While most of us are opening presents and eating too much, chefs all round the country will be slaving away in the kitchen as usual. Dan Bignold asked them what Santa could bring that would make their lives just a little bit easier
Paul Kitching, chef-proprietor, Juniper, Altrincham, Cheshire
“I’ve started thinking I need to sharpen up my image. I have a sort of Donald Sutherland goofy look, but I think what I need are some really good-looking chef’s whites like Raymond Blanc or Brian Turner would wear.
“So it would have to be a Bragard tailored jacket, with ‘executive chef’ sewn into it. I think they’re about £120 each. And some for all my brigade – they’re a right bunch of reprobates. A bit like the Dirty Dozen.”
Ross Pike, directors’ dining, BaxterStorey
“It’s got to be the daddy, the Thermomix TM21. If you haven’t seen one you need to have a look. Bloody excellent.”
Pascal Aussignac, chef-patron, Club Gascon, London
“I would most like knives from the recent collaboration between Michel Bras and the Japanese knife company, Kai. They combine design and professionalism and are also sleek and beautiful to look at.”
Rufus Wickham, head chef, Sam’s Brasserie and Bar, Chiswick, London
“I would like a blast-chiller for my kitchen this Christmas, because it’s the best piece of equipment for doing what it does!”
Bjorn van der Horst, head chef, the Greenhouse, London
“I would like a great big fireplace to roast a reindeer on. It’s such a rare cooking method these days, and is representative of the Christmas season and winter solstice.”
Jake Gritten, joint head chef, the Albion, Bristol
“Wusthof knives have a new Cordon Bleu range that combines German steel with Japanese styling. I’ve got one but I want the lot.”
Daniel Clifford, chef-patron, Midsummer House, Cambridge
“I would love to have air-conditioning in my kitchen. We’ve installed two extra stoves, and it was pretty hellish over the summer months.”
Chris Horridge, the Bath Priory, Bath
“What I would really like is a centrifuge machine to pass sauces quickly. I’m not sure there is anything out there, but it would be a lot quicker than a chinoise and a ladle.”
Stuart Gillies, head chef, Boxwood Café, the Berkeley, London
“My favourite ingredient to cook with at Christmas is a white truffle. Shaved raw on to a Champagne risotto – that was the first dish I ever cooked for my French in-laws years ago and it has been a hard act to follow! For my wife I’d have to get foie gras terrine – even while she was pregnant (three times) she refused to celebrate Christmas without it.
“But for myself what I most want is a cookbook I’ve been trying to get hold for years but to no avail. It’s called Ma Cuisine by Fernand Point of La Pyramide restaurant in Vienne, France, but it’s out of print – so if anyone could find it for me that would be great.”
Sam and Eddie Hart, proprietors, Fino, London
“It’s a book called The Silver Spoon. It is a phenomenal encyclopaedia of authentic Italian cookery, which has just been translated for the first time in 50 years. We can’t wait to cook from it in the English!”
Nic Watt, head chef, Roka
“The Tony Bortello cookbook is very good at the moment... Spanish influenced but fantastic all the same. However, the ultimate Christmas gift would be a Marlin fishing trip to the Caribbean – it would also give me the prize ingredient.”
Chris Galvin, joint chef-proprietor, Galvin, London
“I want a chrome-plated Hold-O-Mat and an understanding bank manager.”
Jeff Galvin, joint chef-proprietor, Galvin, London
“A herb and vegetable garden outside the kitchen back door and a 48-hour day/nine-day week so I could fit in the odd round of golf.”
Claire Bosi, joint-proprietor, Hibiscus, Ludlow, Shropshire
“I would like an exemption from the Inland Revenue saying that we don’t have to pay any tax for 12 months – and a supply of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts for the staff.”
Claude Bosi, chef and joint-proprietor, Hibiscus, Ludlow, Shropshire
“The doughnuts are fine by me, but I’d like a nice two-litre Carpigiani ice-cream machine. Don’t get me wrong, Pacojet is great, but I’d like to have a proper, big, grown-up machine.”
Derek Quelch, executive chef, the Goring Hotel, London
“I would like someone to find me a Victorian book of old British dishes that I could re-interpret in a modern way.”
Sat Bains, chef-proprietor, Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham
“My Christmas wish is that all those restaurants in Nottinghamshire that profess to be restaurants but turn tables and serve bad food and make people eat their puddings in the bar should just leave it and close down. I dream about that. Someone’s got to look after the future of gastronomy and I wish all those customers would come to my restaurant to appreciate what real service is about.”
Nathan Outlaw, head chef, St Ervan Manor, Cornwall
“I would like a vac-pac machine for Christmas and new mug for my tea as my current one is too old and has no handle.”
Glynn Purnell, head chef and co-proprietor, Jessica’s, Birmingham
“I would like some of those poaching baths. I have just had my kitchen done and spent all my budget, but I hear those are great for slow cooking. I’d also like a giant chrome ‘Birmingham City’ badge on my new Molteni oven.”
Adrian Jones, head chef, the Spencer Arms, Putney, London
“I want a magic hat for Christmas so I can deal with those awkward customers who expect chefs to pull meals out of a hat at Christmas. I’d also like more love to be shown to chefs – you know, all those chefs who are stuck in basements at Christmas with no light. The NSPCC should be renamed the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Chefs. Remember a chef is for life, not just for Christmas.”
Scott Wade, head chef at the Gun, Docklands, London
“I want a Pacojet food processor and a Bamix hand-blender.”
Rob Kirby, chef-director, Lexington
“A rest! – because I’m working these days. A new body with one of those trendy six packs. For my new flat – if it’s ever ready – an original Sex Pistols’ ‘Nevermind The Bollocks’ poster. Some artwork for my creative and luvvy friend – you know who you are. And Christmas Day spent with Delia, some cranberries and her latest cookbook...”
Ian Fleming, proprietor, the Buttery, Glasgow, and the Lake Hotel, Port of Menteith, Perthshire
“My two head chefs seem to want a more generous boss – the one at the Buttery so he can buy a decent car, the one at the Lake Hotel so he can have a new kitchen. He’s getting half now – if he makes enough on his GP he can have the other half in January!”
Peter Lloyd, executive chef, City Café, London
“I’d like a spit-roasting machine for cooking suckling pig, then some Shetland seaweed-fed lamb. I’d also like Cornish Red chickens to put outside on Art Street for the summer.”
Contacts
Bamix: 0115 960 8646
Bragard: 020 7745 7628
Carpigiani: 01432 351009 (Servequip Cold Concepts)
Dehillerin: 00 33 1 42 36 53 13
Hold-O-Mat: 0808 100 1777 (Continential Chef Supplies)
Kai: 020 7499 2823 (Thomas Goode)
Pacojet: 01543 375311
Thermomix: 01344 622344
Wusthof: 0845 6017262 (Armorica)
Reindeer: 02476 422222 (Aubrey Allen, by order)
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts: 0800 731 4100
Original Sex Pistols posters: 020 7278 7793 (Planet Bazaar)
Decent Car: 01908 610620 (Aston Martin)