What’s in your kitchen?
My kitchen is full of fancy gadgets, many of which I don’t use! I have a spit in my oven that I’ve used once and a pizza stone that I rarely bring out. I’ve got a chargrill and deep fryer - it’s always important to me that I can cook and eat good steak and chips with a nice salad.
I invested in a first-rate coffee machine and make sure that I always have very good olive oil and vinegar to hand. I’ve nearly finished a bottle of Vin Santo vinegar from Italy – possibly the best I’ve ever had and I’m struggling to track another bottle down.
I also like to have cheese, Parma ham, salami, charcuterie and great bread in the kitchen to snack on. My shelves are laden with De Cecco pasta and sauces.
How would you sum up your food philosophy?
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Straightforward, all-encompassing and product led. If I find a great product I decide what I might do with it rather than dream up an idea from scratch and piece it together that way.
My ideal is to put myself at the service of the product, be respectful to it and try to show it at its best - ie. change it as little as possible. It’s best to buy fresh ingredients at their peak. I’m always keen to get locally sourced seasonal products.
How has British food and our attitude to it changed in your lifetime?
There’s been an enormous change. If you take something as simple as the humble salad this has changed over the years from bland undressed lettuce and tomato to salads incorporating a wide variety of vegetables and dressings.
As a nation we used to think that good food needed to have a fancy French name and/or foreign origin. Everything was veiled in a mask. However, now we have become more comfortable with our own food and history. We’re starting to develop a real food culture of our own and are thankfully moving away from being obsessed with technique.
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What annoys you about food culture in Britain?
There’s a lot of voyeurism attached to food and cooking. People like to change the nature of the ingredients for the sake of it. It annoys me when young chefs overwork food and treat it like cement by adding some water and trying to turn it into something else. Then when it comes to them having a meal, they want to cover everything in ketchup and eat it standing up. Food is all about taste and trying to remember the origin of the food.
I also find it irritating when people buy lots of recipe books and then never use them except for decoration on their coffee tables. These folks are flirting with the concept of good food but are not getting to grips with it.
What is Britain’s best-kept food secret?
Northumberland
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Do you prefer eating in or eating out?
I think eating out, partly due to my busy lifestyle. I rarely eat or entertain at home although I make sure my wife and I always sit down and eat well at home every Sunday.
What is the next big food trend?
If I knew that I’d be onto it!
I’m not really sure. We’ve all pretty much embraced a back-to-basics approach where at last everyone has begun to understand local, regional and seasonal approaches to food. .
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I think vegetable cookery – and I don’t mean vegetarianism - will increase. There’s a real groundswell of interest in allotments and growing your own fruit and vegetables at the moment. A drive towards more vegetable cuisine seems logical.
For more information on Laybourne’s restaurants visit:
Caf? 21, Trinity Gardens, Quayside Newcastle (0191 222 0755)
Jesmond Dene House, Jesmond Dene Road, Newcastle (0191 212 3000)