at communicating. He was picked out by the staff as being very inspirational.”
He also revealed the recipe for Obsession success. “It’s getting the really interesting chefs with the great personalities as well as being great cooks,” he explained. “The food’s just been amazing. When you do events like this, you always expect it to be good, but it really surpassed all expectations.”
A low point throughout the two weeks was a temporary shortage of edible charcoal, needed in several of the dishes. Nigel said: “
Shaun Herggat alone needed two kilos. It has to be a particular type, called Japanese edible charcoal, not just an old piece of wood that’s burnt.”
As plans for next year go, Nigel is looking to make some decisions in the next few weeks. “To be honest with you,” he said. “We could fill 25 nights, but it’s having the stamina to do it. You’ve just got to get the right blend of chefs. We’re already looking at recruiting from Peru and Mexico. We had a fantastic line up this year, we were very lucky.”
Nigel will also be flying to the Maldives to cook in six weeks time and said:“On your travels you can always look and find gems that you didn’t know about.”
In celebration of 30 years, chef
Gary Jones will travel to Northcote to cook on St Georges Day, and Nigel is set to cook at
Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in June.
“I think we’re also going to do something for our customers particularly to celebrate 30 years and that’s in the plan for later in the year,” Nigel added. “It never stops at Northcote, it never stops.”
By Molly Mileham-Chappell
