F&B FOCUS: Nathan Outlaw

Michelin-starred chef Nathan Outlaw had to keep a secret for nearly a year, and he admits it was a difficult task. In March 2016, however, Outlaw was released from the bonds of secrecy when it was revealed that Jumeirah Group’s Burj Al Arab in Dubai will re-open its seafood restaurant, Al Mahara, under the auspices of Outlaw.

Al Mahara, which translates to ‘the oyster shell’ in Arabic, will undergo a refurb over the summer, while keeping the signature aquarium as a centrepiece. The menu will also change, with inspiration coming from Outlaw’s existing concepts: Restaurant Nathan Outlaw and Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen in Cornwall together with his London restaurant, Outlaw’s at The Capital Hotel in Knightsbridge, as well as his traditional public house, The Mariners.

Hotelier Middle East was treated to a taster of what’s to come in the latter half of 2016 — a four course menu including scallop tartare “tartare”, crispy oysters, baked turbot with seaweed crust and lime hollandaise, and treacle and raspberry tart. We meet the chef the next day at Al Mahara, and Outlaw tells Hotelier the dishes he served are in line with his cooking ethos, which has stayed consistent since he entered the F&B industry.

And Outlaw wanted to be a chef as far as he can remember. His father is a chef, and Outlaw says that when he was eight, he was already in a professional kitchen, “helping him out”. Loving the camaraderie found in kitchens, Outlaw decided to pursue life as a chef. “I’m very lucky, I don’t ever feel like I’ve got a job,” he enthuses.

His first job at the InterContinental London Park Lane hotel was instrumental in introducing him to different cultures, which he enjoyed. After that, Outlaw reminisces about showing up at Rick Stein’s doorstep to ask for a job — which he got.

“I did a couple of years with Rick and learned everything that I possibly could from him. Then I decided when I was 24 — and it was probably too young — to open a restaurant. Within eight months of opening, we got a Michelin star. From there it’s just been a roller coaster. I’m 38 now, and the last 14 years, [my career] evolved from one little restaurant where I had just GBP 15,000 to spend... But the one thing that has been consistent is that the style has always stayed the same. I have not really changed my style and what I believe in food is always fundamentally the same as well, which is a true, organic journey.”

His journey so far includes four restaurants in the UK, three books, and a few TV shows thrown in. Last year, Burj Al Arab general manager Anthony McHale approached Outlaw to pitch opening what will now become his fifth concept and first international restaurant.

“Like a lot of things in life, it was coincidence that he [Anthony McHale] had come to my restaurant in Cornwall on a trip before he moved to Dubai to start the job at the Burj Al Arab,” reveals Outlaw.

When Outlaw got the call, he was already talking to someone on the restaurant development team at Jumeirah Group about concept creation, and he “thought it was linked to that but it was completely separate”.

He continues: “So I’m here on pure culinary merit which is quite nice — because somebody enjoyed the food.”

The Michelin-starred chef was then invited to visit the hotel and restaurant, take a look at the challenge, and meet the team on the ground.

“The biggest reservation I had, if I’m being completely honest, is whether the quality of ingredients was going to be good enough. It may sound like a bit much but that would have been the point where I would have said no. If I didn’t think I could get the ingredients, then the sort of cuisine that I do would fail. And as you saw, it’s quite a simple approach to food, so you have to have great ingredients,” he says.

Outlaw was in for a surprise — when he visited the hotel, he found a box of oysters from Ireland, which are the same kind he uses at his London restaurant, and a box of fish from Cornwall.

“I thought,” he says, “we can do something here! From that point, I got excited.”

Another deal-breaker for Outlaw would have been the people who would work at the restaurant — especially the head chef and restaurant manager. “I got back to London and [spoke to] Pete Biggs, who’s my head chef and has been working for me for the last 15 years, and Sharon McArther who will be the general manager.”

Biggs and McArther were immediately sold, and flew out to Dubai with Outlaw on his next trip to get a feel for the project themselves. “They both got the same vibe, and thought it was a good challenge. If they had said no, I wouldn’t be here, and if the ingredients weren’t good enough I wouldn’t be here.” He says the team is especially important because “they are the ones who are going to carry my name on the front of the restaurant”.

Committed to the restaurant, Outlaw plans to visit his Dubai restaurant at least six times a year. And he doesn’t want to do much other than cook with his team. He says: “I’m not the sort of chef that will be swanning around Dubai and going to shindigs and drinking champagne. I’ll come here and work with the guys and raise the standards because that’s what I like doing.”

