Auberge du Lac | Chef Phil Thompson

Today’s Big Day Small Talk is with Chef Phil Thompson, Head Chef at The Auberge du Lac, the Michelin starred restaurant on the Brocket Hall Estate in Hertfordshire. You’ll see as you read that Phil laughs [a lot] hence the brackets.

Hi Phil, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to talk to you.

Tell us a little bit about yourself – where are you from?

I am the fourth child, born in Dagenham, and my dad worked at Fords. [My dad worked there too - I was born just up the road in East Ham] I left there when I was 19 or 20 to move to London. All my family are chefs – I used to wash up pots in my uncle’s restaurant, they gradually taught me how to blanch tomatoes, and things like that.  My mum was a cook in the canteens at Fords, my Nan used to run the canteens, my sister used to work there, so it’s inbred, in the blood! [Laughs]

Are you in the middle of a project now?

It’s The Auberge and Brocket Hall – they take over your life! I run the three kitchens on the estate, and it’s always seeing how far I can push myself, and push the boys in the kitchen. Every day is different [So it's an on-going project?] Yes, that’s right.

How long have you been in the business?

Phew! I’m trying to think how old I am now – 17 years

What do you love about your job?

I love the banter with the boys – I come in the morning and we do all the prep together – I do all the butchery and fish prep in the mornings, and at 33 I’m the old one in the kitchen! They’re all 19, 20, 21. It’s the atmosphere – if I take a couple of days off – I’ve just had a week, first time in years, – I miss it, the banter, the atmosphere. The adrenalin rush, the buzz you’d get from a service is wicked – it’s what you’d spend all day in the kitchen for – 18 hours to get that buzz.

There are many aspects to the job I love – I get up in the morning and I come through the beautiful estate to get here. I don’t think there are many people who can say that. I have three sisters, one of them works in a bank and she hates it, works 9-5 and she hates getting up in the morning and going to work. I don’t – I never have done.

What do you feel is the most challenging thing about being a successful chef?

Bringing on chefs, finding young chefs, there aren’t many kids that want to work as much as we do. [Despite all the TV programs about cooking?] Yes, Ready Steady Cook blinkers people about how hard the industry is. Jamie Oliver has done wonders for the industry, I love what he’s done and how he’s trying to get people to think about food. Heston makes it exciting – I enjoy watching him, he makes it fun.

The kids come from school or college, and I sit down with them and their parents and say ‘You’re going to work 16 -17 hours a day, you’re going to spend more time with me than your mum and dad. It’s hard for the the first 5 or 6 years, and if you show promise and you show you’re something special, then it’ll become easier and you’ll climb the ladder faster. It depends on what kind of chef you’re going to be, but you have to give up everything.’ So yes, the challenging aspect is trying to find people to nurture. I don’t care about their CV or where they’ve cooked. If they have ambition and drive and common sense, then I can teach them how to cook. You’ve got to want to do it first.

How important to you is having your Michelin Star?

It’s not the be all and end all [it's a great accolade though isn't it?] Yes it is – it catapults you on. It’s what you dream of, but it’s not what you cook for. I tell chefs ‘Don’t cook for a star, cook for your customers and cook for yourself. Don’t start by putting fancy things on the plate just because it’s controversial or different.’ We didn’t expect it – it took me six or seven years to get the star, and it’s the accumulation of being a chef for 16 or 17 years. As long as you’ve got a busy restaurant – it’s no good having a star if you’re cooking for three or four people, your restaurant has got to be busy. So I cook the things I like to eat, not because it looks nice and everyone’s doing what’s fashionable – it’s food, and people come to your restaurant to eat.

 

What do you think are the trends this year?

There are two trends – everyone’s going back to cooking, not using foams and gases and jellies. We’ve stopped using all the gimmicks here. You certainly want to try all the fashionable ideas, but you can get a bit lost – when you look at your menu and every dish has got a jelly on it, or a foam. I think everyone’s coming back to cooking – let’s braise it properly, let’s roast it properly, let’s use the best ingredients.

The other trend at the top end, what the two or three stars are doing the Noma [the restaurant Noma - awarded the best restaurant in the world] It’s packed out, left, right and centre. If you’re cooking fish, then you use the ingredients the fish is surrounded by. If you’re cooking meat, you use ingredients that the meat is surrounded by – herbs that are growing around that area. So it’s very technical. [I must remember that when I'm doing my spag bol later on] [Laughs.]

What has been your most memorable booking and why?

We have  a lot. But probably when I cooked for my mum for the first time. I’d been here four or five years, and she’d never eaten in any restaurant I’d ever worked in. That was one of the most nerve wracking things I’ve ever done! First time cooking for my mum, and she’s a very fussy eater. So it was a well done steak and chips, put it in the oven and forget about it [Laughs]
There are a lot of celebrities that come here – the Beckhams, for example, that was a high accolade. Ray Winstone came here by helicopter, so he did it properly! [Laughs] Cooking for chefs! My old bosses, Chris and Geoff Galvin – Geoff eats here once a month now, and for me that’s fantastic that he likes the food that I cook. I worked for Geoff for a long time. Chefs like Paul Gayler, Michel Roux – that was a high honour for me when he came to my restaurant and then came into my kitchen.  Cooking for chefs that have been there and done it is very nerve wracking [It's like me photographing photographers, I know exactly what you mean!] [Laughs.]

