Chef of the Week: Adam Byatt – Chef Proprietor of Trinity Restaurant & Judge of the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2020
How long have you worked in your current restaurant?
I have owned Trinity since it opened twelve years ago.
Where did your passion for cooking come from and where did you learn your skills?
I learned my craft at Claridge’s Hotel as an apprentice with the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts. My passion for cookery has evolved from falling in love with food over the past 28 years.
What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
I have grown accustom to the slightly off-centre lifestyle and enjoy every day being different, I love pleasing people with food and the ingredients we work with inspire and excite me.
Name three ingredients you couldn’t cook without?
Salt, anchovies and olive oil.
Which piece of kitchen equipment you couldn’t cook without?
My knives. Cooking would be very clumsy without knives.
What food trends are you spotting at the moment?
A return to classical, purist cookery with dishes and flavours guests can understand and interpret……..thank goodness for that!
What do think is a common mistake that lets chefs down?
Not understanding that less is more.
What is your favourite time of year for food and why?
Spring is always very welcome, some greenery back into our cookery, light fresh and bright again, a joy and full of hope.
Which of your dishes are you most proud of?
The few examples that my chefs can deliver consistently, the guests love, and the accountant is smug about. There are not many of those sadly.
How do you come up with new dishes?
Twenty-eight years of cooking takes a lot out of you but gives you a great repertoire and back catalogue to delve into. The seasons dictate our menu changes, but my team are inspirational, and I find traveling opens the mind.
Who was your greatest influence?
My Father.
Tell us three chefs you admire?
I admire every Chef owning and running a restaurant independently and successfully.
What is your favourite cook book?
Darina Allen’s “Forgotten skills of Cooking”.
Who are the chefs to watch over the next few months?
I am sure the EMP team will have a huge impact on London, Gareth Ward, Tom Kitchin, Clare Smyth, Brett Graham… the list is endless of super talented chefs in the UK right now.
What’s been your favourite new restaurant opening of last year?
Brat.
