Chef of the Week: John Serhal, Executive Chef at The Royal Garden Hotel in London
How long have you worked at your current restaurant?
3 years, since the reopening of the hotel.
Where did your passion for cooking come from and where did you learn your skills?
My passion came from my father, who was a chef. My first job was as kitchen porter in his restaurant. I was an apprentice at The Langham, but as a chef you never stop learning or improving your skills.
What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
The camaraderie in the kitchen, we have a large brigade at the Royal Garden Hotel. Also, as a chef, I’ve had the opportunity to work in many different countries.
Name three ingredients you couldn’t cook without.
Salt, butter, love and passion. You can taste when a dish is cooked with love and passion.
Which piece of kitchen equipment couldn’t you live without?
Thermomix.
What food trends are you spotting at the moment?
Simpler food that is easier to work with, due to a lack of chefs.
What do you think is a common mistake that lets chefs down?
Chefs that don’t taste their food enough when they’re cooking. The old adage of running before you can walk.
What is your favourite time of year for food, and why?
Spring, mainly for the lamb, although October for mushrooms is a close second.
Which of your dishes are you most proud of?
Not any one dish, but the origin menu is a collective effort from the whole team and that’s the thing I’m the most proud of.
How do you come up with new dishes?
Normally as a team we pick the main ingredients (fish, meat, vegetables depending on the season etc) and then work through the dishes as a team until we are all happy with the end result.
Who was your greatest influence?
First my dad, after that all the chefs who I’ve worked with in the past 30 years.
Tell us three chefs you admire.
Anyone who does this job well, it’s not an easy career but extremely rewarding if you put your heart into what you’re doing.
What is your favourite cookbook?
Still has to be White Heat.
Who do you think are the chefs to watch over the next few months?
Anyone who manages to stay open as it looks like a bad start to the year for restaurants.
What’s been your favourite new restaurant opening of the last year?
The only place I’ve been to so far this year is Brooklands so it will have to be that!
