Anna Haugh, Executive Chef, Bob Bob Ricard

Anna Haugh is the executive chef at Bob Bob Ricard. She has previously worked in a number of Michelin-starred kitchens under the likes of Shane Osborn at Pied a Terre and Phil Howard at the Square, before opening Gordon Ramsay’s London House.

*Please note Anna has now left Bob Bob Ricard to pursue a new venture

Originally from Ireland she discovered her love of cooking through being in the kitchen with her mother and her latest challenge is relaunching the menu at Bob Bob Ricard.

The Staff Canteen spoke to Anna about her cooking style, being a woman in the industry and why she regrets not sticking it out for longer in Paris.

You’ve always cooked from a young age so did you always know you wanted to be a chef?

My mother always taught us as children so, from the age of 12 I would have done the Sunday roast from start to finish. I had good instincts for cooking and a friend of mine’s mother turned round to me at 17 and said ‘why don’t you be a chef?’ which to me was like saying ‘why don’t you be an astronaut?’ – I just never thought I could do it. The career advisor at school made me think it wasn’t really a career option for women but when I went into a kitchen for the first time (simply to open tins of fruit cocktail!) it’s difficult to describe but I felt complete, it was love at first sight. I never looked back and it was a gift that I wandered into a kitchen.

You’ve worked in some great kitchens including Gualtiero Marchesi in Hotel Lotto which held a Michelin star in Paris, but was London always your aim?

Absolutely, I was working in Paris as a junior chef and head pastry chef because I was told I should go to France to learn. When I came back to Dublin everyone told me to go to London, so I went thinking I needed one more year then I’d be a qualified chef and I could probably open my own place. I arrived in London fifteen years ago and I realised I knew nothing. So I started back from scratch in Pied a Terre with Shane Osborn.

So London pushed you outside of your comfort zone?

God yes, to be good at this job you have to be able to live outside of your comfort zone. There’s nothing easy about high-end food in London at all.

What was Shane like to work with?

He was mental! He’s charismatic, endearing, funny and he really was incredible. He taught me everything I needed to know about the hot side of kitchens, timing, how to organise your mise en place – I was so lucky to work under him.

Then you moved to The Square?

I was super lucky to go there. I learned about the harmony of ingredients, seasonality and respect of the produce. Not that Shane didn’t have those things but here was a huge focus on it in the Square. The only way I can describe Phillip Howard is he is full of calm passion, the kitchen could burst into flames and Phil would just calmly say ‘everybody out the door’.

If I had been in the Square before Pied de Terre I would be a different chef today, a lesser chef, because what I learnt at Pied a Terre was really graft. Work hard, think fast, organise yourself and be prepared for the shit hitting the fan. I took those skills to the Square and was then able to learn more in depth about truffles, risotto grains – so many things that I’d never had the time or the space for.

You went back to Pied a Terre as a sous chef but then took a role at Rocket Foods?

Yes, it was an events company and for me it was amazing. It was completely different and I learnt stuff there I wouldn’t have in a restaurant kitchen. We would do the most exciting and unbelievable parties, I was there for four years and I really enjoyed it but it wasn’t enough and I came out of it.

London House was your next role, which you opened for Gordon Ramsay. Did you enjoy it and did he have much input?

Oh yeah he was washing dishes every night……(laughs) Gordon doesn’t touch a knife! Give him a break, the man is literally in three different countries every week. But he is inspiring, he’s a delegator and he is a leader.

They sent me to LA for a few months while I was waiting to open London House and it was amazing, the food scene is trail blazing and the standard of service is so high. I suppose its Californian cuisine which is an eclectic mix, and the amazing weather means the quality of the produce they have is phenomenal.

Having worked for some very talented chefs who have their own style of food they are known for, is it hard