Five Minutes with Head Chef Jake Storey of the Michelin-Starred Smoking Lobster at Foresters Hall
Foresters Hall’s outdoor haven is the perfect backdrop for our stunning Vlaze kitchen.
1) What’s your earliest food memory?
My earliest food memory and probably my most influential food memory would have to be that every Wednesday night my mum would get me and my younger brother to choose dinner. It would be completely our choice, and she would take us to the supermarket after school to pick up all the ingredients and assist us in the actual cooking when needed. This was great as we were allowed to be creative and learn basic skills but also because I would be working alongside my brother. Funnily enough, we still work together now but in a professional environment.
2) You mention the attention to detail when cooking, how important is this principle for simple home cooking?
When I speak about attention to detail it’s really about taking notice and putting extra care into all of the finer elements of a dish, which I think is crucial in the restaurant industry if you want to stand out and succeed as a chef. Now that being said it’s definitely open to interpretation. Where I might be focused on how finely we dice a shallot or take fish to a specific temperature to ensure it is perfectly cooked, home cooks can focus on other finer details such as ensuring everything is ready at the same time and served hot because that’s super important.
3) The artistry of Michelin star cookery often looks so conceptual, do you feel it’s mostly about presentation or a marriage of lots of things?
The dining room and two beautifully crafted dishes from the acclaimed Smoking Lobster at Foresters Hall, as featured in the Michelin Guide.
Michelin star cooking is definitely not just about presentation although it is important as a person’s first impression of a dish is with their eyes. A great saying I would hear throughout my time at Lympstone Manor was “we dont cook for instagram we cook for our guests” and the way that was intended was anyone can make a plate look pretty but it has to taste amazing! When creating a dish you focus on the flavours first and then you can play around with presentation and never the other way around.
4) French cooking methods seem important in your cooking style, are there any simple techniques we should learn in our own kitchen?
I’m extremely passionate about French techniques and cuisine as a whole, which is mainly due to my training and being inspired to keep these classical techniques alive in our modern day kitchen. I’m not sure I can call it a technique but there is a phrase commonly used in kitchens and that is “mise en place” which translates to putting in place. This means when cooking, have everything exactly where it should be, so everything is chopped and all necessary equipment is out. This means you can fully enjoy the process of cooking without stressing. Organisation is key!
5) When you were cooking outside on the Vlaze Adapt, did you find this gave your cooking a different flavour or inspiration for what to cook?
It definitely inspired me being outside and cooking over coals on the Vlaze. In fact it actually helped me improve multiple dishes such as adding a charred flavour to our pickled mackerel dish and smoking our beef cheeks before pulling and forming our cannelloni starter. Cooking over fire is as old as time and extremely satisfying when you get it right. The Vlaze unit is just as practical as any professional kitchen I have worked in with all the benefits of being outside on a hotel terrace or even at home in your garden surrounded by friends.