Ashley Palmer-Watts: Heston's protégé's life in food
We speak to Ashley Palmer-Watts about his journey from kitchen helper to becoming Executive Chef at Heston Blumenthal's Dinner.
Ashley Palmer-Watts’ mentor Heston Blumenthal describes him as a ‘polite lad who caught the food bug’.
A slight understatement, perhaps, since the Dorset-born Executive Chef at London’s highly-acclaimed restaurant Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Knightsbridge is the very embodiment of a man who has lived and breathed the culinary world from a tender age.
A mere washing-up job, undertaken in a rural restaurant as a young boy, was all the impetus Palmer-Watts needed to launch himself into bustling, busy kitchens. Various restaurant jobs and worldwide trips helped him absorb a set of skills which got him swiftly noticed by some influential peers – Gordon Ramsay being one of them.
But there was only one place he wanted to work: The Fat Duck. After pursuing Blumenthal over several months, the culinary alchemist succumbed to pressure and gave him a chance in his Michelin-starred restaurant. Neither has looked back.
Heston made his talented protégé Head Chef of the Bray restaurant at the impressively early age of 25 before handing him control of Dinner.
Was there something you were hoping to be as a child, before becoming a chef?
I almost joined the forces, potentially as an armourer.
Why did you become a chef?
I started working in a kitchen in the Dorset village where I grew up at the age of 13. I began by washing up, spending my spare time standing in the kitchen every day after school. When I was not required to work, I soaked up everything about food and the restaurant that I could and it soon became apparent that this was a life I knew I wanted to enter.
What’s the most important meal of the day?
Breakfast is the most important meal as it sets you up for the day ahead. However, as important as it is, I am just not hungry first thing in the morning. My pre-service tasting at Dinner is something that I look most forward to at 11.30am.
What’s your favourite piece of kitchen equipment?
Thermo mix as it's just so versatile.
If you could only take three food items to a desert island, what would they be?
Bread and butter, roast chicken.
What is your food philosophy?
Using the best ingredients, with respect, technique and subtlety to create food for guests that I would really want to eat myself.
Do you ever use cookbooks – and whose?
Throughout my career I have read and flicked through books to expand my knowledge. Key ones have been White Heat, in the early days, and The French Laundry is also a timeless classic.
What tips would you give to any chefs-to-be?
Read, read and read anything about food - knowledge is invaluable. Additionally, take as many opportunities to stage whenever you can, as experience will help you find the most suitable career path.
Alternatively, work with honesty, integrity and most importantly taste, taste, taste.
What is the most exotic thing you have ever eaten?
Perhaps not the most exotic, but for me certainly the most challenging ingredient was given to me by Heston after returning from a trip to Japan. He got me to taste the dried uterus of a sea cucumber, apparently he had it for breakfast. It’s an acquired taste!
Would there be a cuisine you’d favour above the rest?
I have a patriotic passion for British food, especially old historic dishes and flavour combinations.
Tell us two of your favourite recipes?
A perfect roast chicken and roast potatoes. I have an obsession for great roast potatoes!
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