James Golding joins The Larder House: ‘It has reignited something in me’

James Golding said joining forces with The Larder House founder James Fowler had “reignited something” in him, as the pair set out to introduce more children and young people to food, cooking and careers in hospitality.

The former group chef director of The Pig and regular Sunday Brunch guest recently left beachfront Rockwater to take on the new challenge at the established Southbourne high street restaurant.

He has joined a new-look team alongside owner James Fowler, 2014 winner of the World Class UK Bartender of the Year, and Matt Noonan, who has been appointed head chef following senior roles at Michelin-starred and AA-Rosette restaurants across Hampshire and the New Forest.

Reflecting on the move, James Golding told The Staff Canteen: “It has reignited something in me which has either laid dormant or been waiting to come out for a very long time.

“It is almost like a rejuvenation of all the years of experience that we have had, which we can now put into something very personal to us.”

Central to that next chapter is a shared ambition between the two Jameses to use The Larder House as a working environment in which children, teenagers and young adults can experience cooking, front of house, drinks and the wider hospitality industry.

Southbourne is a coastal suburb to the east of Bournemouth, close to Christchurch. The Larder House has traded there for 15 years and has grown beyond the original restaurant to include upstairs cocktail and spirits bar The Library and independent cheese and provisions shop Parlourmentary.

Getting children into a working restaurant

The most ambitious part of the new partnership is not simply a change to the kitchen or menu.

The plans include working with local schools, holding after-school sessions and creating experiences in which children can prepare food at The Larder House themselves, before their parents arrive to eat what they have made.

For James Golding, the idea has a strong personal foundation.

He said: “I come from a family of teachers.

“Jimmy (Fowler) and I both have younger children going through the education system and there is a clear lack of food education.

“It is difficult for children to get excited about hospitality in schools because some schools do not even have food technology classrooms anymore. It is not a required part of their education.

“We are doing them a disservice by not exposing them to this incredible industry.”

The aim is broader than recruiting the next generation of chefs.

James explained that students leaving home without basic food knowledge could learn a small repertoire of starters, main courses and desserts, understand ingredients and flavour, and become less reliant on expensive food deliveries.

He said: “We are talking about life skills, not simply enjoying cooking. These are life skills that have sadly fallen away.”

A longstanding commitment to food education

The focus on children is not a completely new direction for James.

During his time with The Pig, he worked to improve children’s menus and argued that a restaurant’s food philosophy should apply equally to younger guests.

Speaking to The Staff Canteen in 2017, he explained how children were taken into The Pig’s kitchen gardens to see produce growing, sometimes picking leaves for their own meals and developing a clearer connection between the garden and the plate.

He later joined The Staff Canteen Live College Tour at Bournemouth and Poole College, where established chefs spoke to students about hospitality careers, changing working conditions and the importance of provenance and sustainability.

More recently, while working at Rockwater, James again raised concerns about the lack of inspiration available to children through food education and discussed plans for monthly cooking workshops.

The Larder House now gives him an established independent restaurant in which to develop those ideas alongside James Fowler.

James Fowler said: “We want to encourage more people, particularly young people, to work in hospitality. By changing the restaurant, we can turn things on their head, bring people back into the industry, demonstrate its positive side and retrain people.

“We also want to show the general public what real food looks like and what a restaurant menu should look like.”

The pair plan to develop the educational work through a proposed Southbourne Culinary Institute (SOBO.CI), using the restaurant during quieter periods rather than attempting to recreate a conventional classroom.

James Golding said: “Whatever somebody’s interest is, we want to facilitate something that can ignite their passion for one part of hospitality or the industry as a whole.”

He believes giving young people a realistic introduction could also improve retention.

Rather than discovering the demands of restaurant life only after accepting their first job, participants would experience a working operation, understand what different roles involve and make a more informed decision about whether hospitality is right for them.

James Fowler also believes the industry they would enter has evolved considerably from the one experienced by many established chefs.

He said: “The industry has changed so much during the past 10 or 20 years. Now is a really good time to enter it.

“There are non-toxic kitchens, good hours, good pay and opportunities to travel. The focus is returning to serving good food and drink.”