What do you think of the wedding industry at the moment and where do you see it in 5 years from now?

Yes, weddings are very important for us – it’s a big part of our business now. Any restaurant that can cater for weddings  can be successful. We’re lucky we have three sites here. Brocket Hall is the main one for weddings, the Golf Club has a wedding on every week. We do a lot of weddings here at Auberge du Lac on Sundays – we did 36 last year. So it doesn’t distract from our clientele. We’re not cancelling people who want to come for dinner, as weddings are booked on the days we’re not open as a restaurant. People love getting married here, and having a fantastic three course meal. As long as they trust us and let us do our job, we can make their day really enjoyable. But you do get the odd bride who’s quite stressful…[Laughs]

What was your most embarrassing moment?

I’ve had a few! When I was younger I was a commis chef, and I remember wheeling a hot trolley into a lift to go upstairs to a private party, and the lift not actually being there, and seeing the trolley fall down the lift-shaft! [Laughs a lot] That was a good one. You even make mistakes even when you’re trying to set an example – everyone’s human. [You're not going to give me any more details?] No no no… [Laughs]

A website and/or blog you like?

I look at Staff Canteen for finding chefs and keeping in touch. I’ve got to know a lot of chefs through that – it’s almost like Facebook for chefs. I look at other restaurants’ web sites to see what they’re doing, looking to see how the site is designed, and how interesting it is – some restaurants have a good gimmick which makes visiting the site an enjoyable experience.  Some are quite hard work!

What talent would you most like to have?

Cook! I’d love to be able to cook [Laughs a lot!]

If you were having fun, what would you be doing?

I’m a massive rugby fan, so I’d be at a rugby match. If I can get to a Wasps game or an England game on a day off, I’m happy. Having a few beers and watching the rugby, that’s good.

 

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

My mum.

Something that is overrated?

Caviar.

Your favourite film of all time?

It’s definitely a mood thing for me – ‘Shawshank Redemption’ is a great film. I love comedy, Dumb and Dumber for example. It depends on the mood.

A book you’ve enjoyed recently?

I’m a big fan of Dan Brown, I’ve just finished The Lost Symbol.

What ambition have you yet to achieve?

Taking a two week holiday! [Laughs] In the summer! [Laughs]

What would you say has been the main key to your success in your business?

Dedication to what I do, but also the support from my family. And the boys in the kitchen, I couldn’t have achieved what I’ve done (the Michelin Star and the three rosettes) without them. There are fourteen of us in the kitchen. About two hundred chefs have passed through my doors over the years, and I keep in touch with a lot of them. Many of them helped me to achieve what I’ve done, and I couldn’t have done it with out them.

What advice do you have for anyone wanting to become professional and do what you do?

Be willing to give up everything – your social life, your friends, your personal life, for the first ten years, if you are serious about being a good chef and achieving what you want to achieve. You have to put everything else on the back burner, that’s what I’ve done – it’s hard, very hard.  I’ve missed watching my nieces and nephews growing up, I don’t see my mum and dad or my three sisters much. But I know they’re very proud of me and what I’ve achieved.

What is your most treasured possession?

Photos of me in Australia for the rugby World Cup in 2003, and a signed shirt from the Wasps boys . Little pictures from my nieces and nephews that they draw for me – I have them on my fridges at work.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

To go round to my sisters, spending time with my six nieces and nephews, playing kitchens with them! [Laughs]

What would your superpower be?

To be invisible. The amount of questions I get all day every day – to be invisible and enjoy a cup of tea for five minutes! [Laughs]

What is the best piece of advice you have been given?

Chris Galvin at the Orrery used to say to me, ‘If you’ve done something that you weren’t sure about, would you serve it to your mum? If the answer is no, then don’t put it on the plate.’

Your favourite indulgence?

Chocolate and a beer!  I’m marathon training at the moment, so there’s not a lot of that going on. Yes, a beer on a day off from work, and a bit of chocolate, while watching a film.

If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing?

I used to love playing sports when I was younger. I love watching professional rugby, I used to play rugby for school and county, so I’d love to have played rugby.

Tea or coffee?

Coffee

Cat or dog?

Dog

Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?

Still cooking at the bloody Auberge du Lac! [Laughs a lot!] Still getting nagged by my girlfriend for not taking enough time off!

If you had one wish…
If I had kids, to be healthy. Not much else.

 

The Auberge du Lac Restaurant

aubergeevents@brocket-hall.co.uk

Phil’s Facebook Page

Weddings I have shot at The Auberge du Lac include:

Jenni and Iri

Lizzie and Patrick