimes something so simple actually the hardest to achieve but it’s super inspiring I I think that Simplicity it’s so it’s so great what you just said simple is not easy it’s one those things that look easy you can’t hide behind something so simple
Yeah and the ingredients have to be even better you know Japanese cookery and stuff like that you their ingredients are topnotch but they don’t do a great deal necessarily with them and that just yes and how you the restaurant is heavily inspired by barbecue culture around the world so we’ve got anything
From kind of like that Mexican kind of um style of food we we’re using proper guaro tacos and we’re using like dressings and stuff that are traditional that found in parts of Mexico all the way from like Japanese our scallops are like Japanese sculps they’re beautiful sush grade sculps which I’m going to
Play for you a little while but I’m going to do them in like a Nordic style okay um um but it’s it’s based around kind of De F Army smokers are the key point you SE salt and smoke you know so there’s a lot of com com what else you
Need so when you say that the sculpt is going to be in the Nordic style what does that mean the way we’re going to play them is we’ve got a beautiful sushi grade scholet but we’re going to keep it really clean really fresh and this time of year seafood’s fantastic because the
Oceans are so cold and the quality of fish that are coming out are just another level so we’re going to do a cured scolar rather than a hot one because our winter menu is quite heavy quite rich and I wanted something on the menu that almost is a little pet
Cleanser a little fresheners in there just to kind of keep the pette awake and before you get another load of something Smoky or umam or something light with bit green apple which again at this time of year you don’t really see something so light but it works so well with such
A good scol up so and because big part of Nordic Cuisine is the sort of forage nature of it as well so do you try and do any not personally necessar but do you get that foraged element in it’s super it’s some it’s something I’m soring about I’ve got some fantastic
People around me I’ve got a chef in London one of my closest friends who uh has Anglo Faron which is a fantastic restaurant and he has killer jars his whole restaurant is surrounded by killer jars it’s just a world I think you could get lost into and I wish I had more time
To explore it so I personally have done a very small amount but when your wild garlic flowers are in three cornered leags we’ll go and get those and when the world starts to turn a little bit Greener that’s when I’ll be out getting bits and Bobs but the kind of covers
We’re doing it’s just super hard to kind of keep that level of pick from the ground when you’re doing the kind of volume that we are as small business and I also just being shepher Tron finding the time to yeah do it yourself I was just wondering if there was anyone local
Cuz I speak to a lot of lot of guys that you know foragers will just come up to the back door and say look this is what this is what yeah I mean we probably need one of those that would help actually we we could we could uh we
Could use one of them but there’s some Wicked little farms around that that kind of Springtime Sprouts were absolute wonders and I had a guest Chef who I just mentioned Andy rafo from um farenden in London and he done a popup in our restaurant he basically brought a missioning level dining experience to
The county which the the Count’s never had okay and it was only walking outside of our last restaurant which was on a farm and he’s like you got three Corner beaks gr I’ll grab them and all of a sudden he’s coming back with a gush Traer stuff that I didn’t even recognize
Yeah and it’s just amazing so it’s it’s it’s a rabbit hole that I’m yet to explore yeah yeah I can imagine it’s one of those things once you get into it it’s like that’s the only way it’s going to be done now yeah yeah for sure so
When you are developing a dish yeah um and you’ve got that plate in front of you how where do you kind of start or is it an evolution or do you do are you collaborative with your guys for sure it’s a it’s a be a mixture of all three
The scotet dish I’m going to do for you today is something the dish in my head I wanted to do and then we played around with it for like the last week and then my head chef put one up and I was like oh I like that and we went from Pair to
Apple then we played around some different stuff and it evolved together as a team so I might sometimes put the idea I would love a cured fish to line it up let’s talk about the acid let’s talk about that and people will put their put their um their bittens and and
We work as a team I think when it comes to the dish the best the first place to start is I look at my menu I think right I need to diversify the offering a little bit youve you’ve got your richness you’ve got your smokiness but let’s give let’s give people the
Opportunity to have a bit lighter so we look at balance okay and it starts with the ingredient and the time of year for sure what what’s Best in season I’m sure you’ll hear that from most chefs that you speak to is what is at its best
Right now so that’s our Focus okay but when it comes down to actually so you’ve got you’ve got the ingredient got the yeah I mean is it does it cuz again some chefs I’ve met will start to draw stuff out they will plan in mind I can’t draw
So that’s window um yeah i’ be honest it starts with what I want to achieve do I want something that’s visually really refined do I want a m a bigger plate and then a small petite dish I think I think from a design point of view once I’ve
