The Chef’s Knowledge

The Morden Culinary Repertoire

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The Chefs' Knowledge

By Chandos Elletson

Published 2022

About

My Journey: Piotr Lesnianski

Head Chef at The Gatsby Restaurant

I was born in Poland but didn’t start working in restaurants until I was 20. I started as a kitchen porter and moved into the kitchen after a year. It was a slow training for me but I liked that. I moved to a four star hotel and continued to learn all the basic kitchen positions as we did a lot of hotel work such as functions.

It was around this time that Poland joined the EU and a lot of my friends moved to the UK. I had just been offered a head chef role in an old 16th Century restaurant in Wroclaw. I really wanted to take the position but the draw of moving to England was too great and moved to Oxford to join up with some friends.

I began working at a restaurant called Quad and after three months the head chef told us he was leaving to take up a position in Berkhamstead at a restaurant called The Gatsby. He offered me a job and I went with him. I’m still here. I’ve been in the same restaurant for the last 16 years.

I know this is unusual for a lot of chefs but I have worked my way up to what is basically a head chef position. I’m more than a senior sous chef because I have actual head chef responsibilities - not that titles matter than much.

What I have discovered is that staying in one place has a lot of benefits. I have been able to specialise in a lot of things. Our menu is eclectic and takes its inspiration from all over the world. The restaurant is in an old cinema and we do a lot of outside catering and function work.

Ten years ago I started to learn bread baking. I was given the time and the space to dedicate myself and over time I have fallen in love with the whole process.

That’s what I love about being a chef, love to take my time and really master a technique or a recipe and that’s what I’ve done with bread. The basic creation of a starter dough is much more than a recipe - it’s a way of life. The natural yeasts don’t behave the same way every time and it takes a lot of trial, learning and experimentation to create consistently good bread.

My recommendation for young chefs would be to take your time. If you find a kitchen you like and other chefs you like working with don’t be in a hurry to move on. Stick around. You’ll be surprised what you discover.

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