WOW! So my blog has been shortlisted and now open to the public vote.

I don't usually enter these sort of things, but if you don't shoot, you wont score.

You can vote for me under the Culinary Section here :
https://blogawardsuk.co.uk/blog_award_category/culinary/page/7/

Or under the Lifestyle section here:

​https://blogawardsuk.co.uk/blog_award_category/lifestyle/page/42/

I think you just click on the little heart icon.

Massive thanks to all my supporters over the years and a super shout out to The Staff Canteen who have been publishing my blogs over the past few years. Thanks to all the Chefs who have inspired me to write. And my wife who encourages me to do what I love.


Thank you.

I really appreciate it

On Monday afternoon I was invited to attend an event hosted by Kin Knives and the new Mariners1900 Restaurant. Kin wanted to showcase their new knives to local chefs. And we chefs love new knives! 

Set at the back of Mariners1900 restaurant. We were welcomed by Chef/Owner Julien Jourdain. Also, Harriet and Zac from Kin.  
After an introduction to the knives and some demonstrations, we were able to get hands on. Slicing and dicing with the various blades. From the handmade custom masterpieces to single bevel steel slicers. There is definitely a knife for everyone. By this, I mean all types of chefs. With varying handle types and weights, it would have been nearly impossible to find a knife you didn't love.  I highly recomend taking a look at the Mr Itou Santoku knife, it really is pretty, but well out of my price range for now.
I was then grateful for a little tour of the boat. I had explained to Julian that I had worked there back in the early 90's when it was the Italian restaurant "il Punto". A few memories came back once we entered the kitchen. The low ceiling and narrow gangways. But as well as the memories, there was a little envy too. As the kitchen on this boat was still 3 times the size of the Greyhound Kitchen! With equipment I could only dream of. A Rational oven, induction hob and a walk-in fridge.....just imagine. I really look forward to visiting Mariners for a meal soon, but as I've blown all my pocket money on a new knife, the visit may have to wait a few weeks.

Kin Knives is a family run business importing a range of high quality and bespoke Japanese Kitchen knives. Each range of knife is exclusive to Kin Knives. Prices range from £40 to over £425 per knife depending on construction and heritage. To compliment the knives we offer a selection of Canadian Maple chopping boards and a wide range of sharpening tools. Please take your time to browse our website, within the various ranges there should be a knife for everyone!

Visit the Kin Knives website by clicking here.

Take a look at Mariners1900 by clicking here.

On the 1st October the restaurant was purchased by French chef Julien Jourdain and his wife Karine. They have both been in the catering business for over 15 years. Julien was the previous business partner of the waterfront bar and bistro, acclaimed and well known establishment for over 10 years. 


This is not a paid promotion. I just wanted to show off my new knife!

​We chefs are curious creatures indeed. I often imagine a highly produced BBC Documentary in the style of Blue Planet, being shot about the behaviours of chefs. Animalistic and savage, yet territorial and family oriented. With a voice-over by Sir David Attenborough, we would be entertained by hyper slow motion shots of newbie chefs peeling potatoes (shot in real time). Through to the dramatic, overture which plays across the scene where the chefs fed on the carcass of the Sunday roast tray, mopping up the jus roti with the day old bread ends. They then scatter when the general manager or executive chef walks in. They fear an attempt of an awkward conversation about Love Island or recent football results….

I love being a chef. I’ve said this many times. I can find it challenging, but these days, it’s more of a physical challenge. Everything hurts as I’m getting older. Approaching my mid-forties, I am constantly aware of every passing hour. Counting down to the end of my shift so I can have a cheeky sit down while I phone my orders in. I know 43 is not old, but with my 44th birthday coming up later this month (22nd November if you wanna send me a card) I am thinking more about the next stage of my kitchen career. I am not a chef on the cusp of rosettes or Michelin. I am a good chef, but I am fully aware of my limits. I love to challenge myself and I have never shied away from graft. I pride myself on being a chef you want to work with when it gets busy. My coolness under pressure is my USP. My priority has always been flavour not flowers. I am definitely more Bistro than Blumenthal. I currently ply my trade in a pub kitchen, where we are spectacularly busy. I guess I’m doing something right. And like the 99% of chefs out there, the daily graft is real. So far removed from the TV chefs. The faded whites which chafe at the armpits. The turmeric stained apron and the trousers held up with a belt made from tightly pulled cling film. We turn up, we cook LOTS! We clean down, go home and repeat the next day.

Have a drink on me chefs!!Privately, I recently had a crisis of confidence. Fuelled by my impending birthday and that feeling of what now? Is it a young persons game? At almost 44, the harder shifts are getting tougher. Although the muscle memory for most of the tasks has set in. Keeping up with current trends and the ever changing legislation changes gives the older generation more things to think about. I was starting to consider how many years I can keep up to speed. Will my chefs tell me when I start making those silly mistakes which aging chefs make? You know the ones. We’ve all worked with a chef who has stayed in the kitchen a few years too long. We’d be pulling the pan of reducing Gastrique off the flames, as they had forgotten and overstretched themselves. I don’t want that to be me.

(Side note; How old is the oldest chef you’ve worked with?)

Forty-four is by no means old. But in this very physically demanding industry, it could be compared to professional sports. Should I take a move down into the lower leagues, become a dinner-lady, minus the gender reassignment. Chocolate crunch with pink custard? Is it time for this chef to start considering an exit strategy. Open my own restaurant? Forge a career as an author of a series of books about a wizard chef? What to do next?
Disclaimer; I am VERY happy with my job. I’m just looking at the big picture. The Greyhound in Ipswich has been a real life saver for me. I’ve had the opportunity to rediscover my love of food in an environment which suits where I am at in my own headspace. This post is more of a general rambling. Aimed at that large cross-section of us chefs who don’t sit in that illustrious top echelon. We, the guys and gals in the trenches. The chefs with no time for posting on Instagram. No desire for a cookbook deal. The lifer.

Coming back to this blog a few days after writing it. I was concerned that I was sounding a little defeatist. I am generally quite a positive person. Always looking for the next adventure, idea or opportunity. I love writing these blogs. These are the conversations which I often struggle to verbalise with my peers, family and friends. This, as I have said before, is my therapy. Just writing this has ignited the spark of motivation I needed. No, this is not my letter of resignation. Although, imagine that? One way to see if they read my blogs at work hahaha! I still don’t have a cast iron plan of what to do next, but I feel better for just putting this out there.

Thanks for reading

Yours Over-sharingly

​Brian