Woolworths_Taste__January_2019

the weather and what I feel like eating

right now. Our coleslaw dish, for example,

wasinspiredbytheincrediblyhotsummer.

Thebiggestthingawardsgiveyou

is confidence.It’s nice to be recognised

for the work that we’re doing. But with

everyawardcomesmorepressure.

ThebiggestawardisalwaysMichelin

andthemorestarsyouhave,the higher

your diners’ expectations.

Respect and professionalism are

essential in my kitchen.Respect is

aboutrespectfortheproduce,eachother,

theprofessionandrespectforourguests.

Everyone has their own personality but

howyoutalktoeachotherisimportant.

Learning to accept criticism comes

with experience and maturity.You

have to listen to the percentage. And if

there is a higher percentage of people

saying:“Idon’tlikethat”,youhavetolisten

tothat,butyoucan’tpleaseeveryone.

I’m against bullying in any form;

Ihateit.Iwon’ttolerateit.Ialways

encouragepeopleinmykitchento

step up and call it out, so that we can

dealwithit.

Itrainmystaffnotjusttowork

forme,buttogetaneducation.

We invest a lot of time in both training

and cross-training the team, so that it

setsthemupforthefuture.

WhensettingupCoreIdidevery

single thing myself,from arranging

thebankloans,theinvestments,

todesigningthespace.Ididn’ttake

onanothermemberofstaffuntil four

monthsbeforeweopened.

Ilovethehospitalityindustry.

Youdon’thearthegovernmenttalking

about the industry, but I think we should

champion it more. It’s an industry

that needs people; you can’t do it

on a computer.

@corebyclaresmyth, @chefclaresmyth,

@IshayGovender

PHOTOGRAPH

CORE

Igrewuponafarm

in Northern Ireland.
Ilovedtheanimals,usedtoridehorses
andwasgenerallyquiteatomboy.My
mumcookedforthefarmworkers–simple,
very wholesome food, fresh from the farm.
Andweateeverypartoftheanimal.
Itwouldcookslowlyinthepot and
onlybereadythenextday.

Iwasalwaysinahurry.Istarted
workinginrestaurantsattheageof12
duringtheschoolholidaysandonweekends.
I finishedcollegewhenIwasonly17,so
Iwasn’tevenoldenoughtogetajob.

One of my signature dishes is
apotato-and-roedish,whichis about
myrootsandabouthumbleingredients.
I ate potatoes every day growing up.

Britishfoodisamixofinfluences

from everywhere.For me, it’s really

about the produce and we have some of

thebest–gameandfish,shellfish.While

mycookingisFrench-influenced,Itryto

makeitasBritishaspossiblewithsome

nods to our own culture and familiar

classics that people identify with because

of a sense of nostalgia – like carrot cake,

which eliminated the need for sugar –

a scarce ingredient during the war.

I’m a very happy workaholic.Ifeel

IdohaveabalancedlifebecauseIlove

whatIdoandthere’snowhereelseI’d

rather be than at the restaurant. Eating out

and socialising are also important to me.

I get inspiration from nature,

from art, my environment, people, smells,

Clareinactionon
the pass at Core.

36 TASTE JAN/FEB 2019

TABLE TALK

WHAT I KNOW NOW

Clare Smyth

Her London restaurant, Core, was awarded two Michelin stars

(initsfirstyear),shewasnamedBestFemaleChefof2018and,

ahem, catered the royal wedding. Ishay Govender-Ypma met

an icon in the making