FOOD & DR INK
“You still have to be nimble and agile and reactive”
loose structure that keeps the restaurant ticking over nicely. “I’ll start with morning meetings, a 10am briefing with the team, then it’s tasting in the kitchen. By 12.30pm, it’s a walk around, a chat to the guests, that sort of stuff – and then if I can, I’ll get in the kitchen and do a bit of time there, which I really like – then in the afternoons it’s normally a catch-up with finance, or our suppliers,” With a team of 90 looking to Tristan for direction, a large proportion of the chef’s day is spent managing those in the restaurant’s employ. “It’s a lot of people,” he says. “A lot of talking to, mentoring, just putting your arm round – in the morning it takes me about half an hour just to say hello to everyone – but it’s something that I’m rather keen on: saying hello or good morning to everyone. It’s very important.” Tristan’s own CV is dotted with names that anyone would recognise. He started his career working in kitchens for Gary Rhodes, then with Michel Roux Jr at Le Gavroche – before spending time in Paris at L’Arpège, working in Scotland at Glenapp Castle, landing head chef at Pétrus with Marcus Wareing and Gordon Ramsay, then heading off in
2007 to relaunch London’s acclaimed Launceston Place with a new, modern British menu. In 2012, he took a two-year break in Sweden with his family, before heading to Mustique for a new position as executive chef at The Cotton House, the exclusive island’s only hotel – and now finds himself back in Cambridge, overseeing Parker’s Tavern. Tristan is, quite definitely, a chef with a pedigree and has worked alongside some of the most well-known names in the industry, but he is carving out his own approach when it comes to managing a kitchen. “The industry’s changed and moved on from the days when I was a young commis chef – I can’t look to any of the experiences that I had to recreate a working environment,” he says. “Now, there are goals and tasks are set, rather than just... getting shouted and sworn at.” Tristan adopts a more mentorship- style role with his team, hoping to instil a little of his own seemingly-boundless enthusiasm and passion for excellent food, but also pairing that with a modern approach to setting goals and having clear timelines for results. “A kitchen is a million deadlines at once, for lots of different things, whether boiling an egg or
TIME OUT
Tristan’s wife and three sons dine in Parker’s Tavern once a week, and regularly drop in to see him at work. “I have those super proud moments where the kids say they want to come in and see Daddy – and the staff encourage them to sit down, have a little something – they actually wrote the kids menu for me,” he smiles. When not dining at PT, Tristan’s sons like roaming the city for sweet treats – just like their father. “We like a cafe – with three young boys, it’s got to be a cafe,” Tristan says. “We enjoy the Cambridge Cookery School for kanelbullar, Jack’s Gelato, of course, and a cheeky Steak & Honour every now and again.”
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