Member of the Month January 2025: Matt Barnes

Here at The Staff Canteen, we feature a different member every month who we think deserves to be celebrated – this month’s winner is Matt Barnes.

+5

As thanks for being a regular contributor to The Staff Canteen, Matt will receive a TSC mug, an item of merchandise from our online store, and be entered into our member of the year 2025 competition.

Matt, a private chef based in Warwickshire, has been a member of The Staff Canteen since October 2017.

>>> Find out more about Matt and follow him <<<

+5

We spoke with self-taught chef Matt, to find out about his unconventional route into the hospitality industry.

“My career background is different, to say the least,” he said.

“From after leaving school, I studied as an artist basically – I did ceramics, photography and graphic design. When I left college in the 80s, there wasn’t a great demand for any of those sort of things and the world changed on me, going from pen and paper to computers and I was left lagging on that.

“So I went into the world of work and eventually became a data installer. I started a company with an uncle and some friends and we built that company up. I did that for about 25 years. My business partner became ill so he needed to do what he needed to do and my wife and I ultimately decided we would buy a pub in the countryside, which we ran from 2016 until 2023.

“We needed a chef. I used to do a lot of home cooking so it was suggested I would become the chef, so I had a very steep learning curve! Not so much from the cooking side of things, but working in a kitchen and learning how it works.

“Over a period of a couple of years, I put myself through the training programme and the course leader chucked me straight into level three and I passed that, which gave me the confidence moving forward that it was something I was meant to do.”

He continued: “Initially we went with good pub grub, like steak and ale pie, fish and chips, and burgers. Then I put in a load of pasta dishes and a chicken ballotine dish and they absolutely flew, which encouraged me to put more and more on the menu.

“My style really is a mishmash of many different styles. I err towards the side of Mediterranean, Italian and Spanish I suppose, but also very heavily influenced by British and French cuisine. I also include a lot of Eastern cuisines in there.

“I can jump around styles and cater for most palates. It’s just something I’ve learned to do.

“Plating-wise, if I had to pick a style from an artistic point, it would probably be something like cubism – lots of different shapes and lines!”

+5

Discussing his move from pub owner to private chef, London-born Matt explained: “The nice thing about being a private chef is I’m not doing it 24/7.

“I still get to do what I love doing, I can still go round to people’s houses and meet people, which I never used to do before. Being locked away in a kitchen for a period of time can be torture. I don’t think you get to appreciate what people think of your food.

“The feedback you get from when you see a client is so much more rewarding than when you’re in a kitchen.

“Generally Sunday through to Wednesday are mine and then I can work on a dinner party for anywhere between four and 12 people, whatever the job may be. My work-life balance and mental health has improved tremendously. On review, when you look back, you can appreciate just how stressful working in this industry is.”

+5

To get to know a bit more about Matt, we asked him some quick-fire questions to finish.

Name a comfort food that isn’t considered ‘cheffy’ but that you love to eat

Either something slapped between two pieces of bread, or a Chinese. I like Chinese food - it has everything in it and I haven’t had to cook it!

What do you like about a member of The Staff Canteen?

Originally somebody mentioned to me about Chef+ and so I thought I’d have a look at that and found out I could post images on there. Then I could try and gauge if people liked what I was doing or not. That was my original reason for going on there.

Over a period of time, I also found it a great source for picking up the thoughts and ideas of other chefs. Because I hadn’t come from this background, I knew nothing about the industry and how to make it work.

I think being a chef can be quite lonely. You get stuck in your own head quite a lot. You have to deal with other people’s problems, as well as your business problems. Being on The Staff Canteen, you could see people discussing similar problems to mine. Knowing you’re not alone is actually quite a big help. It’s a bit like The Burnt Chef Project. For a complete novice, The Staff Canteen was handy to have.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learnt as a chef?

The most important thing I’ve learnt is you need to keep learning and evolve. This industry never stops changing. Your palate is probably your most important tool in the kitchen. Society keeps changing what it likes, you have trends.

What are your hopes for the future?

I’m 54 this year, so I’d rather just settle with what I’m doing. I really enjoy what I do and I enjoy it more now than I did before. I’m also looking at doing work with other kitchens, going in and helping them move themselves forward. Teaching other people is great fun.