Nathan Outlaw started working at his father’s restaurant at the age 14, flipping and buttering toast as well as cooking at the local golf club and pub on Saturday evenings.
He trained as a chef for two years at Thanet College in Broadstairs and moved to London to work under the late Peter Kromberg at the Intercontinental Hyde Park Corner, where he learnt what it was like to work in a busy five-star hotel.
After moving to Gloucestershire with Rachel (then his girlfriend, now his wife), Nathan took the job of sous chef at Lords of the Manor under the great chef John Campbell, where he learned about the business side of running a restaurant, as well as the attention to detail required in a one Michelin star establishment.
After his two years at Lords of the Manor, Nathan received a call from chef friend Paul Ripley to move back to Cornwall to help open Ripleys, where Paul Ripley went on to earn one Michelin star.
Nathan’s first appointment as head chef took place when he was 23, after being recruited by John Campbell, this time at the Vineyard, Stock Cross, overseeing the kitchen and menu in John’s absence.
At 24, Nathan’s passion for Cornwall and its produce led him to open the Black Pig in Rock, North Cornwall, where he was ready to make his move and start demonstrating his own menu and approach to cuisine.
In 2006, he took over as head chef at the Marina Villa in Fowey, Cornwall, opening his self-titled Restaurant Nathan Outlaw there in 2007.
He opened his second restaurant, the Nathan Outlaw Seafood Bar and Grill, at the St Enodoc hotel in Rock, Cornwall in May 2009. Nathan closed Restaurant Nathan Outlaw as the hotel went on the market and relocated to the St Enodoc Hotel in Rock, Cornwall, in February 2010.
It became the second Nathan Outlaw restaurant at the hotel, joining the previously opened Nathan Outlaw Seafood and Grill.
In March 2015 Restaurant Nathan Outlaw relocated to Port Isaac, Cornwall and retained its two Michelin stars.
However, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, faced with what could be years of uncertainty ahead, the chef decided to change direction.
In a bid to become "more accessible and fun for both customers and staff," the chef explained that the restaurant would be reopening under a new name: Outlaw's New Road.
Without compromising on standards, turbots, scallops, lobsters ceded their place on the menu to less luxurious catches like hake and mackerel, which, he said "has given me much more scope and much more of a spectrum to cook from."
"That has longevity, in so many different ways, from sustainability, the ethics of it all and the price tag."
What's more, the accessibility of the restaurant was improved by dropping the tasting menu in favour of a la carte, which, he said, "maybe doesn't tick the boxes of the mystical Michelin Guide that no-one actually knows about," "but I believe that because we've had freedom in the kitchen to cook with anything we want to, I think the food's better."
"Everything is that much fresher and that much quicker because we're not tied to getting a certain amount of fish," whereas "now whatever comes in the door we change the menu. So the menu changes every service."
"You couldn't do that under the constraints of a stereotypical two Michelin-star restaurant."
Despite widespread critical-acclaim for New Road, Michelin awarded the new concept a single Michelin star in the 2021 awards.
Ranked 3rd Best Restaurant in the UK, 10/10 score meaning "Perfect dishes showing faultless technique at every service. An extremely rare accolade"
If it wasn't already clear, Nathan specialises in fish and seafood cooked to the highest standard, resourcing regional ingredients from Cornish fishermen, and taking influences from further afield.
His focus is one of simplicity, clean and vibrant flavours achieved through impeccable sourcing standards and timeless cooking techniques.
With continual progression in mind, Nathan’s vision for his restaurants is to offer the best seafood cooked to the highest standard.
Television appearances and other interests
As a Michelin star chef, Nathan spiraled to celebrity chef status with several TV appearances demonstrating his infectious passion for great food, specifically his passion for seafood, rearing from his Cornwall experiences. Nathan appeared on Good Food Channel’s Market Kitchen, BBC’s Saturday Kitchen and Great British Menu in 2008 and 2009.
He has also returned to Great British Menu as a veteran judge.
After gracing his way onto our screens and running his busy restaurants Nathan has written and published several cookbooks: British Seafood, Everyday Seafood, Modern Seafood, Nathan Outlaw's Fish Kitchen and Restaurant Nathan Outlaw.
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