231027 Collection Digital Cover 1 - Flipbook - Page 49
LISA GOODWIN-ALLEN
Executive Chef
Northcote
“The thing that I love the most
about food is that it’s so diverse”
Before becoming one of the UK’s finest chefs, Lisa Goodwin-Allen
worked at her father’s scrapyard in Lancashire. It’s a beginning that
sits somewhat oddly with the exquisite nature of her dishes, but she’s
quite matter-of-fact when she says that the expectation was probably
that she’d end up working there full-time after school.
Besides, she points out, both paths share a need for being hands-on,
which is something she’s always enjoyed – but it was through cooking
that she found she could express herself.
“I was always very inquisitive and once I discovered my passion for
cooking, I looked into ways to further myself,” she says. “I did a college
course and loved it – I never missed a day; I was always wanting to
learn and develop new techniques. I worked on my days off, including
at Northcote and a one-star in the Lakes – I did as much as I could
to work in other kitchens and get as much experience as possible.
Everywhere you learn, you’re always learning something different.”
When she came to Northcote in 2001, as a 20-year-old demi chef de
partie, Lisa found herself going from a team of three to a team of ten.
“What I learnt from the experience, and from Nigel [Haworth, co-founder
and former Chef Patron at Northcote], was so valuable,” she says. Her
passion for always going the extra mile wasn’t ever quenched, however.
“Every time an opportunity, via someone leaving, presented itself,
I wanted that position,” she says, “and I got my head down and worked
really hard for it.” By the age of 23, she was Northcote’s Head Chef – an
extraordinary achievement, especially given the fact that kitchens were
still very much a man’s world at the time.
“The thing that I love the most about food is that it’s so diverse,” says Lisa,
whose involvement with Obsession began in its second year. “You can
show emotions through food.” And, in keeping with the restaurant’s loyal,
local customer base, there is an emphasis on seasonal, locally-sourced
produce in Lisa’s dishes.
“We’re lucky to be in this part of Lancashire and to have such amazing
suppliers and producers around us,” she says, with a humility that you
quickly realise is part of her – and Obsession’s – success. “When you ask
a chef to come and cook in your kitchen and they say ‘yes,’ it’s an honour,”
says Lisa, “so it’s incumbent upon me to make sure that they arrive
to a well-organised kitchen.”
Each Obsession has had its own high points, but Lisa recalls 2022 as being
particularly special and celebratory, coming, as it did, after the pandemic.
Due to uncertainty around overseas travel, they decided to focus on talent
from the Great British Isles “and the support was just phenomenal,”
she says. “The vibe was amazing. We brought the house down.”
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