How would you describe the team dynamic at Odette's?
We’ve got a very strong team here; we’ve got nine in the brigade, not including Bryn, and they’ve all been here well over a year so they’re very strong and loyal. As it’s such a small kitchen, we’re a very tight, close knit brigade and we all look after each other.
What was it about the food style at Odette's that matched up with where you saw yourself going?
It’s not overcomplicated food; we try to do classic combinations with a modern twist; there’s lots of thought gone into it but there’s not necessarily lots on a plate; it tends to be one main ingredient with three other elements on the plate and we try to stick to that with every dish we do. It’s just the kind of food that, if I were to go out to a restaurant, it’s what I’d like to go and eat; and that’s a big thing for me – whenever I come up with a new dish it has to be something I would like to eat.
Has working at Odette's given you some idea of what your food style is and how that's developing?
I don’t think that I could say I’ve got my own food style yet because I think it takes a hell of a long time to actually get that but since working here I know what I like and I do know what I want to cook for myself in the future, which is similar to what we do at Odette’s – not too fine dining but comfortable and relaxed with great quality products and let those sing for themselves.
Youv'e had a big refurb recently; what has that involved?
We’ve got more seats overall; we’ve got more décor upstairs in the restaurant and downstairs we’ve had a completely new kitchen with a chef’s table for six people and a PDR room which seats ten people.
How has the new chef's table worked for you?
It’s been a big thing for us. We do an eight-course tasting menu and we like to get the customers involved, so the chefs will serve everything, describe every dish to them and then we get them up to cook as well, so they cook their own fish dish and also plate their own desserts; it’s always developing and we’re changing bits of it every time we do one.
Who came up with the idea of getting the customers involved in cooking?
When we did the first couple of chef’s tables, it was great to see just how interested the customers were. We put a chicken stock on every night, which is an 80-litre pot, and they were amazed by it, so we started showing them round the kitchen and all the different equipment we had; and from there we just thought, why not get them to cook their own fish? 
Not everyone wants to do it but I’d say a good 90% love it and that’s why they’ve booked to come. Unfortunately a lot of customers want to see a Gordon Ramsay-style kitchen with effing and blinding because they think that’s what the industry’s like but of course it’s not like that anymore.
Do you have people complaining that there's not enough swearing?
Yeah, we get people all the time saying: “Oh my God, you’re so quiet!”
Do you see yourself opening up you own place at somepoint?
Yes I see myself trying to branch out on my own in the next three or four years. My girlfriend is also a chef working as a chef de partie at Murano. It would either be in my home town, Deal, or her home town, which is Bristol. It will be interesting to see how we work together but you never know until you try.
