Meet the Team: Ollie O’Toole

Well I started working in a pub at the age of fourteen, after my dad and I decorated it, I was just after a bit of ‘pocket money’ but my first head chef there, Santino, opened my eyes to the world of cooking and kitchens. I owe a huge amount to him: he became a huge influence and mentor in my life and career.

But I was lucky, looking back: I grew up on my mum’s good quality home cooking, with vegetables from an allotment and the back garden, and using a butcher and fishmongers once a month. I guess, looking back, these things played a part in my view of what food should be and why I wanted to be a chef

Was it cooking with mum which sticks in your mind, or the finished dishes you remember best?

Mainly the finished dishes- I was usually either working, playing sports or out and about with friends. I was too busy to see the cooking process! Sometimes I’d be standing watching, talking to her, but not doing it- I didn’t start that properly until I started at the pub when I was fourteen.

So… how do you get from pub kitchen to Michelin-starred kitchen?

Home is actually my third Michelin star kitchen! I started at The Bybrook in the Manor House hotel in Castle Combe, Chippenham under chef Rob Potter.

I did a one-year Level Three course at Reading Catering College when I was 18, and the Exclusive Collection hotel group came and did a dinner with the college. They run a cookery school program, and I thought it was something I would be interested in, so after passing all the interview stages I was placed in the Manor House hotel for two years through the cookery school/ academy scheme.

I did two years at The Bybrook, and then a year and a half at The Latymer at Pennyhill Park, in Bagshot, and then Penarth.

You’re used to working to a high standard and with excellent produce then. Do you have a favourite type you like working with? What have been your favourite dishes on the Home menu?

I am very lucky- at Home, we work with some of the best produce around. From A5 Grade Wagyu beef and huge 12kg turbot to hand-dived Orkney scallops, and some of the best and freshest fruit and vegetables you can find. At Home, the menu changes every five weeks, but my favourite dish has got to be either the current trout dish (with Isle of Wight tomatoes and ponzu), or the rhubarb and vanilla dessert on the last menu.

From your perspective in the kitchen, what do you think makes Home special?

For me, it’s the personal interaction between us and the customer. How every table is different, and the relationship built between us and each table is so unique.

What’s been the highlight of your career so far?

The moment my first head chef said my seasoning was spot on! It was something simple but for little sixteen-year-old me, it meant the world. The second highlight? Having a Michelin star chef shake my hand at the end of a hard service and say ‘Well done and thank you’, because everything I sent up was ‘perfect’. It was something small, but it spoke volumes to me and installed the belief that this is what I want to be doing with my life.

Home is, famously, family-owned and family-run, and James and Georgia have spoken about their ability to communicate in the kitchen almost without speaking. What was it like coming into such a tight-knit group?

It was tough to start with, because I was coming from kitchens where there were between six and fourteen in a team, chefs from all walks of life, and it probably took me a good four months before it finally ‘clicked’.

It was straight after we had finished serving one night, when Chef took me aside and told me I had had a good service. For me that was the turning point, from being almost an ‘outsider’ to being a full part of the team. From there, my relationship with James’ has grown- of course, working as just the two of us since Georgia’s maternity leave has naturally done this: but we now talk about new dish ideas and flavours, and I would like to think that I have brought a part of myself to Home, whether it’s my suggesting ingredient ideas or just my personality!

So.. where do you see your career taking you, longer term?

One day, I’d love to have a restaurant of my own, just cooking the food I want and staying true to using the best ingredients and getting the best out of them. Expressing my vision and personality, both through food and the dining room.

I believe I am in a gifted position as a young chef who can be part of change in the future of this industry. I’d like to bring a new way of working: chefs work long, hard days, and obviously, hard work and dedication are key, but I would like to own a place where the kitchen lets in natural sunlight and we can cook outside as much as possible. Growing up with an allotment and producing your own food would be key, too.

I also want to raise awareness among the general public as to what food is about, and not just what is on the plate that’s in front of them. I believe as chefs we are responsible for educating those we affect: our customers, our producers, and of course our employees.