Got the flavors and the textur sorted when I’m thinking about plating I think about the ingredients I think about the color I want every ingredient to shine on that plate so many people I see Will plate up quite a dark aomin dish on a really dark plate and and it looks great
And tasty you can’t see half it it’s really dark whereas put on a lighter plate and you can see the source are clear and you can differentiate the ingredients it helps when you’re eating because you want a little bit of that a little bit of that sometimes when it’s a
Bit dark and you just end up forcing it together and eating it whereas a lot of chefs when they plate they plate it in a way that how they want you to eat it you know whereas each spoon or Fork full has a little bit of every ingredient on
There so would you say that’s more what you would try yeah I I look at something and I think how would the customer eat it yeah um and I think in the beginning of my pling up Journey when I was finding my first you know sort of head
Chef roll I was too busy what it looked like and I forgot about how it be so sometimes i’ have a dish I’ll be super proud of and then the feedback would be it’s really hard to eat because the Bowl’s too small you can’t get a spoon
In there so you think about how people are going to eat it yeah mean it’s really important to have that functional aspect to it isn’t it honest with you to to to think that through but it’s interesting because I was chatting with with a different chef and they were
Saying about and it never occurred to me before that chefs generally you know 95% of the time it’s about smell and taste yeah which is great but then as soon as the diner comes in it’s visual that’s the first thing that they well possibly in your restaurant they smell yeah
Covered which is wonderful then your ears go yeah yeah abely I like know but then it’s then it’s the first thing that they will do it’s the the vision and I said one of the pleasures I get is that wow factor when it when it gets put down cransh you can’t get away
With it just being too heavy one or too heavy the other I think uh the chef I did on the last podcast Kareem who you know was saying that he wants both factors to be about 85% both are important it’s not one or the other you know one doesn’t take
Precedence it’s about both yeah that was a really interesting point for sure I think most chefs you’d ask to probably answering that question for the first time where it’s quite a natural process and quite organic for people and they probably wouldn’t think too much it’s probably interesting from a chef I think
Yeah what am I looking for because naturally you gravitate towards a certain style of plating or the way you know a lot of Chef Sometimes some of your top chef you can see that it’s their plate of food not knowing that it’s their plate food you might see the
Picture straight away and know that’s NOA or that’s just after or that blah blah you know I think people have their own person the plate and stuff like that but I think if you were to break it down most people almost it’s a lot lot it’s very organic and it’s just their style
And they just gravitate to certain style whereas I think it’s quite interesting you ask yourself that question you’re like actually why do I do it like that and and then it’s quite interesting because then you get into your own mind as well I think the uh I think the the
Design aspect and I take your point about drawing because I can’t draw either um is it on on social media I think it was sat Baines who I’ve seen a few times and you just see youve done like a time lapse of him drawing the dish and then you see the actual dish
Yeah clearly he’s quite a talented artist does help it does help so but I think if I was a chef I would be like that I think even though I can’t draw I would I would want to a starting point but I guess it comes through confidence
And experience that it’s like right a good reference right so if you’re able to draw the dish you can see how far that may have evolved from sort of inception to on the plate if you’ve drawn a dish and by the end of it you’ve tasted and you’ve got so that it looks
Nothing like the drawing or it looks exactly like the drawing you can see the journey you can refer back to it and there’s a lot of chefs that will cook a dish like you high in restaurants that that are so good and people want to come
Back for it and it it will stay you know that season it will come around they’ll use that dish and it might alter a bit and having that sketch and that picture and that kind of catalog of imagery yeah it’s perfect for them because like last
Year was oh we could refine that a little bit actually that that that flavor profile let’s change it it was nice but there’s probably a better way we can do that bring that flavor in and make it a bit more interesting so this I’m very envious of people that can
Sketch like that I’ve worked for a couple of chefs where they’re surrounded by cookbooks and they’re sketching and they want to be left alone and they’re in the The Zone I just wish I had that kind of creative power to to draw but might look like a Lego man on a Lego
Horse on a PL or something I end up making anything look like a Willie yeah it’s not even a sausage no it’s not it’s nice Salon dish yeah yeah talking about influences the the the Nordic Chef that you mentioned Nicholas you’re going have yeah I’ve probably butchered that name
Yeah not as badly as I probably did I’m really interested to show you some of the pictures that I um that I took off the internet just just to see what you yeah what I see cuz I can I can definitely see you know a lot of the
