#14 Food Glorious Food and an Interview with a Chef

I decided to write a different blog for a change and interview Jack Williams who is an incredible chef and also (which I know makes me biased) my middle son. We are a family of foodies and love any opportunity of getting together to cook, eat fabulous food and catch up.

When Jack first moved to London, he began working in a restaurant called Primeur owned by Dave Gingell and Jeremie Cometto-Linghelm. Since then, they have opened new restaurants, Westerns Laundry, Jolene and Big Jo, which are also bakeries, in London all of which Jack has been involved with.

Back in 2019 it was my 50^th birthday and I decided that I was going to celebrate it in fifty different ways. Some of the things I did were big like going to Italy on holiday – others were dog walks and pub lunches with friends; however, one of my favourites was going for dinner at Jolene, the restaurant in London where Jack was Head Chef.

Jolene is situated in Newington Green close to where I lived in north London as a teenager so walking there made me quite nostalgic. When we arrived, Jack showed us round. It is a lovely space with high ceilings and a long bar that takes up most of one side.

We drank delicious organic wine all evening and Jack ordered the whole menu which was fantastic. Jolene serves lots of sharing plates with a small daily changing menu written using vegetables from small farms and fish from Cornwall.

Jack writes the menu by hand the night before based on what is in season and what his suppliers say they will provide.

It was an absolute feast and a wonderful evening that I won’t forget. Everything we ate was fresh and exciting with fabulous taste combinations

This is a selection of the dishes we sampled. In the large picture at the front: Pollock, fennel, tomatoes and aioli. At the back: T bone with confit garlic, roast onions and greens. Top left: Cavatelli, broccoli, chilli, garlic and pangratta. Middle: Carbonara. Bottom: Spelt, wild garlic, hazelnuts and Parmesan.

As we haven’t seen Jack since last summer, I sent him a list of questions and here are the answers.

Why did you decide to become a chef?

I’ve always been a bit obsessed with food but was put off by people saying it was a bad job – long hours, shit money – blah, blah, blah. I went to university in Bristol but was still much more interested in food. I got a job in a pub, totally fell in love with cooking and never went back to university.

When Jack was around 15, he started working in The Six Bells, our local in Payhembury, as a pot washer and he used to stick up skittles. He worked there while he was at sixth form and it was then that he became really interested in food. They sometimes let him do the desserts and he started buying his own ingredients and cooking things at home where it was quite crazy then as there were six of us living in a small house. He would buy the stuff to make one tiny pudding so it would take ages to make and he would use loads of utensils. At the end it was invariably delectable but as we only had a tiny mouthful each we were always left wanting more! I seem to remember he made a chocolate pot once which must have been good as it’s still lodged in my mind. Before going to university, he had a gap year and went up to Bristol for an interview to work at a ski resort in France. They asked him to bring something with him to talk about. He took a panna cotta he made and got the job. While he was in France he worked in the resort’s kitchen until he had an unfortunate accident where he broke his leg by using it as a brake while on a sledge, but that’s another story.

Which country most inspires your cooking?

France, Britain, Italy and Spain. I can’t pick a single one of them, but these are the countries I’ve travelled, cooked and eaten in the most and have the greatest influence on the things I cook.

Jack is always on the look out for new challenges. If he feels like he’s standing still he gets stressed and begins to question his life. So a couple of years ago he was getting itchy feet and his bosses agreed he could go to Italy for a month to get it out of his system and then came back to become Head Chef of Jolene which they were about to open.

One of the places he stayed was Trattoria Caprini in a hamlet called Torbe, near Verona.

According to a review from the Lonely Planet: “Family run Caprini serves heart-warming fare you wish your mamma could make. The homemade menu includes the delicious lasagnetta with hand-rolled pasta, and a ragú of beef, tomato, porcini and finferlo mushrooms. Downstairs, beside the fire of the old pistoria (bakery), you can sample some 200 Valpolicella labels.”

Jack was welcomed by the Caprini family and when I asked him what he learnt while he was there, he said, “how to hand roll pasta with a massive rolling pin.”

Collecting cookbooks is one of Jack’s passions. Whenever he comes home he can always be found with his nose in a book, scribbling out recipes on his note pad as he devises combinations for new menus. He has over 1000 cookbooks. I know this because once when he was between houses and staying with friends, he asked us to look after them. When he moved into his new place we brought them up to London and they filled the whole back of the car!

I remember Jack telling me about one of the highlights of the trip which was arranged for him by the Caprinis. Early one morning an old man turned up in a battered up ancient Land Rover. He had a small dog and walked leaning heavily on a walking stick. He took Jack to some woods and as they walked the dog snuffled and sniffed out truffles which they dug up. As the man couldn’t speak any English and Jack only had a smattering of Italian their main communication was through sign language and lots of smiling. Afterwards they returned to the trattoria and ate fresh pasta with black truffles which, according to Jack, was fantastic.

