Chef to Watch: Carlo Scotto, Chef Owner of Amethyst

Chef to Watch: Carlo Scotto, Chef Owner of Amethyst

Tearing up the rulebook and replacing the old with the new is the essence of what makes a menu exciting and is the foundation of Chef Owner Carlo Scotto and his Amethyst restaurant.

Born and raised in Naples, Carlo has gone from strength to strength as he seeks to redefine the boundaries of flavours with Amethyst.

Looking back at where it all began, the chef whose Mayfair restaurant has already become a firm favourite amongst the likes of critics and food obsessives, explained that he never expected to get to where he is now.

“I had a very troubled childhood, and I was hanging out with the wrong crowd. At some point, I had to make a choice and I decided to invest in myself,” explained Carlo.

 

After his first job in working in a Michelin star restaurant at a young age Carlo quickly fell in love with the world of fine dinning deciding that it was an industry that he wanted to master and make his mark in.

Discussing what it was like breaking into the industry as a teenager, Carlo said: “Since working in my first Michelin starred kitchen I never looked back. I was hooked straightaway. I loved the standard, the discipline, the focus, and the prestige to work in such elite kitchen.”

TRAVELS ABROAD

In an effort to master his craft, Carlo decided that he wanted to experience the flavours, food and kitchens of different countries around the world, and so moved to London at the age of 17 to kickstart the beginning of his journey as a chef.

Describing his early days in London whilst revealing an impressive list of past employers, Carlo detailed his formative years in the capital.

“I worked my way up through the kitchen working for many chefs; Gordon [Ramsay], Angela Hartnett. I was working in Murano when Murano was still owned by Gordon Ramsay, so I moved around in that company,” explained Carlo.

His time working for the three Michelin starred chef Gordon Ramsay and the Michelin starred chef Angela Hartnett opened up a unique perspective for the chef, before he sought to move on and continue working abroad.

Describing how his travels influence him as a chef, Carlo explained: “I fell in love with other cultures and decided that Amethyst, which is my restaurant, was going to be a place when I can put every culture I found in my travels, on my plate.”

Having travelled the likes of Japan, New York and France, Carlo’s journey internationally as a chef allowed him to source ideas, gather knowledge and create dishes that exist beyond traditional gastronomy and that remain unfazed by the confines of location.

Through this, the Amethyst experience takes diners on a journey through global cuisine, embarking on multiple stops along the way to discover the many different flavours and cultures of the world.

A WORLDWIDE MENU

Based firmly on the back of his extensive experiences abroad, Carlo presents a truly unique worldwide menu at Amethyst, which combines elements and base ingredients carefully selected and married together, creating complex and delicious dishes for his guests.

“When I do a menu, when I do a dish, I do not search for an ingredient,” he said.

Describing his process for crafting a menu whilst elaborating on what ingredients he enjoys using throughout his cooking, Carlo explained: “I'm not searching for ingredients, what I'm searching for is more of a mix of cultures, a mix of ideas. It's not only cooking and trying to create a menu, it's more researching the culture and then from the culture understanding the ingredients, marrying them with another culture.”

Implementing this process Carlo and the team present a menu combining unique interpretations of Nordic and Japanese cuisine, combined with French and Arabic influences.

The menu starts by offerings dinners a Celeriac Leafy mixed with gochujang, ssamjang, and white chocolate; accompanied with briouat containing almond, sea beet, baharat honey glaze; and a french toast croquette filled with vacche rosse cheese sauce, tarragon, truffle.

Guests are treated to a scallops presented with curry clementine, tomato Ibérico dashi and coffee oil; as well as Carlo’s signature rose petal salmon with yuzu and Piedmont hazelnuts.

As an interlude, the menu features Radicchio served in goat's curd, harissa, peppery yam duck; as well as a Gyoza served with eryngii, black silver lichen, myoga tea Black cod served with caramelised miso, naganegi dashi, burnt hay; Beef cooked in korean bbq style, featuriong gochugaru, spicy & herby jus.

For dessert, dinners are treated to pear served in liquorice, rum, maple syrup; and fig served in port, white chocolate, and accompanied with salted caramel ice cream.

Developing his staff and Spreading amethyst internationally

Looking to the future Carlo admitted he’s not happy where is.

Not because of the situation he’s in, or with the food he’s cooking, or even the direction of Amethyst, but for Carlo the aim isn’t to be completed.

It’s to continue building on success, growing the restaurant and the team, and ultimately continuing down the road he started when he entered the industry.

Describing what keeps him driven on his pass to success, Carlo explained: "If I wake up every morning and say 'oh look at the critics love me' then I know that I will be a failure. Instead I’m waking up like I had critics walking for the doors every day."

When asked what his aims were for the future, he explained he wanted to continue developing his team and see his restaurant and develop into a global chain.

To reach that level, supporting and motivating his team is crucial, with Carlo encouraging staff to research other restaurants, flavours, and cultures as he did earlier in his life.

Detailing how he does this, Carlo explains: “I honestly push my chefs to come in tell me if they've found something new. I ask them, 'did you find any anything?' What have you done at the weekend? Did you research something? Are you been on your social media only all weekend? Just research. Don't go eat in a restaurant that you already been 1000 times, go and try and find a different restaurant to go in.”

“I have a concept which is to spread Amethyst in every major city. I truly believe that Amethyst will be successful in every major city and it will be a blessing for us,” Carlo revealed.