INTERVIEW WITH NEIL RANKIN

It's been a little while since my last chef interview post, but I'm back with a great one today (and I have a few more crackers lined up for the next couple of months).

Today's interview is with chef Neil Rankin of the Smokehouse and Bad Egg. Neil's worked across the culinary board - from top end restaurants with Michelin star chefs, to cooking at Nuno Mendes's infamous loft supper clubs but it was working with BBQ chef Adam Perry Lang that really set Neil on the path that's brought him to where he is now - taking the reins at Pitt Cue in 2011 and then heading up John Salt in Islington. Neil then opened his own restaurant, Smokehouse, in Islington, which now has a second site in Chiswick, and just so happens to be my current favourite restaurant.... because somewhere that serves Somerset goat tacos with chipotle aioli and green sauce, as well as deep fried rock oyster, beef dripping toast and smoked bone marrow, and has a child-free whisky room, and reindeer furs on the back of the restaurant benches, and sources the best quality produce you could want, just can't not be my favourite! Neil's food is about slow cooking and smoking, but also there's a huge Korean influence in a lot of his dishes - think slow cooked smoked lamb shoulder served with a sambal (chilli and prawn) sauce.

Neil is a busy man (especially during BBQ season!) but I managed to get my interview questions to him, and here's what he had to say....

1. Who has inspired you the most in your career?

Adam Perry Lang. He’s who taught me to cook meat and it set me on my path away from fine dining to what I do now.

2. What is the first thing you remember cooking?

I think it was omelettes when I was 13 or 14. I used to cook them when my mum was late back from work.

3. What is your favourite restaurant in London?

Quality chop house. Its pretty much flawless these days. 

4. What is your can't live without kitchen gadget?

A thermopen thermometer. I carry it with me everywhere

5. What your top 3, can't live without, ingredients?

Salt, cracked black pepper and an abundance of herbs.

6. What's your newest ingredient discovery?

Tahini. Its not a new discovery but I’m using it a lot more than I used to and in different ways. 

7. What is the most difficult food intorlerance to cook for?

Generally I’d say dairy but they are all pretty easy given enough notice. 

8. What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone wanting to start a career as a chef?

Cook as many cuisines as possible and be creative with your career choices. Don’t just hit the well known kitchens otherwise its harder to stand out and gain an individual style (I love this piece of advice and couldn't agree more with Neil - and you can see the influence all the cuisines that he's cooked in his food at the Smokehouse).

9. What do you make of supper clubs? Have you ever been to one?

Been to them and done them. They’re fun and a great way to get your name out there. 

10. And finally - what's the plan for you in 2015, and beyond? Where are you currently working, and do you have any exciting projects in the pipeline (that you don't mind my readers knowing about!)

Lots of stuff I can’t tell you about but I’ve got a book coming out early next year and doing lots of new stuff in the next 6 months (so exciting, I'll be first in the line to get Neil's book when it comes out!)

A huge thank you to Neil for taking part in my interview series, fascinating answers from a man who cooks some of the best food in London!
 

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SMOKEHOUSE, CHISWICK

Chiswick's got a new star!

It seems West London is finally coming into its own as far as good food is concerned. Slowly, restaurants are starting to open that aren't part of a huge high street chain and it's all very exciting. Neil Rankin is the latest chef to take anchor in W4 with his 2nd Smokehouse restaurant - the original is in Islington, and was the UK's first real wood BBQ restaurant. Smokehouse Chiswick has taken residency in the old pub, The Hole in the Wall, which has been transformed into a gorgeous restaurant, with dark walls, benches and cosy seats, whilst retaining a true pub feel with a long bar stretching round into the whisky room.

 

We visited a couple of weeks after they opened and the place was really busy. The menu centres around BBQ-d food, with a hint of spice in most dishes. We started the evening with the Smokehouse Summer Cup - a fruity punch cocktail - for me, and a Camden Pils lager for the boy. The beer offering at Smokehouse is plentiful and varied and will be something that tempts us back there time and time again.

 

For food I started with Somerset goat tacos, served with chipotle and green salsa. I had high expectations having read wondrous things about these, and my expectations were met. Soft, falling-apart goat meat on a picante, red-with-chilli chipotle mayo topped with a tangy green salsa. A starter portion is 2 of these tacos but I honestly could've eaten many more. They're juicy and so full of flavour.

 

The boy had the burnt leeks, Portobello, truffle oil, parmesan and Cackleberry Farm egg - a dish of pure decadence. Rich and heady it was a delight to eat, with the runny yolk providing a sauce to bring the whole dish together. Rankin is extremely proud of the produce he uses in the restaurant and you can really taste the quality of each element.

 

 

Other starters include foie gras apple pie with egg; deep fried rock oyster, beef dripping toast and smoked bone marrow, and many more mouth watering dishes that I had a lot of trouble choosing between.

 

For our main course I had the delicious smoked Elwy Valley lamb shoulder, polenta, raclette and sambal. An excellent combination of tender, flavoursome meat, melted cheese, and spicy sambal. Again, I can't fault this dish, and am still dreaming about it now.

 

 

The boy had the Smokehouse burger made with Highland beef and topped with cheese. A really good burger, though I feel that other dishes on the mains menu may trump this - think ham hock and pigs cheek "sphere" with squid romesco or shortrib bourguignon, creamy mash, bacon and Essex Portobello mushrooms - but the boy's chilli allergy did limit his choices somewhat. The restaurant have assured us that they'll work around his chilli allergy next time we're back so he can try some of the more exciting choices.

 

We went to the Smokehouse mid week and it was busy. Every table in the restaurant was full while the bar was buzzing - a mixture of locals with their dogs, chaps drinking beer and couples cuddled up on the smaller tables.

 

Smokehouse is exactly what Chiswick needed, and is sure to be a huge success. It's an affordable, excellent pub serving top notch food. With starters ranging from £6-10 and mains £13 upwards it's not going to break the bank, even if I do go weekly! I'm already looking forward to many evenings, weekends and late mornings (they serve brunch) spent there, slowly working my way through the menu.
 

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