"You learn so much just travelling through different cultures"
From working in some of Britain’s finest Michelin-starred restaurants, to travelling the world and living in a commune in the Costa Rican jungle, Josh Bingham is embarking upon a completely different adventure altogether.
Josh Bingham, Executive Head Chef of M/Y Teleost, has always had hospitality and restaurant culture flow through has blood.
With parents and siblings working in the industry, choosing hospitality was an obvious choice for him, with his sights set on growing a career within some of the industry’s most respected kitchens.
“I grew up in a restaurant basically. My dad was a chef, my two brothers are chefs. I always wanted to work in Michelin star restaurants from the age of fourteen,” he said.
Josh began his career as a commis chef at The Bath Priory before working as a demi chef de partie at Waldo’s restaurant at Cliveden House.
Eager to achieve his dream, and under the recommendation of his head chef, Josh soon applied for a position with the two Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, where he worked under Raymond Blanc and Luke Selby.
After spending five years working at Le Manoir, Josh joined Phil Howard’s The Square where he worked as Chef de Partie before working as a Sous Chef for Virgin Limited Edition on Necker Island, the first in the chef’s soon to be extensive travels.
Commenting on how his time on Necker Island would influence in the future, Josh said: “The experience in Necker opened my eyes up and I just wanted to do more, so after that I went to HIDE, but I wanted to travel again and I felt back in the grind as it were."
Returning to the UK, Josh worked with Ollie Dabbous and Luke Selby, working at the two Michelin-starred HIDE as a Senior Sous before heading out to Bali to take up a head chef position at La Brisa Restaurant & Beach Club, returning back to the UK to focus on achieving a nutritional sciences course, before flying out to Costa Rica to work at the Punta Mona Center for Regenerative Design & Botanical Studies.
Living in Costa Rica and Life as Yacht Chef
Uninspired and longing for a return to the adventures of his travels, in September 2020, Josh took the leap and travelled to work on permaculture farm in Costa Rica called The Punta Mona Center for Regenerative Design & Botanical Studies.
“I was there because I was struggling to deal with heartbreak. I only planned on staying there for two weeks but I really enjoyed it there and the community was happy with my work and I ended up staying eight months,” Josh revealed.
Describing the community in Costa Rica in more detail, Josh: “Permaculture is just permanent agriculture, I would do a bit of farming and cooking, but I was just around a lot of artists, eccentrics, musicians, as well as chefs. There was lots of conscious people, conscious about the planet, and I was very inspired by it all.”
Whilst working and being a part of the community in Costa Rica, through his experiences and discussions with other creatives, Josh quickly became inspired and wanted to pursue musical projects as well as venture into work as yacht chef.
Discussing the thoughts around this decision, Josh said: “Being in a community of people, I didn’t have a lot of stuff with me and it got to a point where I needed to get back into the real world, and I wanted to get into yachting, which was something I had a wanted to do for some time.”
After leaving Costa Rica, it wasn’t long before Josh took up the role of Executive Head Chef of M/Y Teleost in September 2021 where he has been based since.
“You learn so much just travelling through different cultures and experiencing the real culture,” he explained.
Explaining how these adventures and his current work has shaped him as a chef, Josh said: “I feel like these things that you experience as a chef, the experiences that you come to have through these travels have huge growth, and you can also bring a lot of the experience back into the kitchen.”
PINK ELDERFLOWER MOON
Inspired and refreshed from his travels, Josh has began creating his Pink Elderflower Moon musical project, a British psychedelic rock collective, oozing extravagant blends of instrumentation, acid washed with his own unique fuzz.
Discussing the project and how it came to be Josh said: “I had always wanted to do music as a side project. I always wanted to play in bands but being a chef it’s super hard to do that so I thought if I at least I could create something that I’m super proud it could bring the opportunity to play in the future.”
On top of his desire to make music, Josh was also recovering from drug and alcohol abuse, going sober after what he described as a very difficult part in his life.
“Four years I got sober from drugs and alcohol. What I didn’t expect from getting sober was the fact that the confidence grew, creativity grew a lot stronger, and it forced me to go in search of people who were not doing those sorts of things,” Josh explained.
He added: “If it wasn’t for me getting sober, I wouldn’t have made the album. 100%. I put all my time and energy taking drugs and alcohol into making music.”
With his debut album set to be released in March 2024, Josh’s project represents two years of work writing and producing a range of tracks and scores that he’s nurtured and developed throughout his travels and whilst working on M/Y Teleost.
“It has fourteen different tracks, written in 14 different countries, and with the album as well there’s going to be a recipe pack inside the vinyl with a recipe for each of the countries. For example, one of the song’s was written in Guatemala, on the vinyl it will have a backstory of the song and a recipe for Guatemalan tostadas,” he explained.
The album began to take shape after Josh travelled to Glasgow to meet Jason Shaw of Dystopia Records, a renowned sound engineer specialising in alternative psychedelic garage rock.
Describing the process, Josh said: “He was really keen to do the songs, so we booked a month in the studio in March. We recorded it in three and a half weeks and got a couple of guys to come in do harmonies, drums and stuff.”
Looking ahead, Josh confirmed that there would be a series of music videos and single releases to accompany the launch of the album, with a plan to put music more at the centre of his life in the future.
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