you interested. I think that if chefs are going to stay with you for a while then that's what it's about. They want to know that, as a young person, they are progressing and their career is progressing. 
Nigel and Craig Bancroft, who is the other managing director, have given me that. I've got the utmost respect for them both. I think they are incredible people and we work well together.
So they've given you free reign in the kitchen as to how the menus are developed.
I put a lot of menu developing and things into it. We'll sit down together with Nigel because we want to bring the area together. We like to focus on what's around us. The garden we're bringing on and is a big emphasis in what we're cooking now.
I had a wander round earlier on; it looks lovely.
It is isn't it? We're really trying hard to and we want to grow some new things. We've got a new gardener and it's exciting that we can sit down and the two of you together can create some fantastic things as well as bringing your own things to the table. I organise the kitchen, get all the menus together, do the tastings and then it goes live. I'm pretty much 100% involved in all that.
You seem very comfortable in your own skin?
I like to think I always go in there to be in control of what I'm doing; show people respect, they show me the respect. For me to work long hours and then at the end of the day, for a guest to say to me that was absolutely fantastic, that's the icing on the cake. That's what you are there to achieve is for people to enjoy what you're doing.
So what's your biggest single professional challenge while you've been here at Northcote?
Everyday's a challenge; having to manage a kitchen, get the food up to its best potential. Keep evolving as a person, keep food moving. Also with competing on GBM there are added pressures on the side and it's been a phenomenal experience for me. Without a doubt something I've never regretted doing. To win last year and to get to the banquet again this year and being the only woman in the final again was just amazing. You sit back and never would I have thought a three or four years ago I'd be doing something like that.
Three or four years ago would you have envisaged that you would have had a Michelin star?
No, no! To be able to retain a Michelin star is, again, an incredible experience. We got the 4th rosette last year as well. That in itself just keeps you motivated. To keep moving on and keep pushing forward and the experience for me here has just been an incredible journey.
Are you the youngest female chef with a star under her belt?
I'm not too sure if I'm the youngest actually. I may have been the youngest when I retained the star for Nigel when I was 23. There are only a few women, I think, who have got Michelin stars.
It's always nice to see women chefs at the forefront, much maligned in my opinion.
There's a lot of inspiration out there. Angela Hartnett, she's the leading light in the country, isn't she? She works incredibly hard for what she's got. She's a very big inspiration to me. To see her before and eventually she's got her own place; you hear a lot about her. When you speak to her, her passion and her enthusiasm about food is obvious. Again, another lady keeps very true to her roots; keeping that Italian feel to her. I think it's incredible.
And how much importance do you place on training and development, not only for yourself but your team?
In the kitchen at Northcote we run an apprenticeship scheme. We've always got younger people coming in. They go college one day a week, take two days off then, so they are in the kitchen for four days with us. Again it's up to you to be able to teach them, to progress them as people to come on. Instead of going to college full time, they took the option to work here for three months and then go round to the other pubs that Nigel and Craig run. So by the time they finish their apprenticeship here, they really have got an understanding of what kind of food they want to go into. Whether it's really good pub food, whether it's fine dining or the mass catering that we do at Blackburn Rovers. It's a great opportunity for those young people. And also you want to be able to pass your skills on to all those youngsters. I've got one lad in the kitchen now that is just about to finish his apprenticeship; another guy who was with me for quite a while, he's out of his apprenticeship by two years now but he's still with us. Again if you keep someone enthusiastic, you keep teaching them and that's a really important thing. They've got to feel as if they are learning and also it's an exciting thing to do to pass on your knowledge to others.
Do you see yourself as a nurturing chef?
Nurturing? Yeah. You want to show people correctly because ultimately you want staff that, when they do leave here, to go on and say they learnt from Nigel Haworth and Lisa Allen. And that it's the correct way and done professionally, that's the thing about it. I love to teach people and be able to progress your food within the kitchen itself.
And have there been any lads and lassies that have crossed your threshold that you think, I can see the potential in you and you'll go far?
We've got one lad with us now who has been with us for about five years and he's actually got to the junior sous level and he's very talented who works incredibly hard . His skills are impeccable and people like that you want to see. Last year he entered Young Chef and Waiter for the first time and he came third. He really put his focus and energy into that. Putting someone forward for the competition, we'd come in early in the morning and give him a surprise basket. We'd go through different things with him, give him questionnaires. Again it keeps them excited and gives them something to drive forward for.
Is that the way to do it, through apprenticeships?
There are a lot more people doing them now. That way you're creating a path for people to come into the kitchen and learn about what you do and what you experience. They can then pass it on when they move on. Le Manoir and places like that are training their own people.
What are you looking to gain from Northcote in terms of development and your future career opportunities? Will you have your own restaurant in five years time or will you still be here or would you still like to be here?
I've been at Northcote for a long time and they've given me great opportunities to progress my career here. A lot of people ask me the question of what you going to do in five or ten years time, have you got this big path? I think to when I started and I had a path of going abroad and stuff, but things just kept being dangled in front of me and you see yourself progressing which is why I've stayed. I work really well with Nigel and Craig. Other things in the pipeline for the future? I'm not too sure, maybe; its things you'll talk about and one day I maybe like to see myself in my own restaurant or running a kitchen that is just completely my name but then again it depends. I'm just a person who loves what I do and when that opportunity arrives, I'll look at it then.
By Lea Allen
