Bucks &amp; Oxon

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Who or what inspired you to be a chef?



I&nbsp;had&nbsp;toyed with the idea of being a chef since I left school.&nbsp;I didn’t want to go to university and the idea of an office job was somewhat offensive&nbsp;to me. I&nbsp;also&nbsp;knew that if I was going to pursue a career as a chef,&nbsp;I wanted to be able to work at a high level.&nbsp;



Your first job in a kitchen?



Before&nbsp;starting my apprenticeship with the&nbsp;Royal&nbsp;Academy of&nbsp;Culinary&nbsp;Arts, I staged at&nbsp;Le&nbsp;Champignon&nbsp;Sauvage in Cheltenham, which had two Michelin&nbsp;stars at the time,&nbsp;as well as&nbsp;the&nbsp;Venture&nbsp;Inn at Ombersley&nbsp;closer to home.&nbsp;Both gave me a real insight into how a professional,&nbsp;high-end kitchen operates and cemented&nbsp;for me that&nbsp;this&nbsp;was&nbsp;what I wanted to be doing.&nbsp;



Career highlight to date?



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Being part of the Greyhound team that won&nbsp;the&nbsp;AA&nbsp;Restaurant of the&nbsp;Year 2024 (England). It was incredible when our name was called out in front of so many of the good and the great of the industry at Grosvenor House in London. &nbsp;We work so hard at the Greyhound to ensure an amazing experience for our guests and having that recognised at a national level and knowing I’d been part of the team that achieved that along with my front and back of house&nbsp;colleagues&nbsp;was incredible.



Describe your food philosophy and/or cooking style and what diners can expect at the Greyhound



I want all our guests to leave wanting to come back. For front of house,&nbsp;that means delivering the best service, wine and experience. For us in the kitchen,&nbsp;that&#8217;s making the tastiest food we can.&nbsp;



Most memorable moment at work?



It was&nbsp;last&nbsp;New&nbsp;Year’s Eve.&nbsp;It was my first&nbsp;New Year’s Eve working&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;head chef&nbsp;at a restaurant, my parents were both in,&nbsp;and&nbsp;it had been&nbsp;an incredibly long, hard day.&nbsp;At midnight,&nbsp;all the staff&nbsp;went&nbsp;round with a glass of&nbsp;Champagne and wished&nbsp;everyone a&nbsp;Happy&nbsp;New&nbsp;Year.&nbsp;The gratitude and feedback I got from our guests that night&nbsp;was&nbsp;amazing, it’s the kind of moment that&nbsp;reminds you why we do what we do.&nbsp;



Ever cooked for anyone famous?



I was working&nbsp;on the&nbsp;pastry&nbsp;section at the Langham London,&nbsp;and front-of-house&nbsp;came into the kitchen&nbsp;and told me that&nbsp;Raymond&nbsp;Blanc was&nbsp;in. I was 19 at the time,&nbsp;and&nbsp;I was ready to make the best dessert I&#8217;ve ever made to try and impress him. He wanted&nbsp;two&nbsp;scoops of vanilla ice cream!&nbsp;It was obviously a bit of a&nbsp;let-down&nbsp;for me as I couldn’t show&nbsp;off,&nbsp;but I&nbsp;still&nbsp;rate it. &nbsp;&nbsp;



Biggest mistake you’ve ever made in the kitchen?



In a previous life, I ordered dry&nbsp;ice&nbsp;as part of dessert I had created, which&nbsp;would blanket the table in a chocolate-smelling fog.&nbsp;However, when I placed the order on my phone, I forgot to&nbsp;change my address and got it delivered to my flat instead. This meant I had to race home before service and grab it from my very confused neighbour who had a large, cold box with smoke seeping out of it. &nbsp;



You’re tired and hungry: what do you cook for dinner?



Chips and gravy.&nbsp;I’ll add some other bits to it if I have&nbsp;the time or energy,&nbsp;but&nbsp;that simple combination is&nbsp;always tasty,&nbsp;100% of&nbsp;the&nbsp;time.



What would you cook to impress a date?



My girlfriend&nbsp;recently&nbsp;mentioned&nbsp;that&nbsp;she loves lemon posset,&nbsp;so I made&nbsp;it&nbsp;for her. She’s still with me so it must have been ok.&nbsp;



Favourite chef?