Pictures on the um just just cycle through I’m just interested to know what you it’s just straight away you just know you’re gonna get you like that that’s clearly a heart of some description and you can just tell it’s going to be Smoky yeah it’s just simple
Clean flavors but you can see what everything is yeah I love I I I love this is one of my favorite pictures I just love how it’s you see flower of that but now it’s one of the most powerful fire kitchen tools in in in kitchens you see them everywhere now
With people cooking over it’s just it’s just a not being afraid to just do something their way and so is he kind of is he kind of given the credit of starting that type of yeah maybe it’s just the it’s definitely somebody’s taken it to the heights that most people
Haven’t seen before yeah um and it’s definitely a movement that isn’t new because this is goes back right to kind of your Anglo-Saxon style of cooking right the things that he cooking on is very back to the Dark Ages that’s that’s the USP of his brand now so it’s
Definitely not a new style but it’s new for for where we’re at now especially with like where gon Gastronomy is now but just yeah like it’s just pure unadulterated simple clean cooking and it’s very inspiring and and I’m lucky enough to eat in the London restaurant that they share um was it London
Restaurant is it there’s a one star in swed um there’s one star in Sweden but he’s got a restaurant in um London I always forget what it’s bloody called it’s restaurant escad but it’s um old Scotland Yard old Scot and theres is the head chef there she’s cooking some
Absolutely fantastic yeah food I was lucky enough to enjoy um a dinner there and it was it was everything that I wanted in a restaurant yeah and it’s it’s like it’s like my restaurant but on a bigger budget with a lot nicer ingredients and it was just like this is
Where I need to get to you’re this is this is like my inspiration yeah just in terms of the style and the wine and the smia and stuff that you know I’m never going to have a smellier we casual dining restaurant if I was still sitting
Into a restaurant and be like this is what I’d love more than anything it was definitely that just the visual the smell like we seem to give people that journey and then I’m lucky enough to get it there we’re so good to have something that inspires without inspiration it’s
It’s really hard to to look at the next rung or where you want to get to right you need to be inspired you need people to look up to because you know how else you going to climb that ladder if you don’t see people in front of you have
Done it oh absolutely absolutely and what what are your aspirations for the restaurant then do you think being an owner operator it’s bums on seats is my focal end point it’s weing the storm hospitality is a brutal place I want to offer consistency to all my customers I
Want them to come back and just go you we’ve been five times and every time it’s been amazing the menu’s been different there’s things I’ve Loved on H ones but I’ve walked away and I’m not been disappointed pushing consistent see I want to see my team all grow into the
Next sort of part of their natural progression they all step up into the next role which we kind of started doing already now yeah um and more stes um so from a business point of view I just want to push us into a really comfortable position and and just make
Sure that you know we’re not vulnerable to when the landscape changes yeah I’m not driven by accolades or I our food is definitely not one that would be pigeon hold in a missar restaurant by any means I’m just enjoying cooking the food that I love to eat and love to cook and
People seem to enjoy it so it is really just cementing that kind of core stability I think that’s key isn’t it doing what you want to do especially when you’re the boss you know from my own Journey I’ve been professional photo photographer for 10 years now and I’ve
Done six weddings in my life when I first started because again you just do what you need and I hated every single one and I had this Epiphany moment where I was like well I’m Own Boss now why am I doing stuff I don’t want to do you
Know and I just love being around chefs and creative people and food and stuff so just that’s where I there’s parallels in most businesses if there’s a creative I think um what’s for me is super important as well is we’re cooking without any pressure like we have our
Own self pressure yeah but there’s no expect there’s no real expectation when you come into the restaurant we’re in an area that doesn’t really have a really strong gastronomic scene you know there’s no mission style roset we never applied for any of that sort of stuff
We’re nice and busy and people seem to enjoy us I think the day that anything ever came along from like an a point of view or anything like that be the day where someone walks in like well it should be amazing like the expectation the dynamic changes and I love love
Going every day and do what we love and people enjoying it I love that kind of we don’t have an expectation pressure on us so it gives us the opportunity to surprise people and actually sometimes you get more out of someone when they’re pleasantly surprised by something they
Didn’t think was going to blow them away rather than going to a really highend restaurant and leaving like yeah it’s really good Jesus Christ once the build I oh yeah yeah exceeding expectations at one yeah it’s hard right it’s just and to keep doing it defensive game and I
Just wouldn’t want that pressure because I enjoyed my down time I enjoy my family life and yeah think if we ever got one two rosettes or anything like that or if we ever applied for anything like that I’m like every day i’ just be bricking
