Galton Blackiston, Chef and Owner, Morston Hall - “I often think self-taught chefs are more creative because they have to find out for themselves”

After more than three decades at the helm of the Michelin-starred Morston Hall in beautiful Norfolk, its owner and chef patron, Galton Blackiston, is still as passionate as ever.

Galton Blackiston first came and looked at Morston Hall over 30 years ago, in 1991. “It needed a bit of love, care and attention,” he says.

All the bedrooms were real 1970s decor, avocado style “By hook or by crook, we opened with four bedrooms, but the thing about Morston is it’s always had the potential to do more and more and more,” Galton says. It still has the potential for more rooms now, and that’s what Galton saw in the now Michelin-starred venue back then. “That’s how we started, all hands to the brush,” he says.

Where it all started: From cricket to cuisine

After leaving school to play cricket, sharing “I wasn’t good enough”, Galton fell into cooking and did a weekly market stall selling Galton’s Goodies. It was Galton’s mum who said, “You enjoy cooking, why don’t you do a market stall?”. “She was spot on because everybody loves homemade produce,” he adds.

Galton ran his market stall at the little town of Rye in East Sussex, taking his produce every Thursday. He’d make fruit cakes on Friday, then sponges on the day before market day so they were at their freshest. “I used to sell out,” he says.

His first hospitality role came about after his parents went to the Lake District and happened to stay at a place called Miller Howe, which was run by “a very flamboyant character called John Tovey”. They talked to him, and he said he was looking for a youngster to train in pastry. Galton applied and got the job.

Although, Galton's career started in the Lake District he always had plans to move back home to Norfolk. “My parents had retired to Blakeney, which is a mile down the road, and they happened to be driving by this place and saw it was up for sale,” Galton adds. “It’s a big old lump for two people, actually three people under 30, to consider,” Galton says, but he went ahead. And the rest they say, is history.

Taking the road less travelled…

Fully self-taught, “literally, no training at college”, Galton is nostalgic about the path his culinary career, which may be considered non-conventional to some, has taken. There are lots of self-taught chefs, like three Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal and two Michelin-starred chef Raymond Blanc, he says.

“I have a theory that self-taught chefs are self-taught chefs because no one says, ‘This is the way we do it’.” When you learn something, you know how someone else does it. “I often think self-taught chefs are more creative because they have to find out for themselves,” he says.

Reading the Roux Brothers books, a staple for any chef now of a generation, Galton is entirely self-taught, swapping college training for his own Michelin journey. At first, though, he didn’t have ambitions to cook for Michelin. “I didn’t think you could get it doing what I did,” he says. “I just assumed that I wouldn’t be anywhere near that,” Galton adds.

Just seven years after taking a chance on Morston Hall, the team got their first Bib Gourmand. “That was a massive thing.” And a surprising one for Galton. “I was led to believe that Michelin wouldn’t come knocking because of the style of service we provide. So it came as a real incredible surprise,” Galton says.

But being self-taught isn’t all good in Galton’s experience. “I only knew the ways of cooking up in the Lake District, so when I came down to Norfolk, I was still making sauces in a very old-fashioned way,” he adds.

A reviewer called Tom Jane, who was an autonomous reviewer for The Telegraph and the editor of the Good Food Guide back in 1992, has never slipped from Galton’s memory. “I had a huge article in The Telegraph, and it said: ‘A raspberry with your starter?’”. Question mark. “And it was a real slating,” he says.

As was “lavender roast potatoes…smelt and tasted like the draws of a National Trust wardrobe”. Galton has never forgotten it, and he’s never done anything with lavender again. “But he was right in so many ways—I had one style of cooking, which I learned in the Lake District,” Galton says.

After that, Galton bought every Michel Roux and Albert Roux book and read and learned how to make sauces and stocks. “I changed almost overnight,” he says.

Fresh, local, seasonal produce in a relaxed setting

25 years later, providing very seasonal produce is Galton number one priority. “I used to have this precedent that I wanted to use local and seasonal, but now I’ll get you the best,” he says. Whether from England, Scotland, Wales, France, Italy, or Spain, it’ll be the best ingredients Galton can get his hands on. “That’s my mantra.”

Far from wanting to stay in the kitchen, Galton enjoys service, coming out from behind the servers and seeing guests. “I’ll serve the canapes and things like that because I think people want an experience, and I can eff and jeff with them and laugh,” says Galton. It’s about putting his guests at ease. “I can relax people, and Morston Hall sounds quite posh—we aren’t,” he shares.

Navigating tough times

“Over 25 years of retaining a star, the biggest challenge is maintaining it,” Galton confirms. Finding and keeping great staff is a huge challenge too. Galton has traversed two recessions at Morston Hall. In recent years, the Covid pandemic has been an undeniable hurdle that the hospitality industry has also collectively shared.

The challenges are not limited to just these, though. “I think you get a challenge every day, every single day,” Galton says. Even after a quarter of a century at Morston, it worries him “all the time” when he puts an oyster on. Galton shares that he has to do it. “I know what a good oyster is and what a not-so-good oyster is,” says Galton. They have beautiful oysters locally, but, “I’ll do them”.

Despite all of these daily hurdles, this time in Galton and Morston Hall’s 25-year history is proving the hardest. “Never has there been a tougher time than now, ever,” he says. Why? “Because everything’s changed.”

Yet, while cooking has changed, the classics have not gone out of fashion. “I admire all the innovation, but at the end of the day, the bottom line is that a beautiful scallop has to be the centrepiece of what you’re doing,” he says. Stick with the classics for sure, and you can’t go wrong.

Making memories

There have been so many highlights over the past 25 years. “The AA has treated us really well,” he says. Receiving AA 4 Rosettes was a big milestone. Getting Newcomer of the Year in their first year was “a huge surprise when you saw the people we followed”, Galton adds, including Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay.

Buying his very own fish and chip shop is up there, too. “That just makes me smile,” says Galton. There have been so many different highlights and a good review. Galton will never forget Matthew Norman, a reviewer for the Telegraph at the time, who gave the team 9.75 out of 10.

What’s next?

With such a long and esteemed career, people may wonder what’s left to achieve. But not for Galton. “There’s loads left to achieve, every day there’s things to achieve,” he says.

And it’s clear he wants to keep the celebrated venue going. And the place he loves most is in the kitchen, the hub of his 25-year-plus second home, Morston Hall. “I still have massive passion, and I’m not finished by any stretch,” Galton shares.