IN THE SPOTLIGHT
SUCCESS ON A PLATE FOR JOSH
OP Joshua Overington( 01-04) is one of the country’ s finest young chefs. He’ s worked at some of the country’ s best restaurants and recently starred in BBC2’ s Great British Menu.
His restaurant in York, Le Cochon Aveugle, takes diners through a blind tasting menu using the best in season produce to prepare dishes, which have had food reviewers from national newspapers in raptures.
Josh, now 29, credits a strong work ethic and self-belief nurtured at Pocklington School for his professional drive – although he admits it took a while to kick in!
“ I left Pocklington School as the epitome of that person with no idea what they wanted to do,” he says.“ My family is foody; I grew up knowing about food but I never had any ambitions to work in that area.”
After a spell at York College, Josh travelled to Australia, where“ literally the only job I could get was washing dishes.” He soon progressed to food preparation and the spark that would drive him was lit.
He returned to the UK to work at Michelin-star gastropub The Pipe and Glass Inn, South Dalton, and at the three-star Michelin restaurant The Waterside Inn in Bray. He then trained formally at renowned culinary school Le Cordon Bleu, Paris, before honing his craft at high-end restaurants in France, Canada and Spain.
Returning to York with girlfriend Victoria Roberts, Josh was taken on at Le Cochon Aveugle on Walmgate. When the owner moved on, Josh saw his chance:“ I’ ve always wanted to open my own restaurant and I thought York had a really good scene. This was an opportunity for me to do my own thing so Vic joined me as front of house and we took it on,” he says.
The couple started with just £ 800 in the bank, a determination to serve high-end food in a casual setting – but giving diners no menu to choose from.
At first, trade was slow.“ In a way I could understand – we were sitting people down and telling them they had to eat what I decided,” Josh smiles.“ I know that’ s a risky strategy for the north of England but it’ s normal in Paris. And with our tight margins, I couldn’ t afford to offer a wide menu anyway.
“ Plus, if you present people with a menu they’ ll reject dishes without considering them. Give them no choice, and they’ ll hopefully be pleasantly surprised.”
A glowing review from the Yorkshire Post proved a turning point. Trade picked up almost immediately, rave reviews from the national press followed, and now weekend tables are fully booked for months ahead.
“ It’ s nice that people are travelling to York just to eat at our restaurant. It makes Vic and I really proud,” says Josh.
Appearing on TV’ s Great British Menu in June, when he competed against other chefs to reach the North East regional finals, also boosted Josh’ s profile. He admits to being nervous in front of the cameras:“ It’ s harder than you imagine but I’ m glad I did it,” he says.
It tickles him that Pocklington School teachers have visited the restaurant without realising he is the chefpatron.“ We have an open kitchen so I spot them but they often have no idea,” Josh says.“ Sometimes they do a double take, then check their phones, and the penny drops.”
He’ s in close contact with OP friends Charlie Cowley( 98-05), Gemma Gray( 96-06) and Alex Pinion( 95-06) and enjoys returning to Pocklington
for the Good Friday and Boxing Day rugby fixtures when he can.
Josh’ s own rugby-playing career was cut short by injury while playing for Pocklington School against St Peter’ s.“ My leg was shattered in seventeen places. I was lucky not to lose it and now I have a huge plate holding it together,” he reveals.
Although that’ s one souvenir from his schooldays that Josh would rather forget, he has fond memories of English teacher Dr Mark Rowe( 84-06), and says he is grateful for the strong work ethic the school encouraged.
“ Pocklington School instilled in me the sense that I should always give my best and work hard to do as well as I could, whatever my chosen profession. That’ s why I got quite far so quickly,” he says.
Le Cochon Aveugle is at 37 Walmgate, York YO1 9TX, www. lecochonaveugle. uk, 01904 640222
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