Coming of age
Shortly after a certain 24-year-old rugby player let fly his right boot in Sydney last year, reminding the world that young shoulders are just as capable of bearing a nation-load of expectation as those of an older man, another young man, this time in Lincolnshire, was gearing up for his own personal challenge.
Enter 21-year-old Robert Thompson, the new head chef of the two-Michelin-starred Winteringham Fields, the restaurant lovingly nurtured for more than 17 years by one of the best chefs working in this country, Germain Schwab, and his wife, Annie.
Jonny Wilkinson may have proved that maturity and the ability to cope under pressure are not simply rewards for getting older - but that's rugby; what about cheffing? To be more precise, what about being a head chef in a kitchen with two stars, five AA rosettes and nine out of 10 in the Good Food Guide? How does a 21-year-old chef cope with that?
"It's very exciting, because just working here you've got a massive reputation behind you, and being a head chef of a two-star restaurant means you will instantly get a name for yourself," says Thompson. "But if I think about the two stars - and that I could be the youngest ever in charge of two - then I might get sidetracked. I'm not focusing on that."
Whether "sidetracked" means becoming scared witless or just plain big-headed, it's soon obvious that neither will happen to Thompson. Listening to his gentle, measured voice, a calm determination to do the job properly is in evidence. "The head chef should be thinking about organisation, about making sure the kitchen is running well with front of house, developing people to move forward and, at the end of the day, making money," he says.
When we meet, he has just been putting the finishing touches to a new computer ordering system, explaining that it is details like these that will make what, in the Schwabs' own words, is "a well-organised and well-oiled machine" work even better. "It's the way of thinking," he goes on. "You can't just run a kitchen with experience of cooking."
Ah, yes. Experience. We have all heard in conferences and read in Caterer's letters pages those who half-mock, half-moan about the "upstarts who come straight out of college and want the world". But Thompson defends himself by explaining that it is precisely because he was fresh when he came to Winteringham that he has progressed so far. In the past year Thompson has been schooled as Germain's protégé learning the exact skills, flavours and dishes that have made Winteringham so successful.
Older chefs, on the other hand, despite potentially having more experience and knowledge, can damage continuity, he says, that all-important factor for top-flight operations. He recounts how a chef came from what many believe is the "sacred" El Bulli, the three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Cala Montjoi, Spain, but brought with him ideas and expectations of flavour that just could not be accommodated on the Winteringham menu. "I completely think along the lines of how this place runs, the style of it," says Thompson, "and also how we can develop it."
And, of course, that is the point. Although Germain and Annie (herself chair of the Young Chef Young Waiter competition) have created a kind of mini-academy at Winteringham - where most of the staff, front and back of house, appear to be in their early 20s - they would not have given the top job to Thompson unless he was more than just someone they could tell what to do. Staggeringly, he joined as a commis only two years ago, but it quickly became apparent he was more than just a hard grafter and a good learner. "He has a natural gift," says Germain. "He's full of ideas, rattling his brains."
It is also obvious he has an independent streak, despite the softly spoken exterior. When I ask him about his college, Thames Valley University, he bristles, saying: "I never want to say they helped me get anywhere, because they didn't."
After the first year of his three-year NVQ course he asked to condense years two and three into one second year. When the powers-that-be refused, Thompson simply left.
He explains: "I just couldn't justify being there a third year." However, he goes on to namecheck lecturers such as David Foskett and Malcolm Dee, who did, he feels, actually teach him what being a chef is all about.
In response, Foskett says that the university will, when appropriate, fast-track students, but these tend to be mature students with broad industry knowledge.
Thompson's dissatisfaction is with the system, which he believes needs a major revamp if cheffing standards are to be improved in this country. "They need to rewrite the syllabus - or at the very least enforce it. With NVQs people can mess about for three years and come out with level 3. We get people coming here from college who can't do anything," he says.
In spite of his time with Germain, it is Thompson's brother Patrick whom he credits as his inspiration. Patrick was the young chef who, aged 22, won the Roux Scholarship in 1998.
Patrick is now a private chef, but it was his guidance that first put Robert on the road to where he is today. At 13, Robert was reading Patrick's collection of cookbooks and still vividly remembers reading Marco Pierre White's White Heat at that age. "You know when chefs say, ‘I read White Heat and I immediately wanted to be a chef'? I thought to myself, ‘All that swearing and stuff is wrong. I want to be a chef but I want to do it differently.'"
By 16, Thompson was helping his brother at the Falcon, a Bedfordshire country pub where Patrick was head chef. Then, after an unhappy stint at L'Ortolan in Shinfield, Berkshire - "It really knocked it out of me. I thought I never wanted to enter a kitchen again" - he returned to the Falcon and then followed his brother to the now-closed Three Chimneys in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. There he trained on all the sections of the kitchen, including pastry, while all the time avidly reading cookbooks.
