FOOD + DRINK
MEET THE CHEF :
JAMES PILCHER
The Ferry House , Isle of Sheppey , Kent
What led you to become a chef ?
While in school , I spent my summer holidays working front of house at a local venue . Over the few years I was there , plenty of chefs came and went . I ' d always enjoyed food and cooking at home , but none of the chefs I ' d met ever left much of a mark on me , certainly not enough to inspire me to follow in their footsteps . That was until I watched the new head chef Tony make ‘ noodles ’ from orange juice using a syringe to force the liquid through a clear tube , dipped in an ice bath and , several minutes later , out again as a solid noodle !
What kick-started my passion for cooking wasn ’ t merely the party trick of seeing drinks turned into solid food before my very eyes , but Tony ’ s delight and willing explanation when I asked him why it had happened . I ’ ve never been satisfied with knowing merely that certain things work ; I ’ ve always needed to know why they work . And here was somebody who relished in the vast technical knowledge of his trade and the opportunity to teach what he knew to anyone who cared to ask . I spent the next few months asking increasingly obscure questions , to which the best answer I ever got was : “ I don ’ t know , but let ’ s find out !” It was then I began to realise just how satisfying it was to talk and learn about food . One day , Tony came to me and said he was leaving the venue . He asked if I was serious about cooking and offered me a job with the promise of training me . That was that . Ten years have passed since then and , to this day , I still send him photos of every new dish or idea I proudly conceive .
Where did you train ?
I spent the first few years of my career working for Tony and other chefs who had also worked under him , learning from them as I went . It ’ s only now in hindsight that I realise just how lucky I was to have head chefs who had the patience , and who cared enough , to teach someone from absolute scratch . Something I wish to pay forward in the coming years .
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