After years of developing his passion for food back in his hometown of Holland, a position at Ireland’s famous, Castle Leslie led to Joery Castel plating up food for the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Prince Pierre of Monaco. It wasn’t until 2008, after a stint working for an outside catering company, that Joery was able to branch out on his own bringing his brother, Jasper into the fold to open the award winning, The BoatHouse Restaurant.
Since it’s humble beginnings almost 10 years ago, The BoatHouse has gone on to achieve phenomenal success being listed at number 50 in the Sunday Times Top 100 UK Restaurant supplement, earning 3AA Rosettes and also placing at 831 on La Liste- The World's Best 1000 Restaurants.
We recently caught up with Joery to find out what his one rule in the kitchen is, why his friend refers to his food as ‘chaotic with structure’ and why we should look out for his son in future chef profiles.
You were quite into football when you were younger but gave it up for the kitchen, what was it about cooking that attracted you at such a young age?
I did love playing football at a younger age, but I was also aware that I was never going to be Marco van Basten or Johan Cruijf. At first it wasn't the cooking that attracted me to the kitchen, it was my love of food. The first question after coming home from school was always, ''what's for dinner, mum?'' This turned into helping her out in the kitchen, which is something my own son does as well when he spends the weekend with me. Watch out for him in future chefs' profiles as his Marie Rose is fabulous.
You obviously co-own the restaurant with your brother Jasper, did you always want to have your own restaurant and with your brother?
We never really had
thought about going into business together until the opportunity arose for us in 2008. Jasper started in catering because of
me; the chefs I worked with needed their cars washed, so he started doing that once a month and when we needed a kitchen porter he was moved into the kitchen. Eventually he went his own way and became a Bar Manager and later Restaurant Manager. When I ended up in Ireland he followed a few years later to help me in an outside catering company before this beautiful little restaurant presented itself to us.
When you were at Castle Leslie a lot of famous faces such as Mick Jagger and the Prince of Monaco were frequent customers, what was it like to plate up for them? Was there a lot more pressure on you and the rest of the chefs?
As cool as it is to cook for 'famous' people I always had one rule in the kitchen which is that everyone is special, we treat all of our guests as VIPs, never-the-less you can always feel the excitement among the staff when celebrities are in the restaurant.
After leaving your role at Castle Leslie you went on to become head chef of an outside
catering company, what was that like and how did it compare to being in a restaurant?
Outside catering is a different ball game, I mean, you never know where you'll end up cooking, it could be in a field where cows were grazing hours earlier or a remote beach. I had done a similar job in Amsterdam before so I knew the drill. The key is to be even more organised than in your own kitchen, perfect preparation is essential as if you forget an ingredient or a tool you're in trouble. I would pack everything and more as when you're out it's always better to be looking at than looking for.
Having worked in a lot of kitchens and with some great chefs, who would you say inspires you the most?
I did the stage with Allistair Little when I was 20 which was a bit of an eye opener. Coming from a little village and being able to stay and work in London for a while was amazing. The restaurant’s
