Adam Byatt, Chef Patron, Trinity Restaurant, London

Adam Byatt is the chef patron of Trinity, a restaurant in Clapham, London. The restaurant opened in 2006 and has three AA rosettes. It serves seasonal, British cuisine. Adam was inspired to become a chef by his grandfather, who was a cook in the army, and his mother, who was a professionally trained chef. He trained at college in Bournemouth, while also doing an apprenticeship with the Academy of Culinary Arts at Claridge’s hotel in London. With the head chef, he moved to the Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge, following this with time at the Square restaurant in Mayfair. During this time the restaurant won its second Michelin star and Adam was promoted to sous chef. After this he was head chef at the Worx, Philip Howard’s restaurant in Fulham. The two worked together to form the café concept ‘Jus’, but folded the business shortly afterwards. Undeterred, in 2001 he set up his own restaurant, Thyme, in Clapham. The restaurant won various Restaurant of the Year awards and was a success, but the business closed in 2005. A year later Adam opened Trinity. In 2010 he published a cookbook with recipes designed to be cooked at home called How to Eat In. Adam, thank you for your time today, please give us a brief on Trinity and your role within, the operation. Trinity has been alive and kicking now for four and a half years, we employ twenty four staff across the business, that's 7-8 in the kitchen. We are a 7-day a week operation, although we close Sunday night and Monday lunch. We are open from Midday on Sunday through to five pm. Monday mornings are used to deep clean, to stock take, and even to give the building a rest. Trinity is a fifty seven cover restaurant - Most nights are full and weekend evenings we cater for between 70 / 80 people. Are you open for lunch? Yes, we open for lunch, we always knew that lunch would never be a massive draw, but we regularly do twenty covers for lunch during mid week and are building up to 30/50 Friday and Saturday. Lunch is competitive though, you compete against the high street? Yes we do, but also there is little or no commerce here, so we are really reliant on locals and passing trade, however across the week we will normally cater for between 550/600 guests. Also opening lunch allows us to operate a business model that works flexible shift patterns, some early's, some late's as well as a double's, I'm still a great believer in getting all of your mis-en-place done in the morning, that's certainly the way I've always worked, and it's the way we operate here at Trinity. Are you sole owner of Trinity, Adam? No, it's a partnership. It's 50/50, my business partner is Angus Jones, I work in the business; I think it's unfair to say that Angus is a silent partner, as he contributes an awful lot to the business, but he's not in the operation on a day to day basis. Is Angus an entrepreneur? Is he from a restaurant background? He is an entrepreneur; he's also a very bright man. He owns the building that we are in "˜the Polygon', and has had a restaurant here for ten years. Angus was also a founder of Smith's of Smithfield in the beginning, but no longer has a business interest there. I approached Angus about a partnership and we came up with what we both believed to be an equitable deal for both of us. It allows me to be in control of my own destiny, and that was important for me to be allowed the freedom to operate the business. I use Angus as a sounding board and he channels through me the parameters that allow us to operate successfully and efficiently. He has also taught me a lot and allowed me the space to grow outside of the kitchen which is important for my own stimulation. It obviously works very well for you? It works very well.   Adam , if you had to pigeon hole your food style how would you describe it? It's really difficult to simply pigeon hole it, I think you have to look a little further back and understand a little about my background. I spent five years being classically trained, by the Academy of Culinary Arts. I was John Williams recently at the Ritz. John was really my culinary "˜father' so to speak, my first five years cooking I was classically trained at Claridges. I then moved to The Square, which is very modern British Modern European. I like elements from France and Spain, but I champion British produce, and British cooking. Yes, I may have a ravioli on the menu, but it's British cooking. You mentioned John Williams and Phil (Howard) two huge names very different backgrounds, how did they influence you? At Claridges, you are very much a part of a process, you're in a team of eighty to ninety chefs. John Williams taught me how to be a Chef; how to respect people; how to respect the hierarchy and how to value and respect the ingredients. John Williams, for me, was and still is one of the best Chefs on the stoves. Give that man ingredients and he will produce something outstanding, he has an amazing palette, I left John at twenty one. I still had a lot to learn as a cook. Phillip Howard taught me how to cook, so you have two contrasts that don't really cross over. I haven't worked for a huge amount of different Chefs, I think I really adopted Phil's food style, as for me it simply made so much sense, it was just right. It was like walking into a house; a clothes store anywhere and just getting that "yes" gut feeling - that is what happened to me at The Square. I never tired of the cooking at the Square. The restaurant evolved and developed as did the food, we moved from one to two stars, but I loved every day. Phil's philosophy and approach was amazing, it was very simple and very respectful of the produce. When I was with John Williams I was part of a large team, part of the process, within a chain of events that influenced the customer's food. You may blanch the spinach, you may chime the bones on a rack of lamb, peel and slice the potatoes, but it's unlikely that you'll cook or work on the complete elements of the whole dish. At the Square with Phil Howard, I arrived and I was put on a section. I was given