Matt Noonan joins as head chef

While education is central to the partnership’s wider ambition, the trio are equally clear that it must be supported by a strong restaurant.

Matt Noonan has been brought in as head chef to lead the day-to-day cooking and help develop The Larder House’s food offering.

New Forest-raised Matt has more than 20 years of industry experience, working as head chef at the likes of The Black Rat in Winchester during its time as a Michelin-starred restaurant, and The Montagu Arms in Beaulieu.

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Matt said The Larder House had been on his radar for years.

“When I saw the vacancy, I could not pass it up,” he admitted.

“This kind of job is virtually impossible to find nowadays.

“Travelling from Southampton is worth it for what we have here, which is something truly special and unique. I am very excited to be here and for the next step of what The Larder House has to offer.”

The role also presents a new technical challenge for Matt, who is working professionally with a wood-fired oven for the first time.

He said: “It is daunting in some ways, but it is mostly exciting, fresh and different.

“It was one of the major draws of coming here.”

Everything on the plate has a reason

The restaurant’s cooking is centred on its wood-fired oven and charcoal grill, with regularly changing dishes and a flexible format that allows guests to order smaller plates or commit to larger sharing dishes.

James Fowler said the approach was built around provenance, traceability and direct relationships with producers, combining local and British ingredients with carefully selected products from Europe.

He said: “Everything that goes onto the plate should be there for a reason.

“It should have been nurtured in the right way and cooked properly.”

He added: “It is a breath of fresh air to cook food that we are all very proud of and that means something to us.”

That philosophy also connects the restaurant to the proposed education programme.

James Golding said teaching somebody how to cook was only one part of the process. He wants participants to understand why chefs select particular ingredients, how buying locally can support surrounding businesses and why quality and sustainability affect the finished dish.

He said: “It is one thing to teach young people to cook. It is another to explain why they should look for quality, sustainability and locality.

“That does not just produce a lovely plate of food. It supports local businesses and communities.”

The first two Gozney ovens

Wood fire also played a part in bringing the two Jameses together.

Although they attended the same school at different times, they did not know one another growing up.

James Golding first became aware of The Larder House through a conversation about commercial Gozney ovens while he was at The Pig.

He said: “James bought the first Gozney commercial wood-fired oven and installed it here. We bought the second one for The Pig at Brockenhurst.

“When I was talking to Tom about the ovens, I thought we had bought the first one. He told me the first had actually gone into The Larder House.”

That prompted James to research the Southbourne restaurant and later visit for dinner.

A message after the meal developed into a friendship, with the pair subsequently travelling to France, taking truffle trips and working together at events.

The idea of joining forces emerged during a conversation at James Fowler’s home about the challenges facing hospitality and what they could do to present a more positive version of the industry.

How The Larder House helped change Southbourne

When The Larder House opened 15 years ago, Southbourne Grove had a considerably smaller food and drink scene.

Inspired by travel in Europe, particularly Spain, as well as London venues such as Gordon’s Wine Bar, James Fowler built the original offer around bread, charcuterie, cheese, wine and traditional cooking methods.

He admitted the concept initially required some explanation, particularly when customers compared the price of imported and artisan charcuterie with a conventional pub meal.

The surrounding high street has since been transformed.

James said: “There are now almost 40 places where you can get a coffee or a beer on this high street. There were three when we started 15 years ago, so it has changed completely.”

The Larder House also expanded its own identity.

The Library, housed above the restaurant, became a speakeasy-inspired hidden cocktail and spirits bar built around seasonal drinks, unusual bottles and what the business describes as its “Library of Liquor”.

Across the road, Parlourmentary developed from the cheese stall James once operated outside the restaurant into an independent shop specialising in cheese, cured meats and provisions sourced from smaller British and European producers.

Together, the three spaces give the new team a restaurant, bar and retail operation through which they can explore cooking, drinks, service, sourcing and hospitality education.

For James Fowler, the next chapter is about using the trio’s combined experience to strengthen the restaurant while opening the door to people who might otherwise never consider hospitality.

“We want to make it a big change for the industry,” he said.

The Larder House are interested in hearing from any people or businesses are interested in supporting SOBO.CI, either in person or via @thelarderhouse on Instagram.