Stein’s Stories: Jack

Meet Jack, Head Chef at Barnes

Jack grew up in Southwest London so feels very at home leading the kitchen in Barnes. Most of his family hail from Dorset which is also where his earliest food memories stem from, enjoying freshly caught Portland crab with them. To this day it remains his favourite shellfish to eat, as simply as possible.

Growing up, Jack’s dad was Head Chef at The Regency Hotel and he would often go and watch service – this first-hand experience really kickstarted his interest in cheffing as a career. Five years of learning and experiencing the world of mass catering at racecourses and events like The Brits and Wimbledon followed.

Next stop was the world-famous Goring Hotel, where he started as a commis and over five years worked his way up to junior sous – helping the hotel restaurant go from two rosettes to one Michelin Star. His time there included the first ‘Rick Stein at The Goring’ shellfish celebration pop-up, which gave him a good inkling to our love of fresh fish, simply cooked. Then the opportunity came to move towards the city to support a new opening in Covent Garden, Cora Pearl, as sous chef, cooking a menu of elevated British comfort food. The following year the restaurant was awarded 47th in the Top 100 Restaurants list and then, Jack’s knowledge of the menu and desire to progress saw him promoted to head chef to lead the team.

Since joining our team a few months ago, it’s the classics that Jack loves, from cooking Dover Sole meunière with lashings of foaming butter to shucking Dorset oysters for a simple, but plentiful platter with shallot vinegar.