What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
I love everything about my job but opening exciting new restaurants like The Mariners has reminded me exactly why I got into this business – for the creativity around putting together a new menu and the chance to work with a great team.
What is your favourite dish on your menu at the moment?
The Mariners’ ploughman’s. It’s everything a top-quality ploughman’s should be, with amazing Cornish ingredients and even a homemade scotch egg.
What ingredient are you getting excited about at the moment?
At Paul Ainsworth at No. 6, we’re working with butchers Philip and Ian Warren to bring in some incredible fillets of beef with some beautiful marbling which are just amazing to work with.
What is the most unusual cooking/preparation technique you use?
At Paul Ainsworth at No. 6, we juice potatoes and use the leftover starch to make a Quaver-style crisp which we dust in seaweed and dried scallop roe and put on top of our scallop dish.
What is your favourite time of year for food?
I absolutely love autumn and winter. Not only do you get some amazing produce but I really like the warming and comforting dishes at this time of year.
If you could ban one thing for your kitchen, what would it be?
White socks!
When you get home at the end of a long day, what do you like to eat?
For me, nothing beats a proper cheese and ham toastie made in the Breville sandwich toaster at the end of a long day
