Why on earth did
Emily Watkins not make it to the next round in the BBC's Great British Menu? Was it the green egg yolk? Well it wasn't really egg to begin with, but colour and food are not to be messed around with. So did the brief - the imperative "What's the fun element in this dish" - get her to take too much of a risk? Anyway, it was very inspiring to watch her dishes improving from episode to episode.
Emily's biography reads like the dream of all those who spend their life in a dull office job but find real passion and excitement whenever entering a kitchen. Prior to her gastronomic career, Emily worked in an office, but she was brave enough to quit and move on. Her education as a chef started in Italy at Ristorante Beccofino in Florence, apparently with an unpaid job. After three years she came back to the UK as a Junior Sous Chef, fluent in Italian.
Her next career move might have been key: She became Chef the Partie at Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck. Today she has her own business. Together with husband Miles Lampson she's running the Kingham Plough.
The Kingham Plough is definitely a restaurant to have on the radar. Well, no, that's actually wrong. It's not really a restaurant. Like Chef Tom Kerridge (The Hand and Flowers), Emily is running a pub. Even better then, so no need to dress up dramatically... We will definitely hear more about Emily Watkins - she's doing all the right things. Her focus is on local seasonal food - and if we ignore the green egg yolk - it's fair to say that she achieves an impressive consistency in her compositions.
According to the
BBC's Great British Menu, she describes her cooking as "unfussy, simple, seasonal and earthy". She works with admirable technical perfection and finesse. Yet at the end, she's simply cooking wonderful food, with a clear focus on flavour and authenticity! Bravo Emily,... We're glad you've left the TV studio behind (for now) and are back to work. Can we book a table please!
Some additional reads on Emily Watkins can be found here:
The Independent on the post Fat Duck Emily,
her profile on Slow Food UK,
a very nice interview with her in the Good Food Guide
The Kingham Ploughmore info
The Green, Kingham, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire OX7 6YD
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