It I see chefs lose their mind and I’ve got close friends to me that really struggle not having something they’ve spent their whole life achieving for you know and it really affects their mental health and and see how powerful it is I agree going back to point you mentioned
Before about consistency how have you found that you know cooking on cooking on wood cooking on Open Fire when I I guess you’re more used to the more precise timers and water baths yeah what’s that been like it’s like learning to cook all over again which is so
Exciting no one knows it all but this this style of Cuisine it’s almost like learning how to treat a piece of meat again from scratch there’s no pan you know you Wai for a pan to get screaming hot you see it off you put it in the
Oven on it’s a controlled time here it’s you’ve got Embers and it’s touch and feel and it’s it’s it’s it’s learning to understand that piece of meat more and how it reacts okay the coal is a lot more of a harsher higher temperature than a pan so understand that meat’s
Been shocked more it needs a bit longer to rest we need to cook it slowly and stuff it’s just learning to cook again and it’s exciting and and also what I can do on wood fire I can’t do in a pan if I was to take the same dish and I do
It out of a normal kitchen with gas or electric I would not be able to push that dish to as far as I can over the fire I don’t think I can give you the same quality dish just because I’ve learned the ingredients we’re using what
Soaks up the flavors and the smokes and the cuts so how fascinating I I i’ honestly think you put me in a normal kitchen I’d really struggle I’d have to adjust again to like right to unlearn garlic and butter and everything and where here it’s like there’s so much
Flavor that just comes from a really good quality Birchwood and beach so when you started restaurant that’s really what you wanted to do it was key that it was fundamentally analog inspired restaurant it super Primal an experience yeah I think that term analog it’s interesting
Isn’t it really I did a video on my channel a while ago about not the death of the pub but how the pub is struggling yeah and about how um you know people in the past like the more analog experience you know like you sit in your Pub you
Got your fire and stuff that but now people want more experience you know you want a more dig you want your perance you want theater want your family to come in and all that kind of stuff you know it’s just interesting how things have to change but there’s still a place
For for authentic there’s always a place for vinyl right there’s always a place for uh film photography 100% you get right that that kind of level of that kind of art that doesn’t die like to say your record players when you go into like a vinyl shop and you can you’ve got
Like an old school 80s R&B sold track spinning it’s like you’re just looking at freaking hell that’s a wicked timing place and it deserves to to just you know test the the time there’s a warmth to it there’s a Warth that crack on I
Mean you know I’m I’m of an age where I remember buying vinyl when I was younger and I like that that crackle it does have a a kind of warmth and a jewy eyed Nostalgia but I still like having all the everything on my phone I like that
Immediately probably see a lot of um vinyl players now in kitchens because most people are playing up on them most people are putting a plate on a vinyl and then holding the puree still and then you’ve got a perfect circle yeah I know flly restaurants that do it and
They they’re not they’re they’re very open about it yeah you wonder the house you see a plate and it’s got like a gel and it’s like perfect like how the hell cuz I know after Chef’s got drinking problems they ain’t got them the steady hands aren’t that steady I thought for
One second you were going to say they’re serving them on vinyl cuz that’s just going too far done on gvm well going back to the cooking on the fire one thing I am interested in does that have any KnockOn effect to the plating then does that have it just allows me to to
Use different types of plating techniques that link to the Woodfire so we’re using a lot of you know with have fresh Pines sat under bowls and stuff that might be slightly torched so you get a little bit of a smell we we try and Link it there’s no point in taking
Something really sort of like earthy and natural and organic and cooking it in such a primal way they’re serving on a really modern fancy polished plate with like sauce jugs and stuff it just doesn’t work it needs to be authentic so we’ve got some nice plating and and and
But it all is it’s I’ll be honest here it’s the IR is that our plates are just a tall so I’ll probably use the most simple canvas so the food can shine out so actually when it looks at plating that’s probably where I least spend my
Attention it’s more like what is my big best blank canvas it’s normally the size the plate and you’ll see later on we’ve either got white plates or black plates you know it’s very much black yeah we’ve got some black bowls which are really moody when we’re trying to do something
Like really like we’ve got a sticky tofe pudding with miso and black garlic and good and it’s you can’t even see and it’s dark and it’s rich and we want you to like it’s like a never ending Bowl you can barely see it and I’ve done that
On purpose because it does look like it’s like your last bit and you you can’t tell how big it is you dig into it and you you you can’t see it’s got roasted white chocolate and things in there so it’s it’s monochromatic when you when you serve it and then when you
