Three Fabulous Chefs Coming to Living North LIVE in York

Tell us about your background.
I started when I was at school doing work experience as a pot-washer at 14, and that was my first taste of the kitchen. I remember I just loved the atmosphere. I went on to doing the starter section, and I was gripped by it and then went to a Rosette-awarded place called Marmalade, and that’s where I learned my fine-dining skills. I worked at Seagrown which is a seaweed farm last year before I got a call from The View and it was a really unique opportunity. I’ve worked my way up all the way from pot-washer, commis chef, chef de partie and roles as head chef to where I am now at The View in Scarborough, which is brand new.

What can guests expect at The View?
The View is actually inside Belmont Hotel right on the North Bay with fantastic views over the sea, it’s incredible. I want to create a place where everyone can enjoy really good food that everyone returns for time and time again. I want The View to be a place where if you want fish and chips, it’s the best fish and chips, and if you want a burger it’s a quality burger. I cook everything from scratch as well. I want them to know the food is fresh, local and legit.

What inspires your cooking?
I have a massive passion to work with local suppliers and work with what we’ve got in Yorkshire, because it’s such a beautiful place. Sustainability is important too, like where are the fish from and how are they caught? I learned a lot more about that when I was at Seagrown. By coming [to The View] guests are supporting local suppliers because I’m using their produce. For example, I use the Yorkshire Pasta Company, Yorkshire Sea Salt, Yorkshire Rapeseed Oil, Seagrown for the seaweed, meat from Sykes House Farm and so on.

Tell us about your background.
I’m a South African-Indian and I was born in South Africa. Growing up in that country there was an array of different cultures, different cooking, different flavours and different spices, all infused in that one country. So I can recall the cooking of my granny, using wood and coal, and using fresh produce from her garden. I left South Africa when I was 27 and went to Ireland and spent 16 years working in hospitality with staff accommodation and food provided, but it was lacking something – spices! I would ask my mum to post me some and I got myself a small cooking stove. From there it became a little community of staff who’d eat together. Everyone was from different countries, from Europe, from Singapore, from Australia, we were all sharing ideas. I came over to England with my two kids. With everyone at school and work, I stayed at home and had time to cook for them, and it’s where I started coming up with recipes. My confidence started to build from there.

Tell us how MasterChef UK came about.
Just before lockdown I met someone and she was so taken with my cooking she pushed me to do MasterChef. I said no, I’m too shy. She applied for me and I wasn’t expecting out of 20,000 applicants to receive a call. The interview was an hour and it’s a six-month process. You only get to know around two weeks before you actually cook. Getting there has changed my life.

Tell us about the past year at The Old Liquor Store.
We’ve had an incredibly exciting 12 months! Last year we marked our one-year anniversary with a factory workers special event – a six-course tasting menu themed around classic British canteen food with a modern twist. We served up some nostalgic dishes including the ‘pack up’ (truffle cheddar and OLS pickle toastie, cider-soused crab apple, cheese ‘n’ onion scratchings); the ‘Fish supper’ (Brew York beer-battered cod cheek with mushy peas, butter chicken curry sauce, and salt and vinegar chips); and a ‘Terrys Chocolate Orange’ (milk chocolate delice with Cointreau). We also expanded the restaurant with an impressive 40-cover outdoor terrace, serving Champagne and oysters alongside cocktails and afternoon tea, and we introduced a series of monthly tasting events, taking diners around the world.

How has the menu developed since opening?
It’s a constantly evolving thing, as we regularly review, add and tweak the offering to enable us to grow into this wonderful venue. We started out as an Italian-influenced restaurant, café, wine bar and deli. But customer feedback suggested our guests didn’t always like the idea of sharing! So earlier this year, we refined the menu which allows for more creativity and a wider selection of contemporary dishes. We’ve also introduced a more traditional à la carte-style service to the evening menu as well as wine pairings to enhance the experience.