He muses: “People sometimes look negatively at chefs who have lots of restaurants but what they don’t realise that the fun bit is that we get to cook in all these places. When it does go wrong is when you do start swanning around and you get celeb-spotted rather than being the kitchen.”

Outlaw says this is not the first time he’s been asked to collaborate on a project, and says, without any trace of arrogance, that it’s become a weekly affair. However, he will never, he stresses, take on a project unless he is convinced he will be able to give it his all. “I wouldn’t have even accepted if I didn’t think I could do it. I know when I can’t do something but I feel this is right for me and my style could fit very well in Dubai,” he adds.

Now that the Burj Al Arab collaboration is official, it’s down to the logistics of changing the interiors and executing the new menu. While Outlaw has not necessarily been involved in the “yes and no” decisions, he reveals his opinion has been carefully considered — which he appreciates. “That doesn’t happen sometimes, and I’m very happy with what’s going to happen and what it looks like. It’s going to be a brighter space, it’s going to be more accessible, a more comfortable place to sit in, which is all the things that tick the boxes in my cuisine.”

Outlaw says he has “total carte blanche” on the food, and has taken advice from the team that has worked in the restaurant for the last 16 years. The menu, which leans towards to the French fine dining style of cuisine, will now follow a British style of cooking.

He goes back to the ingredients: “I’m very lucky that Maxime (Luvara), who’s the executive chef here, has got very good suppliers. And the ingredients he’s got… as you can imagine for the Burj Al Arab, they’ve got some good stuff! I know there will be a lot of work to do, but a lot of the hard work is done. But because it’s got all the support… it’s as easy as it can be. I’m sure it won’t go all plain sailing but there is a big support.”

One thing Outlaw hopes to achieve is to increase the number of local products and suppliers. “I’m going to get out and try local cuisine and find local ingredients, which is something that hasn’t happened over the last 16 years in this restaurant. Which is no fault of theirs, it’s just something that wasn’t in fashion then. Now people are more aware of supporting local people and sustainability, and that’s what I do in the UK. The relationships I’ve got with my fishermen in Cornwall have taken me 13 years to establish.”

He concludes: “I probably am in danger of taking too much on my shoulders, because I do take on a lot, but it has to be done especially when you’ve got your name on the front of the restaurant.” And come Q3 2016, Dubai will see the results of his efforts.

Quick fire with Nathan Outlaw

Your best dining experience and why?

A restaurant in Denmark called Henne Kirkeby Kro — there’s a British chef called Paul Cunningham who has lived in Denmark for 20 years. It is amazing. I love to see the personality of someone on the plate; he has such a beautiful style of cookery.

If you didn’t cook seafood, what would your cuisine of choice be?

Vegetables. My daughter wants to be a chef. If we don’t start sorting out the sustainability [issue], that might be an option.

Pet peeve in food fads?

I detest micro-herbs. It just doesn’t do anything for me. You won’t see them on any of my dishes.

Best advice you’ve ever been given as a chef?

Keep your ears open and listen. It’s very good advice for a younger chef.

The worst mistake you have made?

When I opened my restaurant in London — and I’m being very honest — I didn’t plan enough, which actually exposed us very early on, especially with the press. Every food critic in London came in the first two weeks and we weren’t ready. I’ve learned not to make that mistake. But I’ve always said, ‘a mistake is not the first time you make it, it’s the second time you make it’.

Nathan Outlaw’s Biography

Nathan Outlaw is a two-starred Michelin chef from England. His career began in his home county of Kent at Thanet College, where he studied professional cookery. His launch onto the professional stage was with the late Peter Kromberg at the InterContinental London Park Lane hotel in London. Throughout his career he has worked alongside Eric Chavot, Gary Rhodes and John Campbell. However, his love for seafood cookery was ignited when he visited Cornwall as a young chef to work with Rick Stein. Outlaw was awarded a Michelin star for his first restaurant, The Black Pig in Rock, Cornwall in 2004, within a year of opening. In 2014/15 he was named as the AA Chef’s Chef of the Year and he relocated his flagship restaurant, Restaurant Nathan Outlaw from Rock to the historic fishing village of Port Isaac and it retained its two Michelin stars as well as earning four AA Rosettes.

In 2012, his interest in the education and training of young chefs saw him join forces with Cornwall College to open Academy Nathan Outlaw offering NVQ level 2 and 3 student chefs and Level 3 Front of House students enhanced learning opportunities. He has published three books so far — Nathan Outlaw’s British Seafood, Nathan Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen, and Nathan Outlaw’s Everyday Seafood, with a fourth on the cards.