What was your first industry job?
In pastry, in a kitchen that was almost entirely female. I learned the technical and traditional side of pastry there.
If you weren’t in kitchens, what would you do?
Honestly, I don’t know in school I wanted to study chemical engineering, but now, I’d probably go into art, design or architecture.
What’s your pet hate in the kitchen?
When chefs can’t seem to broaden their minds to learning more.
What’s the oddest thing a customer has said to you?
It wasn’t a customer but a photographer taking pictures of me for an article, and they looked at me like “you’re young” – but not in a nice, impressed way.
Sum up your cooking style in a single sentence.
Bold, vibrant and full of flavour – food that layers texture, temperature and strong flavour without ever needing more than four or five ingredients to do it.
What advice would you give someone starting out in the industry?
Be a sponge, write things down, ask questions, and take as much knowledge as you can from that place as you possibly can, because what you get there you won’t get anywhere else. Every place you go to becomes another page in the encyclopaedia.
Which single item of kitchen equipment could you not live without?
A KitchenAid.
What would you choose to eat for your last meal?
It would have to be a dish my mum makes. I don’t live at home anymore, I live far away from her, so I really miss her cooking.
À la carte or tasting menu?
Tasting menu.
What’s the best meal you’ve ever had in a restaurant?
It wasn’t really a meal I ordered in a restaurant – it was during my second internship, at a pot luck club - it was a smoked beef tataki with a hoisin dressing, pickled garlic, fresh radish, a coriander and cashew pesto, ponzu mayo and spring onion. It’s the dish I hold my own food up against – I want what I make to live up to that.
What’s your favourite fast food joint?
Flipside in Sligo, Ireland. They do burgers and chips, and their smash burgers are the best I’ve had in Ireland.
MasterChef or Great British Menu?
Great British Menu.
What’s the most overrated food?
Hot honey and matcha
You’re restaurant dictator for a day – what would you ban?
Pealing shallots
Who would your dream dinner party guests be?
Lana del ray
What’s your earliest food memory?
Going to my aunt’s house with my older sister and she’d teach my sister how to make it – cutting onions, stirring the pots. I was too young to do any of that, so all I got asked to do was peel potatoes, and I hated it, because it just reminded me of everything I couldn’t do yet.
TikTok or Instagram?
Instagram.
What’s the closest you’ve ever come to death?
I was a child, and my neck got stuck in between the cot, and then my elder cousin found me blue in the face and he lifted the cot and I was fine .
Where do you go when you want to let your hair down?
The beach. I’ve always lived close to the beach back home, and now we live about fifteen minutes away too. It’s always been where me and my family go to calm down, breathe and reset.
What’s your tipple of choice?
Espresso martini
What’s your favourite food and drink pairing?
Peanut butter , bacon and chili and honey.
What do you consider to be your signature dish?
The chicken dish - at the restaurant