december foodie profile: tobe windsor

this month, as the final part of my 2008 look at food-related careers, we are meeting tobe windsor, head chef at 30 pavilion road, a georgian house in central london which can be hired for parties, events and conferences.

before this, tobe cooked for the lord mayor of the city of london and his guests at the mansion house and worked in a number of restaurants around the world.

1. what is your food job?

head chef at pavillion rd roof gardens in knightsbridge

2. what are the best and worst bits of it?

best: the appreciation some people have for my food

worst: annoying clients

3. how would you sum up your approach to food?

unique! i try to put styles together which you might not normally. there doesn’t have to be a set path to follow

4. what is your most useful kitchen utensil?

global utility knife

5. what’s your usual stand-by recipe?

at home i make either orecchiette with pancetta, peas and cream or veal with ginger, sichuan pepper and steamed rice

6. which food says “home” to you?

lasagne or pizza

7. do you have a guilty pleasure?

cheese and chocolate fondante

8. do you use a list when you’re food shopping?

no

9. how tidy is your kitchen?

very

10. what inspired your love of food?

it grew on me

11. what is the first thing you remember cooking?

welsh rarebit

12. what is your top cooking tip?

always be prepared and be on time

13. what is your signature dish?

they currentlyinclude seared venison with sevruga caviar and ginger potato salad; lamb with puy lentils and apricot sauce (this is a dish comprising braised neck fillet of lamb and a chop from the best end cooked medium) and, for dessert, something called charlottes fall (charlotte because of the origins of the dessert and fall because we are (almost!) in autumn.

14. what’s your worst cooking disaster?

there’s been no real disasters but a couple of near misses i.e. knocking over a jack stack (plate stack)

15. do you have any food heroes?

my friend yasou atarashi; keith floyd

16. what annoys you about food culture in britain?

people are very blinkered.

17. do you prefer eating in or eating out?

eating out

18. what is your unfulfilled foodie ambition?

to cook in japan