Dip in you will find something you’re finding something you can’t see and you’re like what’s that crunch is there nut like it’s roasted white chocolate it’s like you’re looking for it cuz it’s it’s almost like that super black where you’re just like but that’s been done on
Purpose I didn’t want them to see how big and rich and how much naughtiness is in that bowl then you just have this glowing gelato on top you know we to cook a sticky toffee pudding is something that I was like I can’t cook anything that’s too simple you get it
Everywhere so we’ve definitely worked very hard to get one of the best ones you could possibly have we very proud of it and it’s quite nice to have something so simple and recognizable and people kind of think cool kind of a sticky yeah safe B and then they’re like wow what
The hell what’s in this something like miso black garlic roasted white chocolate I can’t get my head around that black garlic oh God you have you get your mouth around it later you have to have one goodness me no that sounds amazing I mean again that’s what I love
In dining is that is that surprise end you know when you don’t know exactly surprise it’s better than you’re expecting and on your menu do you keep it fairly simple as well so you don’t give much ingredi lead yeah you just generally will get call Green Apple coriander or something like that and
Then you’re a bit like you know if we are doing like a Ceviche or something that’s probably a little bit different than everyone would go for we we’d let them know just because there’s nothing worse than saying scholet dashy whatever and then it comes it’s raar the person
Is expecting like a really hot scallop and stuff so we especially for this area we have to just be a little bit more selective with the way we portray our menu but yeah is simple it leads a little bit to the imagination we’re not too crazy everything’s familiar the one
Dish that we have in the restaurant is a plate of carrots we don’t peel them we don’t top and tail them we just cook them over hay and they’re smoking we serve them with a delicious sauce with a few little sort of garnishes just a b it’s just a plate of carrots standing
Top and people like carrots blew me away I’m like that’s the dish we spent the least amount of effort on yeah it’s just it just shows I think that’s what we enjoy I think that shows confidence it it shows confidence in what you’re doing it shows confidence in your ingredients
And Visually I mean imagine that must look pretty cool as well yeah weirdly as a chef you’re thinking go just pled some carrots on a plane me 8 quid for it and then they start eating them they’re like e we take pride in the Simplicity of our
Cooking and also it’s people that are learning to cook we’ve got apprentices in there there’s no like they don’t look at something it’s going to take me years to get to understand that everything’s quite quickly relatable so so you’re finding like apprentices are able to cook quite highend plates of food with
Technique and it’s not too unachievable instead of sometimes I’ve gone to a restaurant I’m like I’m never going to be able to get that section cuz the food just looks like a you know doesn’t look like food yeah anymore it just looks so refined and it’s more about how straight
And pretty and how clever we can be rather than how delicious it is so I love to eat in restaurants where I’m like how do they even play that it blows my mind I love that but I also enjoy put in my mouth and be like yeah it just I I
Can imagine the pressure because I was chatting with um Ben Watson who was at three star call by CLA Smith and some of the stuff they were doing on there and and the pipe work and he said if you just get one of those wrong it’s like
Start and when you’re doing I mean I I got fairly shaky hand as it is I I complet I respect that so much because it’s just it’s an it’s a level of cookery only a few ever get to achieve and it’s such a special place me
Personally I think I’d end up going mad I I just think I’d struggle with it that that that level of perfection is that of only some can boast they they can look they can achieve and and I’ve never worked at a three star and I’ve worked
At one star level even that is just a level above anything we’ve ever done so it’s it’s super inspiring and huge respect I mean cuz you know from from an aesthetic point of view I I can really appreciate that I can’t appreciate from plating it and I I actually don’t think
I can appreciate it enough from a taste point of view I don’t think I have an educated enough palette to really to really get that if you know what I mean I’ve been in in a lot of nice places and I for me one star is like I can justify
That cuz I enough it’s relatable it is Rel and I think as as a fairly average eater I can justify the cost of that I don’t think I can justify cuz I just don’t think I get it enough if you know what I mean I was I was lucky enough
That I managed to travel Europe um with Jason laon and kareim as well as part of that and we traveled from Norway to Spain to Italy and we ended up in a a two star in Paris and we were served a sou which was cooked tableside or was it
Was rising at the table side they came out and it was like a cognac under the Sul dish and the wait would like light a match or something like that and all of a sudden this Sul was rising at your table and it wasn’t until after they
Were talking about how long it took them to get that and like how mad they spent and then in my head I’m just thinking the man hours and you know it’s just it’s just it’s just a level of of of I’m here to blow you away I don’t want you
To know how we’ve done it and I want you to be absolutely gobs back the fact that you’re eating it and it is that’s what the three star two Star level restaurants are and it’s just it’s just not about food anymore it’s about everything is perfect and I just I just
