ory Bay earlier in your career. How did your career path bring you back here?
After a brief stint as a kitchen porter in Cornwall I came back to the island and started at The Priory Bay on an apprenticeship. After a year here I went up to London to do a two week trial at Rousillon and I got the job. I was there for just under two years and worked my way up from commis to junior sous running the meat and fish. I was 19 at that point.
From Rousillon I went to France and worked at several places including Guy Savoy, Astrance and Fouquet’s, before ending up at Les Ambassadeurs under Jean-Francois Piège where I stayed for two years.
And from there you went to 
de partie.
René is simply awesome, I learned a lot from him and the whole team. I stayed at 
My first big influence was Alexis Gauthier at Rousillon. Finding the Michel Bras book and the first Noma book showed me what was possible and inspired me as a young chef. Working four and a half years in Paris was also a massive influence on me. Then everything changed when I started at Noma. It has a different way of working and thinking than a traditional French set-up. So overall I would say Noma is probably the biggest influence, not technically but philosophically in terms of going out and finding the absolute best produce we can, whether it’s from this end of the island or the other.
And how do you translate that philosophy into what you you’re doing at The
Priory?
Well, we’re really lucky here. We’ve got 70 acres of land and we’ve got everything from wild garlic to razor clams. We also use limpet; we use slipper clams; we use winkles; we’ve got about 80 different herbs growing within about 20 metres of the kitchen door. We’ve got our own vegetable garden which is about 300 square metres. We’ve actually got monks growing vegetables for us and nuns in a closed order growing us apples and pears! We have fish being brought up that have usually only been caught 45 minutes ago - so in terms of produce that’s how the philosophy is coming into 
practice.
And was it difficult to persuade the owners of the hotel to see your vision?
Well, my restaurant manager and head sommelier, James Trevaskis, is also my best friend. We’ve known each other since we were eight and he was best man at my wedding. We’d always talked about the potential of this place because James worked here too, after I did. When we used to meet up on the island we would sit on the beach and get drunk and talk about what we could do with it. So when I decided I wanted to run my own place I spoke with Andrew Palmer, the owner, and I told 
him everything we wanted to do and he said yes. So then I called James and he called me back within five seconds to say yes.
And what does a typical day at Prior Bay involve?
My day generally starts at about eight thirty. We get in, have a little staff meeting in the kitchen and think about what we need to pick and whereabouts on the island it is. Maybe we’ll have to look at going to help one of our farmers or go and pick up a pig on the other side of the island. We’ll have a quick meeting about that then go 
off to the various parts of the grounds or the island to get what we need for the menu that day. We try to get back to the kitchen for about eleven thirty where we’ll write the menus for the day then we’ll crack on with the mise en place for lunch depending on what we’ve got. Then we work throughout the day until about five o’clock when we sit down for a family meal, then it’s dinner service.
On top of all that, throughout the day I’m constantly in touch with suppliers. At the moment we’ve got about 60 individual suppliers who are all based on the Isle of Wight so logistically it’s a bit of a nightmare.
So in terms of the future, are you working for a star?
Working for a star? No. Would I like to win a star? Yes – if that makes sense. I don’t know if what we do here fits in with the criteria of a star. We have a very personal, very relaxed service, but yeah, I haven’t spent ten years working God-knows-how-many hours a week in some of the places I’ve worked to not want to continue working at that level.
Would you say you’re living t
he dream here?
Ha ha! Ask me in ten years’ time! But yes it is very exciting to be part of the start of something and drive it forward. When you come in in the morning and you see the grounds – you’ve got the sea; you’ve got the woods; you’ve got prairie land; you’ve got fresh springs with wild watercress. It’s quite a way to start your day.
The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.
Over the last 16 years, The Staff Canteen has built what has become the go-to platform for chefs and hospitality professionals. As members and visitors, your daily support has made The Staff Canteen what it is today. Our features and videos from the world’s biggest name chefs are something we are proud of. We have over 560,000 followers across Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and other social channels, each connecting with chefs across the world. Our editorial and social media team are creating and delivering engaging content every day, to support you and the whole sector - we want to do more for you.
A single coffee is more than £2, a beer is £4.50 and a large glass of wine can be £6 or more.
Support The Staff Canteen from as little as £1 today. Thank you.
