What inspired you to become a chef? Who has been your mentor or source of inspiration in your culinary career?
I started working in kitchens, washing dishes when I was 14 to earn some money whilst at school, the more time I spent in the kitchen, the more that I enjoyed it and everything else just seemed to fall into place after that. Here I am, 20 years later and it doesn’t seem like I’m going to leave the kitchen anytime soon.
I have always found inspiration in those that I work around whether it be the Head Chefs or the sous, to the commis and kitchen hands. The best thing about being a chef for me is that you learn every day and from every one of your team members.
What is your favourite dish on the 6HEAD menu?
To be honest, I really love the Yellowfin Tuna. It’s interesting, packed full of flavour and sets you up perfectly for a nice steak.
What do you love most about working at 6HEAD?
Aside from working with some of the most amazing produce, I like the ethos of the company as I really do believe that people come first. I have a tremendous amount of respect for every member of both my kitchen team and the wonderful front of house team. Encouraging, training and developing people is key to success and it’s one of the best parts of my job.
Can you share your most memorable moment you’ve experienced in a kitchen?
I think it may have been when I worked as an agency chef, they will send you to a restaurant on the day, usually one that’s down a few chefs and that is in need of some assistance. I showed up at this venue and asked what was happening that day and was told they had a wedding for 135 people. When asked where all the chefs were I was told that it was just me and that they didn’t have a menu planned and the guests were arriving in a few hours.
Well… it was a mad, crazy, frantic couple of hours, getting everything ready and even more so during service but I somehow managed to pull it off and it went surprisingly well.