"My advice to all young chefs is, enjoy it," he says, "but you've got to read books, research, go out and eat in places instead of going down the pub. There's not a day when I don't look through books - the Roux brothers', Gary Rhodes's, even the quick-cooking ones."
It is an attitude that ties in with his decision to stay in the calmer environment of the countryside where, he says, a chef can more easily please the customer. He describes London as "a hyped atmosphere where you work under pressure even if you aren't busy". It also means, and this is something that he has learnt directly from Germain, that he never wants to run an aggressive kitchen. "I want it to be a happy kitchen. There needs to be a point when you look after the brigade and then if something goes wrong, next time it doesn't."
Annie says Thompson's down-to-earth approach has made him popular in the kitchen and a natural leader. "What you see is what you get with Robbie," she says. "He wants to go through it and through it and through it until he gets it right. He is not trying to hide anything or fool anyone."
Robert Thompson
Age: 21
Position: head chef, Winteringham Fields, Winteringham, Lincolnshire
How committed is he to cooking? "On our days off, my housemates [also chefs at Winteringham] and I have competitions to see who can cook the highest souffl‚, and my girlfriend has caught me whisking in my sleep!"
Won't find him cooking: scrambled eggs with white chocolate and caviar
Might find him cooking: snipe brain - "I was really inspired when I saw Germain split open the head of a snipe to get to the brain. I'd never seen that before. It's things like that that motivate me and keep me developing."
Will find him cooking: with Germain Schwab - "The buck stops with me, but Chef will be there holding the reins for the next 12 months."
Kitchen clans
The Thompsons aren't the only brothers to make good in the hospitality industry. As we all know, brothers like to fight, but some chef brothers still manage to work side-by-side in the heat of the kitchen…
Patrick and Robert Thompson
Patrick was a Roux scholar by the age of 22; Robert has just been made head chef at the two-Michelin-starred Winteringham Fields restaurant at the tender age of 21. Mum and Dad must be proud. Robert says he owes all his interest in becoming a chef to Patrick, but would they cook together? "We used to want to open a place together, but we do different styles now," says Robert. How diplomatic.
Chris and Jeff Galvin
Older brother Chris is now executive head chef at the Wolseley Caf‚ and Restaurant, and Jeff head chef at the Picasso Room at L'Escargot, London, but the pair have cheffed - successfully - together several times. Most notable was their achievement at Orrery where, in 1999, with Chris as head chef and Jeff as senior sous, the pair earned a Michelin star - the first English brothers in one kitchen to do so. "Journalists always ask whether we argue, but we've never had a serious fight in our life," says Jeff. "I'm sure we will open somewhere together in the future."
Albert and Michel Roux
At last, some squabblers! The best of friends now, these titans of the modern restaurant scene in Britain have had a series of almighty clashes. After opening Le Gavroche in London in 1968, there was a time when Michel would cook, Albert entertain the guests, and vice versa the following week. But the pressure of working together told, and Michel went off to concentrate on the Waterside Inn in Bray, Berkshire, while Albert stayed put in London, though the two did still share the businesses. Apparently, details like Michel taking too long over a dessert - la rose du chef (which also happened to be a customer favourite) - caused tension; but nearly a decade later, in 1982, it was the greater slight of Albert claiming all the credit for Le Gavroche gaining three stars that led to the temporary break-up. Finally, in 1986, a year after the Waterside Inn became the second restaurant in the UK to win three Michelin stars, Michel turned all his attention to the Waterside Inn, and the demerger was complete.
Laurent and Jacques Pourcel
Identical twins Laurent and Jacques Pourcel offer the only real example of brotherly grub here, managing to co-own and cook together at the restaurant they opened in 1988, the three-Michelin-starred Le Jardin des Sens in Montpellier, France. The bond is obviously strong: although Jacques has now taken over the business side of the operation, the pair still design dishes together and are set to open two further joint ventures this summer, including one in London.
What's your flavour?
When it comes to cooking, Thompson has learnt from Schwab not to mess around with flavours. "To me, some restaurants have gone AWOL. My main aim is to put the ingredients on a plate in a way that reflects them. It's no good taking 15 flavours, because it's just going to confuse people." He recalls a trip with his brother to Paris, where he ate at two- and three-Michelin-starred establishments such as Guy Savoy, ArpŠge and Lucas Carton. "The food was just simple," he says.
With that in mind, one dish that Thompson has put together at Winteringham is the starter of seared scallops, cauliflower pur‚e and smoked bacon with a cappuccino of scallop roe (below). "We had used the scallop roe to make ice-cream, but I was just looking for a different angle. It's still just simple flavours."
Of course, the method - involving pan-frying on silicon paper and making dust from the scallop's roe - and the presentation is far from basic, but Schwab has instilled in him the importance of a good base to the dish to start with. "In this case it's the cauliflower and scallop, they always go well together."
