What feels unfamiliar or uncomfortable here?
Honestly, there’s nothing uncomfortable about it for me because what I love most is not being in a routine.
That’s why I’m happy doing this job. Every day feels different. It never feels like yesterday, and it’s never going to feel like tomorrow either.
Of course it’s harder because you lose your reflexes. The salt isn’t in the same place, the butter isn’t in the same place, and you constantly have to ask for things. But at the end of the day, I think routine is my worst enemy.
I love waking up excited about a new day that won’t look like the previous one.
“I think routine is probably my biggest enemy.”
How is this place influencing what you’re cooking today ?
For me, every event is a new challenge, and every challenge brings me something new in return.
I always try to create something different, and very often I come back to the restaurant having learned something from these experiences. I never want to stay in a comfortable zone. That’s the dangerous part.
I like pushing myself, pushing ideas, pushing techniques, because that’s what keeps you from getting stuck. That’s really important to me.
What limitation has shaped your cooking the most here ?
When you work outside your restaurant, you have to accept that there are many things you simply cannot control. Because of that, I think it’s important to keep things simple and go straight to the point.
But simplicity doesn’t mean boring. For me, a strong plate is built around four powerful elements : a strong cooking technique, whether it’s meat, fish or vegetables, a powerful sauce, a strong texture, and then a final detail, maybe something spicy or sharp, that suddenly explodes in your mouth. Once you have that balance, you have a great dish.
And then there’s fire. Fire is much harder because you never truly control it. It’s unstable. Fat drops into the flames, the flames rise, more fat falls, and suddenly everything escalates very quickly. It can become an ocean of nightmares just as easily as something incredible.
That’s exactly why I’m fascinated by fire. You never control it completely. You can play with it a little, but you have to respect it deeply. Once you understand that, then you can start having fun.
If you could do this again tomorrow, what would you change ?
Honestly, I would just want today to happen again exactly the same way. The team was amazing. The clients were amazing. The food was amazing. My partner Andrew (Clark) was insane.
Of course you can always do better, but those tiny imperfections are also what make us human. That’s the beauty of events like this. Sometimes the imperfections give something even more character, and I love that.
What are you chasing that you haven’t achieved yet ?
It’s funny because life has gone so fast that I don’t really know if I’m still chasing something.
At the beginning, my dream was simply to open my first restaurant before I turned forty. Today I’m 38 and I have 18 restaurants. My first one opened when I was 25.
Sometimes I look back and genuinely think, “What the hell happened?” It all happened so quickly.
I think my real chance in life is that I’m not constantly unhappy chasing something that may never come. I’m actually very grateful for what I already have. And honestly, I never imagined having this much.
@juanarbelaezchef
Andrew Clarke
“You have to surrender to the environment a little”
A conversation with Andrew Clarke following a private gathering created with Westholme
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