So far away from a day’s work I’d enjoy well see this this is it I imagine there must be a degree of It kind of takes the joy out cooking almost you know I mean again coming from from an outside perspective I I don’t know but for me
That just strikes me as it’s almost too mechanical for me it’s like you need that you know that meticulous to my doctor be that mat like my PL I’m not so worried about if it still tastes delicious throw it on the plate you know yeah I think the one the
One point for me which I would really like it and I think you said it is the Wonder because it’s a bit like magicians like I don’t I know I’m not one of those people that wants to know how they do it I just like the oh my God don’t want to
Me hero you don’t want to know how that magic Tre was done exactly exactly where some people I think want to want to know and then maybe they’re the people that want to get involved and to and to get involved in that and that’s not me I
Just like I like the one that I like I like I like the not knowing you know I’m right with that I think sometimes when you’re that Blown Away you almost don’t want to know because then it does Kill the Magic and there is so much magic in
Food and drink like and people are pushing some serious boundaries yeah it’s very inspiring well especially as as as you you are a chef you know to to fool you not to fool you but if you don’t know how it’s done it’s just how clever people can be
And it’s like that level of creativity to think outside the box it’s just it’s just I can’t fathom how some people get to a finished product like what did that you know it’s like the classic um um three star in um Chicago um alinear by Grant shouts you know when did he
Think I’m going to create a sugar air balloon and I’m going to walk it out to the table like a balloon and the customer’s going to pop it and then eat it like where where where did you begin to have the audacity to think that you
Can do that yeah to then yeah it being one of the most iconic dishes we’ve ever seen and it’s a balloon I think that’s where it does kind of transfer from Craft to Art you know cuz I then I champ with Kareem and and for me I consider my
Job my photography as a craft you know I’m sure there and I’m sure there are some artists out there of course there are for me I don’t necessarily see myself that way and I think Kim was saying he sees it more as a craft than an art until he starts really trying to
Push the boundaries of what he’s doing and things like that how do you kind of fall down I believe there’s people that as a byproduct of their creativity are creating art I think there’s people that don’t sit out to think I’m going to make this look like a vanoff pitcher but
Because they’re so bloody good at their job and and they just understand how to play it and they just have a natural gift like they do create art you know you look at Michael wigner’s food that is some of the most crazy looking precise clean plates of food I’ve ever
Seen you know and people like that and like I don’t don’t know him and I’ve never had a pleasure of meeting him but I guarantee when tell he was an artist but I’m looking at it and I’m taking that for art so I think it’s very
Subjective I would agree and I I would say the work I’ve seen from you is there’s a level of art to it and especially when you know you’re bringing out the the craft ship in the art so I think they there’s ties they go hand in
Hand I think that’s where you know know plating is such a key point in in food because it because that’s where people can really showcase their skills if you can make a dish look insane and taste out this world that that is Art and craftsmanship yeah I absolutely agree
That’s it’s like the Ben diagram isn’t it where those two things those two things meet and that’s what diners diners want overcompensating one for the other doesn’t always work but ultimately if that plate of food tastes delicious yeah I think I think for me there’s some restaurants where it could take four or
Five minutes to Plate up that dish cuz it’s so intricate there’s so many bits right I have to get a dish off the grill rested make sure it’s still hot and get it on that plate until the customer within 30 seconds to 45 seconds because volume that we don’t have big pass
Lights we don’t have this big you know we just have wood fire so the players need to be out you know hot light food gone um and straight out and the chef serve all the food as well so literally as soon as we finish plating every Chef
Serves the plate of food so sat in the restaurant I just cooked this venison dish it’s your venison dish you know from the plague stet you know you’re not waiting for it to go there is literally no place to hide in your restaurant is there no you know which is kind I guess
Is good and bad good and bad yeah for the first couple of months when I bring a chef in it’s it’s either this is crazy and or you know it’s the it’s the funny one where you look over the past and you just see a head pop up and then it’ll
Pop that down like a mirat CU having a bit of lunch I’m you know so but it’s good because it pushes everyone’s personal skills everyone knows that their section is clean and tidy they’re being watched ever so everyone’s development is is Fast Forward because they are being watched how they
Communicate in the kitchen you know there’s no egos there’s no scream and Sh there just pure good qualif communication the plating the washing the hands the cleanliness of the work space and you know if I know you’re watching me plate your dinner I’m going to make sure that plate of food is the
