Our Stories

Preparing for Winter with Iain Smith

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what you’ve done before? 


I’m originally from Leicester, central England. I moved to London when I was sixteen. I went on a specialised chef scholarship, where I spent three years. I got transferred to London to work for some hotels and restaurants. I was lucky enough to spend some time doing an apprenticeship at the Goring Hotel. I stayed there for four years before taking the opportunity to move to The Square, a 2 Michelin-starred restaurant. It was the biggest change of my life, moving from one kitchen to another as a young kid. It was both the hardest thing I had ever done but also the best thing I have ever done. I stayed at The Square for a year and a half, then I moved to work with the Galvin Brothers. They have a few restaurants in the United Kingdom, and I was at the Galvin La Chapelle. They had just opened the place; it was nine years ago. Being part of the opening of such a restaurant was incredible! I stayed there for a year, then I decided to move abroad, so I went to Sydney and I worked in a restaurant called Tetsuya. Another fantastic place, with Japanese-French cuisine! I learned a lot there. I came back to the United Kingdom and went back to Galvin for a couple of months and then moved on to Texture. I got called back by the Galvin La Chapelle to become Senior Sous-Chef, which again was an incredible experience, as I was just 24 years old. After two years in that position, I moved on to Jason Atherton for five years. Then, out of the blue, I got a call from No. Fifty Cheyne where I became the Chef on this great opening. It has been an incredible journey so far.

 

What are your specialties as a Chef?

 
I have an unbelievable passion for fish and shellfish. For me, cooking a beautiful piece of turbot or poaching a beautiful piece of lobster involves a certain skill level. That’s where my passion lies, and I made it my specialty.

  

Can you tell us more about the recipes that you chose today? 


Sure! To begin with the chicken and foie-gras terrine, we chose the Château de Pommard Clos Marey-Monge Monopole 2015. The reason why we chose it was purely based on the fact that the terrine is quite rich but not too powerful. It creates a beautiful marriage. The wine is clean and rich, but not too heavy. The terrine and the Monopole pair superbly well! As for Ladoix Premier Cru “Les Gréchons” 2018, the wine has such a great color and richness! On the palate, it pops with acidity that cuts through. The dish I chose is quite rich in itself. I love fish and meat together, so I prepared a beautiful piece of braised oxtail with turbot, cockles and some parsley “pommes purée,” as French people say. I imagined that the wine would pair quite well. As soon as I tasted Famille Carabello-Baum’s Ladoix 2018, I knew this was the one!

  

What do you cook at home during the winter season? 


I love what the French call a “potage maison”—a good, home-cooked, wintery soup. I remember going into the hills and picking up some cèpes and coming home to make a mushroom beautiful soup. Imagine just sitting at a table, at home, with a beautiful creamy cèpes soup… you can’t beat that!

  

What are your secrets to food and wine pairings? 


Good question! I think the most important thing would be to respect the people, the craft, and the passion behind both the food and the wine. When you have the opportunity to taste a beautiful meal or a lovely wine that’s been aged for months, you have to take into account the passion that goes into it. It takes so much time and effort to produce anything that is worth having. I think if you’ve got the respect for the wine and the food, and for the people who are producing them, that in itself gives you an element of why and how. You have to make sure that the wine and the food balance each other. So if you’ve got a rich dish, you don’t want too much of a heavy wine. The wine should carry that punch without taking over the food. And vice-versa, the food can’t take over the wine. They have to respect each other in a way.