What do you love most about being a chef?

This sounds like quite a generic answer but feeling a connection to the land and the changing of the seasons is quite special in a world where you can have whatever you want when you want it. Unfortunately, it is something we are losing much to our detriment!

Favourite dish you have ever made?

A barbecued mackerel on a beach in Cornwall about 6 years ago.

How old were you when you started cooking? And how did you learn?

I started cooking stuff from Jamie Oliver cookbooks when I was pretty young. After that it was with a lot of help and encouragement from Dad, Mum, my Nan and a family friend, Eric. I very vividly remember Dad showing me how to make a roux and cheese sauce for cauliflower cheese. He taught me lots of other things too but for some reason that sticks in my mind.

We always had a roast dinner every Sunday and sat and ate together as a family so there was a lot of opportunity to learn those skills. I feel like Jack and Jason learnt a lot together through experimenting and they have a strong bond as a result of this.

My mum always encouraged Jack too. When he stayed over at her house she would buy ingredients and he would cook for her. They had, well Mum still has, a special book named Dinner Dates where they wrote down each of the recipes and rated them.

Our family friend, Eric gets a mention because he introduced Jack to shellfish at a young age. He would often bring huge shell on prawns or mussels to cook. I remember Jack’s eyes lighting up the day he arrived with a whole lobster.

When Jack was 22 and Will was 10 we went on holiday with Eric to Brittany. The whole holiday was about food because of the wonderful markets there.

Each day we went to a different tiny village and bought fresh produce which jack asked for in French. The most memorable market was the one where we bought two enormous spider crabs which made Jack’s year I think, although Will wasn’t so sure!

Who is your inspiration in the culinary world?

I don’t think I can pick anyone specific, but I’ve read a lot this past year: Elizabeth David, Alice Waters, Marcella Hazan, Jane Grigson, M.F.K Fischer and Simon Hopkinson have all been helping me get through.

What have you been cooking recently?

It’s been absolutely freezing during the past few weeks so lots of comforting things! Lasagne, Shepherd’s Pie, Goulash. Rich, mouth-watering wintery things!

What are you cooking currently?

I’ve just been given a new barbecue as a present so this weekend as it was lovely weather, I cooked scallops, langoustine, Red Mullet accompanied by a fennel salad.

What is your favourite dessert?

Tiramisu. No explanation needed!

Best cooking experience?

I started working at Primeur when I first moved to London. I had just spent 6 months working somewhere I really didn’t enjoy and was feeling pretty demoralized; to come into such a fun, busy kitchen cooking beautiful food with some really brilliant people was a complete tonic and totally reignited my love for being in restaurants.

Tell me about where you work now

I’m working at a bakery and restaurant called BIG JO. We are part of a movement to promote regenerative farming practices. I really believe in the positive changes we are helping to bring about. And we are baking delicious bread, pastries and Roman-style pizzas.

Opening during a pandemic was a proper challenge and having to change what we do multiple times has been quite tough. Luckily, I work with a wonderful group of people who have made it (mostly) fun and hopefully we’re on the homestretch!

Jack has been working for Dave and Jeremie who source their grain for the flour they use from France. Andy Cato, former DJ and half of Groove Armada moved to France with his family and began growing ancient grain in a traditional way using horses rather than tractors which harm the soil.

You can have 6 dead or alive guests for dinner, who do you invite and why?

George Orwell, Elizabeth David, Anthony Bourdain, Zadie Smith, Roald Dahl and Alice Waters.

These are all people I very much admire and I would love the opportunity to talk and eat with them. I think some strong personalities and opinions would lead to great conversation and they are all people who like to eat (I think)!

What would you cook for them?

Something simple and delicious so I can spend as much time as possible at the table.

Asparagus and Hollandaise

Boiled Langoustine with lemon

Roast chicken, new potatoes and a green salad

Custard Tart

Cheese, wine and a game of cards.

What advice would you give to someone considering a career in cooking?

If you properly love food and cooking – do it. You meet a lot of people who get into it for the wrong reasons now, thanks to Instagram and TV cooking shows. The reality is a lot of hard work, working weekends and late nights. Personally, I love it as it’s a chance to be constantly learning, developing and it’s a lot of fun.

When Jack first got into working in kitchens I was worried as it’s such a stressful and exhausting job where you burn the candle at both ends. What I can’t deny is his passion. Whenever he comes home despite being worn out he still wants to cook and never seems to tire of making food, reading recipe books and writing menus.