Best I can do it if you’re sat be a closed door is the Temptation there and you’re busy just to bang on the plate you know CU we build a rapport with every single table because every Chef goes to every table because the different section so you have every Chef
Working at your table at one point telling you what your dish is briefly we’ve got to be proud of what we’re serving because there is such a connection and a rapport built with your customer and it’s very intimate yeah that’s what gets people coming back I IM
You that loyalty and and that service is is great so what’s the most stunning dish that you’ve ever eaten where where was that any ideas there’s definitely too many to name that the one that comes straight to M now was um poen Street Dell Banbridge head chef for Jason
Affton it was a scholet dish it was a raw orgon scallet it was jalapeno uh it was like a jalapeno granita with like dill and it was just scop which was just C affection and each sculp had each little individual bit of garnish I can’t remember the exact
Techniques he is but it was a grenita b but it was just meticulous it was clean and beautiful and I remember eating that thinking just it looked really simple and I didn’t expect to be blown away and I remember tasting the heat of the jalapeno and the the sort of earthiness
And the freshness of the dill and the sweetness of the scop and it was just beautiful um and then I’d say the snack courses Adam Handley are some of the most beautiful plated food I’ve seen when you’re having kind of like anything from the bar snacks or tasty menu just
The level of detail this is before we got a star um it was just you know even the bread Coss the bread comes out of like a little sack and you got chicken W chicken wit butter and stuff that so Adam Hannah’s snacks are very inspiring
Just how much flavor they can cram into something so small and delicate po Street as well it’s one of the best meals I’ve ever had and and just what they’re doing there and their plating is is inspiring I’ve been Lu have to read there a couple times now Adam H and
Stuff cuz I’m a bit of a fanboy on his on his Instagram to be honest with you his PL cuz he he does a lot of pling videos yeah for sure oh my goodness and then what it looks like and he makes it look so I think my favorite tasting dish
I’ve ever had was the Waggy fat Lobster okay and we bought um the covid meals when you had a tasty meal delivered to your house you cooked her home and it was like a water bathed Lobster Claw and it was just in A5 Waggy fat and it was a
Lobster Claw Waggy fat nothing else and I was just just like most upset with myself that it’s like how can it be so delicious why and it just made you feel completely uncomfortable just like why is this guy done one protein and a and a fat and I’m just confused yeah yeah
Really really inspiring again and been lucky enough to worked with him and done pop-ups and stuff so done a popup in the old hopon site and and their guys so yeah we we’ve eaten in the restaurant a few times so yeah yeah and the far downstairs is a good place to finish as
Well is that frog or is that different the Frog when it was at hawton we took over on a Sunday when there were shot and we were lucky enough to do a popup so it was quite nice um doing kind of Baro food in there that was good so can
You just give us a little bit of a rundown of what you’re going to be playing yeah it’s a bit weird one so everything is tied in with Woodfire but the prep techniques are where we’ve used the wood Farm These two dishes and more so the first so we’re going to do a
Little snack which is the first thing you eat when you come into the restaurant and you see them everywhere loads of little cute Tarts andard days and stuff that ours is like a free to Brick tart and we’ve cooked um carrots which we haven’t peeled either cuz I
Want the skin i’ got real good flavor in them we’ve cooked it really slowly roasted yeast and butter so the starch turns to sugar and you got the sweetness of the carrot and the nuttiness of the brown butter and that kind of like yeasty earthiness almost like that
Fermented flavor ping through so it’s going to be a nice little snack with a like a a roasted yeasted carrot puree little bit of pivot Walnut and we’ve CED some walnuts which we’re going to shave on top so it’s going to be a really sweet but pickly and well balanced
Hopefully um you’ll enjoy little slack and it’s a one biter um and it’s nice and beautiful we serve over Pine we put a few pine needles into the carrots as well so it has a link yeah um so that’s the first you got some orange you’ve got
Some green yeah it’s just it’s vially just a beautiful little dish and it again the style of plating is something I’ve been heavily inspired by from kind your Scandinavian movement they kind of the visual aspect you know leaves under the bowl you see like you can’t eat the
Leaves but it just makes you connect with the ingredients more and the second dish I’m going to do is the fish course up the tasting um we we have done for so long we cook sculps in the fire which I absolutely love um we we wanted something on the menu that just just
Surprised you a little bit and you weren’t expecting it and we take um some really good quality Japanese scet we slice it thin and then we have some really fresh green apple which we lightly pickle really simple cure it and then we’ve got a really nice kind of
Like vinegarette with like lemon and coriander it’s a really clean fish dish it’s almost like a pallet cleanser and a fish course before you go from like sweetness of carrot into kind of like your Bread Co which weirdly enough comes after scol up um which I’ve had in a few
