We speak to the Great British Menu judge and restaurateur about his favourite chefs, dining in public spaces, and why he blends his own Earl Grey tea.
Oliver Peyton’s various business endeavors are like little milestones in my life. As a 20-something art student, I wasn’t cool enough to get into the Atlantic Bar which opened in 1994. I spent much of the late 90s boozing in his Mash bar just off London’s Oxford Street. And finally, while writing my book a few years ago I drank many cups of coffee from his Peyton and Byrne cafe in the British Library.
Peyton smiles at the ‘not cool enough’ for Atlantic story, and tells me how his own door staff stopped him, the late Alexander McQueen and Ruby Wax from jumping the queue, before realising he was the boss.
Innovation
“When we opened Atlantic there wasn’t an electronic till system that could handle the number of tills we wanted (17 in total), so we had to re-write the software,” he tells me. “Or take Mash: micro-brewing and wood-fired pizzas are everywhere now, but we were doing that 15 years ago! People forget how quickly things have changed.”
Public catering
And Peyton has changed with it. Now in his 50s he has perhaps found his true calling - public catering. When, in the mid–noughties, many museums and art galleries became free to enter, Peyton saw a market for a better food and dining offering in these public places. “Institutions have been challenged to be successful,” he tells me. “And public catering is more interesting than selling turbot in Mayfair.”
Peyton’s approach is to run each venue as you would a real standalone restaurant, rather than a concession stand serving long-life muffins and ready-made sandwiches within another institution. “We have a long tradition of working with farmers and other suppliers which I don’t think we always do a good enough job of communicating,” he says. “For example, we make all our own bread and get all our beef (White Park breed) from a Bickleigh Farm in Devon. Any off-cuts go into our pies which we also make ourselves. Our sandwiches are made fresh daily, we get our bagels from Brick Lane at 3am, and we only use indigenous fish like sea bass, sole and mackerel, so you won’t see tuna on our menu.” I refresh my tea cup with some Earl Grey from the pot I’m drinking. “Do you like that tea? We wanted a real strong bergamot flavour and the only way to ensure that was to blend it ourselves” he says as I sip.
Great British Menu
I ask him about his role on the Great British Menu (now in its seventh series) and put it to him that’s he’s the Craig Revel Horwood of the show - technically sure and perhaps the most critical. He smiles, “I think people at home can tell when you’re lying, and because I don’t rely on TV for my income I can say what I really think.”
When GBM started, its early contestants included the fag end of the TV chef boom; the likes of Antony Worrall Thompson and John Burton-Race. Soon though, it became a springboard for real chefs who still worked in real kitchens. This isn’t without problems, Peyton tells me: “many chefs are not used to cooking; they’re used to leading a kitchen brigade. When they are back at the stoves with a camera in their face it creates pressure.” He also believes that the show has done wonders for chefs working outside the Capital, as well as inspired farmers to connect with chefs. As for his most memorable dish on the show? “I think Phil Howard’s trio of mackerel in the last series,” he replies.
World class chefs
We move on to talking about the state of restaurants in Britain. It’s interesting that there are no world famous restaurants in London.“Why do you think that is?” I ask him. “It’s a combination of things really. Rents are high, labour costs, and there’s no opportunity to have a terroir. London up until very recently was a very conservative eating city.” As for his favourite place to eat in the UK, “it’s still the River Café.”
Next moves
“I’ve recently been reinvigorated by Rene Redzepi at Noma. It’s the first restaurant I’ve been to in years where I’ve been inspired to do something new again.” As for having the best of British chefs cooking for him for the past six years, who does he think is the best? “Simon Rogan is on the road there… his dessert in the last series; I’ve never had anything like that.” So what of the future? He looks at the ceiling thoughtfully, before leaning closer into the table. “In the past two years I’ve had a bit of an epiphany. The business has expanded quickly and perhaps I’ve been a little bit too safe. I need to go back to feeling like I’m making a difference,” he tells me. We’ll have to wait and see.
loveFOOD meets... Loyd Grossman