I couldn’t choose between&nbsp;John Williams, Adam Byatt&nbsp;and&nbsp;Paul Ainsworth&nbsp;–&nbsp;they’re&nbsp;all&nbsp;world-class chefs and their passion for what they do is to be applauded.



Favourite cookbook?



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My favourite cookbook is also&nbsp;the&nbsp;first proper cookbook&nbsp;I ever had,&nbsp;Essence: Recipes from Le Champignon Sauvage&nbsp;by David Everitt-Matthias.&nbsp;It was incredibly interesting and insightful when I was starting my career,&nbsp;and&nbsp;I still go back to it now.



Favourite cuisine?



To eat,&nbsp;I’d say either Italian or Indian. To cook,&nbsp;English and French.



Favourite kitchen gadget?



A&nbsp;chinois, it’s a&nbsp;super&nbsp;fine,&nbsp;conical sieve. Most people have a blender&nbsp;at home,&nbsp;but if you want something super smooth,&nbsp;you need to pass it&nbsp;through a&nbsp;chinois.&nbsp;



Favourite place to go locally for a great meal?



I recently moved house&nbsp;and&nbsp;there&#8217;s a pizza place&nbsp;nearby&nbsp;in Gerrards&nbsp;Cross&nbsp;called&nbsp;Fan&nbsp;Fan&nbsp;pizzeria,&nbsp;a&nbsp;lovely place&nbsp;with&nbsp;great pizza.&nbsp;And I&nbsp;have to&nbsp;give the&nbsp;Sir Charles Napier&nbsp;in Oxfordshire a shout out – every&nbsp;time I go,&nbsp;Andy and Julie always look after me.&nbsp;



Guilty food pleasure?



Haribo&nbsp;Tangfastics. On the rare occasion I get myself a bag,&nbsp;I demolish all of them and feel&nbsp;horrible&nbsp;for the rest of the day, but&nbsp;it’s&nbsp;worth it. &nbsp;&nbsp;



What do you love most about being a chef?



The&nbsp;excitement of&nbsp;service,&nbsp;the&nbsp;heat,&nbsp;the high&nbsp;standards,&nbsp;and always&nbsp;pushing yourself and those around&nbsp;you&nbsp;to make the guest’s experience the best it can be.



Favourite things to eat when you’re on holiday?



Padron peppers&nbsp;–&nbsp;I&nbsp;absolutely&nbsp;love&nbsp;them.&nbsp;



What mistakes do inexperienced cooks tend to make?



Thinking they know what they are doing, not asking to be shown and then messing up. Everyone starts at the same place,&nbsp;and it’s important to&nbsp;ask questions, watch, listen and absorb as much&nbsp;as&nbsp;you can.



Favourite ingredient and why?



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I really struggle to just name just one, especially because I love working with local ingredients when they’re in season, so it changes all the time. I particularly love English asparagus, peas, strawberries,&nbsp;and&nbsp;wild mushrooms&nbsp;– because they’re all so seasonal,&nbsp;you appreciate them so much&nbsp;in the short time&nbsp;when they’re&nbsp;at their best. &nbsp;



Most overrated ingredient?



Olive oil.&nbsp;It’s fine&nbsp;to cook with or in a dressing, but dipping bread in it? No thank you – give me butter every time.&nbsp;



The dish you’re most proud of?



A&nbsp;halibut dish&nbsp;that we’ve just&nbsp;added to the menu:&nbsp;pan-fried halibut, finished with a healthy amount of butter,&nbsp;and served with&nbsp;white asparagus, chervil, borage&nbsp;leaves, caviar&nbsp;and a lovely&nbsp;sauce made from the bones. It’s very pretty, and&nbsp;most importantly&nbsp;I think it’s&nbsp;pretty tasty, too.



Three dishes every home cook should master?



Perfectly cooked rice, a Sunday roast, and pasta. 



If you’re bored of your own cooking, what are your top tips?



Eat out, get&nbsp;inspired, and try to change it up.&nbsp;



How do you relax off-duty – do you have time for hobbies and other creative outlets?



No,&nbsp;cooking is my&nbsp;one and only&nbsp;outlet, and it’s enough for me.



<a href="https://greyhoundbeaconsfield.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Greyhound</a>, 33 Windsor End. Beaconsfield. Buckinghamshire, HP9 2JN. Tel: 01494 671315.

What’s Cooking? George Sweeney, Head Chef at The Greyhound, Beaconsfield

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