He has four Michelin stars, restaurants in Cornwall, London and Dubai and Restaurant Nathan Outlaw was just voted the best in the UK by the Good Food Guide 2018 – it appears Nathan Outlaw has the Midas touch!
Nathan Outlaw’s collection of seafood restaurants has earned the high profile chef numerous accolades including four Michelin stars and honorific titles such as the ‘King of Fish’. His simplistic take on seafood has won him praise amongst his peers and industry professionals alike.
And keeping it simple is obviously a tactic paying off for the Kent born chef as he just dethroned Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume four-year reign atop the Good Food Guide while also retaining a perfect score of 10 for a second year running. To score a 10, dishes need to be ‘perfect and show faultless technique at every service’.
On topping the guide Nathan said: “We’ve always been proud to have a place in the listings, but to hear that Restaurant Nathan Outlaw has made it to No. 1 is phenomenal. I’d say the award has come due to the hard work and dedication of our team who have now been working together for a decade.”
The guide deemed Nathan’s flagship restaurant ‘the whole package’ for offering the freshest local seafood from a carefully crafted menu with perfect service set in a relaxed dining room which “just happens in the most discreet and attentive way”.
Nathan said: "It just goes to show that if you stay true to yourself, get your head down, look after your customers and use the very best ingredients available to you, you’ll make it to the top.”
Having begun his career buttering toast for breakfast service in his father Clive’s kitchen – Clive now works alongside him at Outlaw’s at The Capital - Nathan’s career took off after studying two years at Thanet College in Broadstairs which was followed by roles alongside Gary Rhodes and Eric Chavot before heading for the Cornish coastline.
His first role in Cornwall was with Rick Stein at his Seafood Restaurant in Padstow. It was here the chef really began to appreciate fish and seafood which he is now known for. He later worked at John Campbell’s Michelin-starred restaurant Lords of the Manor and helped former colleague and friend, Paul Ripley launch his new venture before going solo himself.
Outlaws Fish Kitchen - credit Beth Druce
At 24 Nathan opened his first restaurant, The Black Pig in Rock in 2003. Despite achieving Michelin star status Nathan was forced to close the restaurant due to seasonality but still cites it as a major influence on his restaurant empire today saying his creativity with his ingredients has always been the aim.
Three years later Nathan was made head chef of Marina Hotel in Fowey with the promise of having his name above the door. Since then Restaurant Nathan Outlaw has won two Michelin stars and four rosettes in the AA Restaurant Guide.
In 2015 the restaurant relocated to Port Isaac where it remains today.
“Port Isaac is definitely very much home and I don’t ever see myself leaving from here,” says Nathan.
He continued: “I don’t think I have ever found another place where I have felt it is where I can grow the business.”
Firmly settled in the little fishing village in North Cornwall, Restaurant Nathan Outlaw has definitely found its forever home and with full control over his business empire Nathan can now refocus on his brand.
“We have worked very hard on getting the Nathan Outlaw brand to work as an attractive thing, and it’s starting to show with the people that come in through this restaurant or Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen, The Mariners or going up to London. Just going on the back of good will and hard work and people knowing that the money they are going to spend is well spent.”
Nathan’s empire now consists of five restaurants, the two Michelin-starred Restaurant Nathan Outlaw and the one star Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen, both in the picturesque Port Isaac; The Mariners in Rock which is a pub; the one Michelin-starred Outlaw’s at the Capital in London and lastly, Nathan Outlaw at Al Mahara in Dubai.
Cornish Jack, Celery and Walnuts at
Restaurant Nathan Outlaw
credit Beth Druce
The key to Nathan’s success? It’s all about team work and having the right staff behind him that are dedicated to helping manage his vast collection of restaurants.
“I’m very lucky to have people who have worked with me for over a decade. Having people around like that has makes my life a lot easier, allows me to expand and to concentrate on the important things and usually that important thing for me is the food and making sure that offering is good for the customers.”
With Nathan’s career going from strength-to-strength the future looks bright for the 39-year-old chef whose eye is now firmly set on pushing the Nathan Outlaw franchise and continuing his streak of success.
“The key to the expansion of this business and the future of this business will be the staff and supporting the staff. The opportunities that come through to me can’t be fulfilled without having those people in place so the future is the staff.”
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