The Team

It’s all too common to hear people describe their teams as family but I’m allowed to because it’s true. We have 34 chefs and 55 front of house staff across the restaurant, so it’s a big family and sometimes we annoy each other, sometimes we tease each other but we always care for each other. I can’t talk about every single one of them here, but in the heart of my kitchen team are the seniors who I am going to describe to you: Mark Drummond, Nokx Mbambo, Abdul Turay, Kieron Hibbert, Rosa Di Giacomo, Patrick O’Donnell and Alessandro Giangreco. Their dedication and loyalty over the years continues to astound me; the time they have given to the restaurant collectively is immense and uncommon in a famously transient industry.

So, when I say these people are like family, I genuinely mean it. Mark is my head chef but he is also my brother in everything but blood; he knows everything about me, he knows what to say when I’m upset, he knows how to make me laugh, he lets me know when I’m being unreasonable and I love him for that. He is a talent and will clearly continue making a name for himself and I will support him in that in any way I can.

Nokx has worked with me all over the world, cooking at events and collaboration dinners from Canada and Sweden to Iceland and many other countries. She is the real boss of The Pie Room. We opened it together from the designs to the recipes, and then gradually I knew she was ready to run it day-to-day. She is one of the sweetest people I know and a raw talent in the kitchen. Watching her flourish in her role and in the media has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have had in my career.

Abdul and I have worked together for close to nine years now, he was my witness at my wedding in New Zealand, is affectionately known at times as ‘baby rhino’ because of the way he charges around the kitchen and he is my rock. I can talk to him about anything, rely on him for anything and if he wanted to, I’d happily work by his side for the rest of my career.

Kieron started with us right from the beginning. He had been working for a friend of mine who was sad to see him go, but asked me to look after him because he knew he had clear promise as a chef. Kieron fitted in from day one. He is smart, driven, skilled and loves winding up Abdul and Nokx (so much so that Mark has now written it into his job description). It’s important to encourage people’s passions, whatever they are.

Rosa joined our pastry team straight from Italy. She was fiery and tough, with an inspiring work ethic and a love for pastry that was clear for all to see from very early on. She doesn’t bat an eyelid at any challenge I throw her way, is absolutely crushing every new dessert menu that we put on and inspires each member of her pastry team to rise to her level and to constantly work on new dishes and development. It’s no secret to me that the desserts are one of the strongest parts of our offering at Holborn Dining Room and that all comes from her.

Patrick joined the team three years ago, a charming, polite young chef from Ireland who quickly worked his way up the ranks. He is incredibly mature and responsible for a chef of his age, has a lovely sense of humour and is a natural cook, with a very bright future ahead for him. He also, however, wears the most tasteless socks I have ever seen on a human.

Alessandro was the latest chef to join the senior team. I was well aware that this is a difficult thing to do at first as he was entering a quite tightknit group of people who have worked together for a long time. It was a huge relief to see him fit in so well. He immediately earned everyone’s respect through his discipline and drive; he wanted responsibility from the first day and took it on with care and led it to success. Just like the rest of these chefs, he is clearly destined for big things and knows what he wants, and I’ll always do all I can to help him achieve it.

This book is for the whole Holborn Dining Room team, the waiters, the bar backs, the porters, the sommeliers … everyone. I can’t thank you enough for everything you have done over the years, for everyone present, for those who have moved on but put love and passion into their work when with us, for all of you, thank you.