231027 Collection Digital Cover 1 - Flipbook - Page 54
“I think the first taste of food is always
the best – it’s the highly anticipated
introduction to the meal”
As someone who eschews dessert at home, if he were to advise a guest
to leave room for one course, which course would it be?
“That’s a difficult question,” he muses. “I think the first taste of food
is always the best – it’s the highly anticipated introduction to the meal –
so I’d say that the first course is the unmissable one.”
An ardent Royalist, John notes that cooking for HM the King or, in her
lifetime, HM the Queen, is the greatest of honours. “You want everything
to be perfect,” he says. When it comes to perfection, however, chefs often
have a reputation for being harsh and exacting – how does this blend with
the humility, noted above, required for the job?
“It’s incredibly humbling to recognise the amount of work, and emotion,
that a young person puts into the execution of a dish,” says John, “and
when they get it right, the joy you witness … it’s just amazing. At this
moment, I’m looking across the kitchen at The Ritz and observing
a future superstar: it’s an amazing sensation.”
Having been in the industry for so long, and now watching young stars
in the making, one wonders how John’ own passion for the job has evolved.
With only a handful of restaurant jobs in his career, the focus has almost
always been on hotels, with all of the different facets – breakfast, lunch,
dinner, afternoon tea and private cocktail receptions – that this entails.
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“When I came to The Ritz in 2004, my objective was to run the best hotel
restaurant and offer the finest hospitality in Great Britain,” he says. “Very
early on, I took my cooks into the dining room one day after lunch service.
Many of them had never even seen it, but it’s such a special room that for
me, it dictates what to cook. I wanted to focus on a 360-degree experience
for our guests, including creating a harmonious experience between the
room, the service, the food and how we present it. My philosophy has
always been to strive for perfection, knowing that you’ll never attain it.”
John has participated in Obsession on two separate occasions – 2017
and 2022 – and says that each experience was interesting and enjoyable.
“I have the greatest admiration for Craig and for Lisa,” he says. “When
you eat at Obsession, it’s not only about the enjoyment; it’s also the fact
that it’s for a brilliant cause, with a percentage of every meal going
to Hospitality Action. What makes Obsession so unique is the team:
their humanity and friendship. Each night is different, but the common
thread is a shared passion and the industry coming together – both
chefs and service people – over exceptional food and wine.”
