The Northcote Obsession 2014 Chef Profiles | Adam Byatt

Here is a chef who single-handedly changed the gastronomic reputation of Clapham in south London, first with Thyme, the restaurant where Adam first established his reputation as something of a culinary whizz kid, and now at Trinity House. Some locals like to think of Trinity House as a supreme example of a brilliant neighbourhood restaurant. However, its reputation is such that it lures discriminating eaters from north of the river and much further away. 

Like Paul Ainsworth, Adam is another of the immensely talented generation of chefs currently populating towns and cities all over the UK. He’s acutely aware of the developments in the contemporary kitchen. He’s flirted foams and gels and techno-gadgetry in the past. But at heart there’s something reassuringly down-to-earth about Adam’s cooking. He’s a hands on-chef to the extent of foraging some of the ingredients he uses in his dishes. He understands their characteristics and qualities all the better to bring out their inherent flavours. There ‘s a wonderful confidence and full-heartedness about Adam’s food. There’s no unnecessary culinary frou-frou. He goes for the taste buds. ‘I relish Adam’s food,’ says critic, Matthew Fort. ‘It lights up Clapham like a good deed in a naughty world, full of intelligence, character and wit and, best of all, very, very good to eat.’

Read more at http://www.northcote.com/