Chef of the Week: Rob Grist, Executive Chef at South Place Hotel in London

How long have you worked at your current restaurant?
I have been working as Executive Chef at South Place Hotel for 6 months – but I have worked in the D&D London group for 5 years.

Where did your passion for cooking come from and where did you learn your skills?
My passion comes from family time back home in Wales. Cooking for family or after school, watching my nan cook.

What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
I love the endless creativity.

Name three ingredients you couldn’t cook without.
Garlic, olive oil and thyme.

Which piece of kitchen equipment couldn’t you live without?
Victorinox pastry knife (you can, pretty much, do everything with it).

What food trends are you spotting at the moment?
Naturalness, I think a lot of dishes now contain things in their natural state to preserve flavour & nutrients.

What do you think is a common mistake that lets chefs down?
Over complicating dishes.

What is your favourite time of year for food, and why?
Spring. It brings a lot of flavour, texture and colour to the dishes.

Which of your dishes are you most proud of?
Seared lamb rack, wild garlic puree, fresh peas, radish, asparagus, mint chimichurri.

How do you come up with new dishes?
Normally, I just go in the living room, get all my books out, and just start brainstorming.

Who was your greatest influence?
I have worked with many great chefs and asked so many questions to get the knowledge and training I needed to progress.

Tell us three chefs you admire.
Alain Ducasse, Gordan Ramsay and Marco Pierre White.

What’s been your favourite new restaurant opening of the last year?
Endo Kazutoshi at the OWO.