I’ve had a love of food from the very beginning. The journey from humble appreciation to living a life based around food has been one of discovery…..both of myself as well as of the nature of food itself.
It is such a simple thing, to eat. A simple pleasure and comfort provider that has the power to evoke the strongest feelings and most telling memories. I can remember formative food experiences so vividly that I swear I can actually taste them as I think about them. At age eleven, a coq au vin in a tiny village in the south of France with an inky, almost black sauce so rich and punchy that if I could find the same one again, I would happily eat it again, again and again. French patisseries, baguettes with salted butter; summer holiday mussels, generous, fragrant, plump, and tender served from a shack on the beach under a scorching sun. At home, my Grannies bread, the ingredients unmeasured and the bake untimed, all at once crusty and soft, perfectly judged and completely comforting. Rhubarb stewed from the garden, home grown new potatoes simply boiled with fresh mint; stews, casseroles, bacon and eggs cooked with love and served on an ancient blue plate that made a simple tea look utterly mouthwatering. I’ve still got the plate, and I still serve bacon and eggs on it. Mum used to mash me boiled eggs in a cup with butter, salt and pepper that I can still remember the taste of. I once, as a child, precociously asked for this in hospital to make me feel better after an operation (I was out of luck). Formative stuff, food; I had the gift of great food as a child and since then I’ve never had anything other than appreciation for simple, good food. It nourishes more than just the belly. It feeds the spirit.
Aged five, I asked for a birthday dinner of smoked haddock and poached eggs; my mum was used to birthday requests along the lines of cocktail sausages on sticks from my brothers! I should perhaps have known then that food would be a huge part of my journey. In truth, it took me decades to fully realise that in life, we should dedicate ourselves to what gives us pleasure. It took me even longer to realise that this pleasure could also give others pleasure, too. And that was probably the best discovery of all.
It feels selfish to say it; my guilty pleasure is in giving others pleasure. That’s why I don’t want to be a chef in a stainless steel world removed from the dining table and the diner. I have sampled that world; I have the highest regard imagine for the dance of service, the orchestration of a team to create amazing food. But at heart I like a simpler pleasure of not just imagining that table fifteen enjoyed their dinner, but being able to know for sure that they did, and to know that I cooked something that they wanted to eat, rather than what I wanted them to eat.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not all about the validation…just the comfort taken in knowing that I’ve made people happy. That makes me happy. I think that breaking down the barrier between the ego of the chef and the wants and desires of the diner is really important.
This ‘place’ is a space dedicated to sharing the love of food. It’s that simple. I hope you will enjoy exploring it.
