Tom Kitchin is a chef and owner of The Kitchin restaurant, where he became the youngest Scottish winner of a Michelin star.
I’ve dedicated my whole life to cooking. It’s what I live and breathe. Every day I think about the food – I go home after working a 17-hour day and think about the next day. I ring the restaurant at 7am and finish at around midnight. It’s a complete and utter lifestyle.
As an 18-year-old chef working at Pierre Koffmann’s 3-Michelin-star restaurant, I wanted to quit. There were loads of times in my youth that I wanted to pack it in. It’s so hard as a young chef. You’re being battered every day and nothing’s right. You’re on your own in London or Paris, you’ve got no money – it’s a pretty lonely place.
But the toughest times end up defining you. I remember my great friend Dominic Jack from Castle Terrace sleeping on a lilo in a cramped bedsit while working at a three-star Michelin restaurant in Paris – and he didn’t speak French. They were tough days, but amazing days as well. Those are the days that carve your life.
I never aimed to get a Michelin star. No, definitely not. When I was young and training at Koffmann, my aim was just to survive; to do a year and then go back to Scotland. Though after a year I thought “Ah, this is actually getting a little bit easier” and then slowly but surely I started to gain the trust of the chefs.
There’s no doubt that if you want to get to the top, you’ve got to make sacrifices. I’ve made humongous sacrifices for my career. But it’s also been good for me – it’s an incredible privilege to do the things I’ve done in my life. I’ve worked in London, I’ve worked in Paris, I’ve worked in Monte Carlo – I’ve worked on private yachts, I’ve opened restaurants. I’ve cooked for everyone from the rich and famous to royalty. It’s incredible. But there is no substitute for hard work in this industry. My working day is as crazy as it’s always been.
I’m totally immune to the long hours. Of course you’re exhausted but you don’t think about it – you just get on with it and make it happen. But when you do get a day off you can feel it in your body, especially as you get a bit older. My wife is always trying to delay dinner in the evenings because if I have something to eat and a glass of wine it’s like the body stops – I just fall asleep.
Despite the hardships, they were good life experiences. It’s really interesting how you look back on it now – the discipline I had with Koffmann – he pushed me to my absolute limits. And he pushed me for the right reasons. But I was the type of person he could push – I really thrived on getting my arse kicked. And it got the best out of me.
To be successful as a chef, you need to thrive under pressure. You need that extra energy and buzz, when you’re busy day in day out, week in week out everyone’s full of energy, the adrenaline is pumping – you’re living on the edge. The kitchen is full of excitement. The worst thing to happen in the restaurant – I’m sure most chefs will agree – is when you come to the next week and it’s just that little bit quieter. That’s when you’ve always got problems. People relax. The mentality, the edge disappears.
More and more I’ve noticed a new breed of chef. They’re the most chilled buggers I’ve ever come across – all self-taught, Zen and really cool. Then you’ve got people like me, old-school chefs, who live this ridiculous life – full-throttle every day.
I’m sure there’s a health cost to running on adrenaline, but I don’t want to think about it. There is a cost definitely. And the modern chef way of dealing with it is better. In the old days we would drink to relax whereas the younger chefs I hope are looking after themselves a bit better. But it’s a high-pressure industry. Someone like my mentor Pierre Koffmann has done the work of three men in his lifetime. But would he change it? No, he wouldn’t change it for the world.
Luck has nothing to do with success. It’s to do with hard work and determination. If you work hard in any industry you’ll create your own opportunities and doors will open for you.
I don’t have any retirement plans on the horizon. I don’t make plans to open restaurants all over the world. I want to make the best restaurant I possibly can. But first and foremost I love cooking every day – that’s what I enjoy doing.
You’re only as good as your last meal. That’s the golden rule in this industry. Never think you’ve succeeded. Never think you’ve made it.
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