Tomos Parry chats Michelin stars, Basque cooking, and east end strip-clubs

The Filling with Anna Barnett

EPISODE SYNOPSIS

Founder and head chef of Brat restaurant, Tomos Parry, talks to Anna Barnett about converting a former east end strip club into his Michelin starred restaurant, the influence of Basque cooking on his menu, and the transportive power of food and eating, in this episode of The Filling podcast. Mid lockdown, Anna and Tomos discuss the need for hospitality side projects in a struggling industry, and how creating a convivial working culture is beneficial for team and customer. As Tomos say; ‘It’s an open kitchen, so there’s not much shouting going on.’

EPISODE NOTES

12:45 – 16:30) Tomos details with passion how he builds the menus for Brat; Basque inspired but with Celtic influences using British produce.

19:00 – 22:00) Lockdown has dealt a debilitating blow to the hospitality industry; here Tomos explains how his summer side project at Climpson Arch evolved and the menu philosophy behind it.

22:25 – 25:00) Working in kitchens throughout his politics degree at university, Tomos recounts his entry into the London restaurant scene and how his plans for his own restaurant materialised.

51:30 – 55:00) The chef’s Welsh roots are explored here and how culinary elements of growing up on the Welsh coast have made their way to his menu. Lava bread anyone?

58:40 – 1:00:00) In an enlightening segment, Tomos humbly details what a Michelin star award (after just 7 months) really means to him and his team.

1:01:38 – 1:02:15) When asked his proudest moment, Tomos candidly describes how his restaurant side projects have successfully countered the potentially disastrous effects of lockdown, for him and his team.

TOP QUOTES

“If I can do it with conviction and integrity everything will happen.” Tomos

“I wanted to eat that style of Basque food and there was nowhere to do it – so I opened a restaurant.” Tomos

“A restaurant is a constantly changing thing because it’s full of human beings.” Tomos

“Never lose perspective: set yourself a goal and work backwards.” Tomos

“Are you still doing that cooking stuff?” Tomos’s family to Tomos

“I had to share the crab rice which I was not happy about.” Anna

RESOURCES

www.bratrestaurant.com

www.climpsonandsons.com

www.violetcakes.com

www.kilnsoho.com

www.smokinggoatsoho.com

www.longdan.co.uk

www.stjohnrestaurant.com

ABOUT THE GUEST

Hailing from Anglesey, Wales, chef Tomos Parry moved to London from Cardiff when he was 25, working at different restaurants, including Ruth Rogers’ River Café, before he began barbecuing at Climpson’s Arch in Hackney, which he credits for pushing forward his career. Previously head chef at the popular Mayfair eatery Kitty Fisher’s, Parry ventured away in 2016 to quietly plan his first solo restaurant, Brat. Parry opened Brat’s doors in the spring of 2018 to immediate critical acclaim, and the Shoreditch restaurant has already earned a Michelin star.

Instagram,: @bratrestaurant

ABOUT THE HOST

Anna Barnett (www.annabarnettcooks.com) is a chef and food writer. She moved to London to work in TV and enjoyed a career at both MTV and Channel 4 before moving into fashion. Life has always been experienced through the lens of good food, however, and she released her debut cookery book ‘Eat the Week’ in 2015, after which she spent several years writing ‘The Reluctant Vegetarian’ blog for the Independent newspaper whilst also contributing to Vogue magazine. She went on to write the food pages for Grazia magazine; she now has a weekly column writing for The Evening Standard online. In 2019 Anna wrote and styled ‘How to be Gluten Free and Not Lose Friends’, her second cookery book. Anna regularly hosts pop-up restaurants, collaborates with brands, caters private events as well as hosting cookery classes at her home in east London.

Instagram: @annabarnettcooks