Places and it gave me the confidence think you know I’ll put the bread where I want to put the bread I want you to have the bread later yeah so we have a nice cornbread with a roast yeast butter as well so yes it’s two dishes both
Inspired by wood fire um and and and the and and prepped using the fire but actually cold plated and not actually in the fire this time so so I’ll cook a few bits for you perfect can’t wait yeah lovely salt so we got a fresh Japanese sushi grade scholet which I’ve just sliced
About half an hour ago and I Frozen like I put in the freezer just to firm it up so when it goes on the plate it’s nice and firm and cold um and then we’re going to do it with um green apple okay um so we’re basically going to make a
Row so I’m just going to starting by getting some nice slices of the green apple yeah we don’t do a great deal to them apart from a bit of salt because the Apple’s got so much acidity as it is okay and was this was this dish a
Collaborative effort was it was this one you envisioned yeah I’ll be honest it’s I saw I saw something um done with nashy pear and a cured fish and I thought that would work really well with something we already do in the restaurant um and it’s something um
Again it’s an inspiration to see online from from some of your sort of chefs you look up to kind of like the technique in plating and it’s something that I was like you know what it’s completely different to something I’d normally do I’d love to give it a go and just kind
Of done a bit of R&D on it and so essentially we’ve got we’re going to build a kind of rose with this beautiful scholet uhhuh I’m going to show you how we season it as well um chefs love it when we’re um in the dog toffee on a busy service chefs
Absolutely love it okay um so all we do little bit of mold and sea salt you and then we have this nice um little it’s kind of like a a lemon Yuzu vinegar and all we’re going to do is just a couple little drops just scop and
That’s just going to help cure give a little brush over that’s super lemonade is it yeah super Citrus it’s going to start the curing process obviously you got the Citrus of the the uh the Apple mhm and this is the fun fiddly bit the chef’s love so essentially you’re going to make
Like a really nice little lay Rose and it doesn’t have to be super perfect it doesn’t need to be precise it’s got to look nice and natural y but what you’re going to get in between each layer of the sculpa and the appal are these beautiful kind of citrus notes M oh wow
Look at that and then I’m going to tr for over there this is a fun bit how many times did this take you to get right a few just have this really organic MH plate of skullet con of an apple and we have basically a bit more of that acidic
Um Yu dress in and then we split it with something a bit more habous so we got a really nice coriander oil we go a bit heavier in it yeah all we do is give that a little get that a nice little mix up M and we just almost like redress the
Scallop just kind of with that the coriander and yeah and the the Citrus those colors are beautiful yeah and then we’ve thought about kind of the flavor profile mhm um and we’ve got some really nice kind of um red vein soil which are beautifully uh spliced of green apple
And lemon they just add a perfect little flavor of kind of acid kick as well with the sweetness of the scull they just kind of reaffirm that it is a cure it’s nice and fresh and Li and we almost use the red vein Sor as like another layer
Of seasoning mhm then we’ve got these beautiful nostas and flowers which are Super earthy and they’ve got kind of like a a grounded earthiness flavor which kind of ties in the balance of all the other flavors so it’s not just too sweet you get this little kind of like some like this
Alkalinity um and we love them um and they go really good with fish especially ones that are sweet yeah so really nice that’s basically it it’s a really simple Nordic inspired scol dish yep really loving so we’re doing the second one here are we James so this is
The first course um so when you walk into a restaurant you have a tasting menu you’re met with kind of like a snack um so basically we’ve got um a roasted carrot and yeast puree and then we’ve got like a pickled Walnut black garlic so you’ve just got a nice little
Bit of acid a bit sweetness so we’re going to start with the Pickled Walnut and a very small layer of pickle for the acid uhhuh and that’s just to get your kind of your pallet waging yep then we’ve got this beautiful roasted yeast and carrot puree and it’s kind of got like the
Yeast gives it that kind of really delicious fermented flavor mhm um and it’s just it’s just buttery it’s sweet it’s rich I think I’ve ever heard of roasted yeast yeah it’s you just dry roast in a pan you get this step for vami wow um and then we’ve got to kind
Of play in with the walnuts we’ve got candid Walnut which has obviously been done in like a a stock very classic very sweet normally seen on pastry but we’re just going to microfiber it and all that’s do is give us a nice little bit of sweet nuttiness on top and it almost
Like dissolves and you can barely see it you just have this really nice sweetness over the dish okay really really simply we just serve that amongst um some beautiful Pine which we’ve actually infused in the carrot when we cook it so it almost looks like a little carrot custard tart
And it’s the first cor y fantastic yeah it looks amazing perfect right I love you see I mean it is super simple it’s not going to be a 10 minute 10 elements our food just doesn’t work that way but hopefully that super scandy though yeah what you think
You like it yeah yeah you want to wa yet absolutely