Chewing the Fat with Neil Forbes

Neil Forbes is the executive chef at Edinburgh’s Atrium, blue and Cafe St Honore restaurants. Before joining The Atrium in 1999, Neil had worked everywhere from Ballathie House Hotel to Braeval via the Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons and the Royal Scotsman train. A passionate believer in Scottish ingredients, Neil makes a point of listing his suppliers on his restaurant menus.

Here he talks to the blog about Farmers’ Markets, roe deer and meeting his wife on the Love Train.

Q: Had you always wanted to be a chef?

NF: It’s in my blood. My father was a chef. My uncle was a chef as was my grandmother and her mother. The food business is in the family veins. As soon as I could, I left school, got a job and started cooking.

Q: What was it that attracted you to life in the kitchen?

NF: My first job was at an Italian restaurant just outside London. That was in 1986 and it gave me a lot of insight into how a kitchen worked. I just loved it and knew that it was what I wanted to do. The split shifts, the camaraderie, the banter, the fun, the hard work, the lack of sleep: it all fitted in to what I was looking for.

Q: You have worked in some famous restaurants. I know it’s like choosing between fingers but which one had the most impact on you?

NF: One of my favourite jobs was on the Royal Scotsman train. That was an incredible experience. I spent three years on that train; two years as sous chef and one as head chef. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The scenery was stunning. I’d be staring out the window while peeling carrots and seeing Rannoch Moor roll past. You would see parts of Scotland that you just don’t see if you are driving by car.

While the train was travelling through Scotland, we would pick up the most incredible produce from suppliers who would come to the railway station platforms. Lobsters, langoustines, scallops, squat lobsters, roe deer. It was the most beautiful food. We had no limits on our budget. The only rule was that the meals had to be the best.

I met my wife on the train. She was a stewardess. Eleven or twelve years later, we have two kids and we’re very happy. All because of the love train.

Q: Knocking out top notch meals in a train galley can’t have been fun?

NF: It was very hard work but great fun. We had nowhere to spend our money except once a week we would get a night off in London. So we would eat out at Ramsay at Aubergine or Sally Clarke’s or Marco at the Hyde Park Hotel.

Q: Was your time on The Flying Scotsman the trigger for your love of Scottish ingredients?

NF: It had a lot to do with it but so did working at Kinnaird and Ballathie. I harp on about produce and Scotland and local sourcing and I know that I get a bit boring about it but it’s important to what we do here. I’m proud of the produce we have here.

I’m at the Farmers’ Market every Saturday picking up tomatoes or Sasha Grierson’s chickens or herbs from Phantassie Organics or fish from Tim at Creelers.

I want to keep the money in the local economy. I don’t want it to go elsewhere. In the course of a year, I spend a lot of money buying produce for the three restaurants. It’s part of a chain. The food is grown here, sold here, we make something from it and then it is eaten here. That has meaning and makes sense to me.

Q: Do you think that the ‘local, seasonal’ theme is in danger of being over-used and losing its meaning?

NF: It has become trendy. Every second chef says they use local produce and have done for years but they don’t. We genuinely do. If you look at some of the restaurant menus in town then they will feature tuna and pineapples and squab pigeon from France. How dare you describe yourself as a Scottish restaurant when you are using produce from all over the world? Why fly things in from the other side of the world?

Q: That seems a very hard line approach?

NF: We do use spice such as mace in our pork pies and we use the odd vanilla pod. But we draw the line at main ingredients. I don’t want to be anal about it and do everything in my power to not use oregano or what ever but if we can get it locally then we will do it locally.

Q: Do your customers really care that you go to such lengths for your sourcing?

NF: I’m not sure that all of them do but there is a fraternity who do care. They like the fact that we are unique and give us a pat on the back for caring so much.

Q: You are one of the few chefs who buys whole animal carcasses and breaks them down for use in the restaurants. Is it important for you to

Chewing the Fat with Neil Forbes
Neil Forbes is the executive chef at Edinburgh’s Atrium, blue and Cafe St Honore restaurants. Before joining The Atrium in 1999, Neil had worked everywhere from Ballathie House Hotel to Braeval via the Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons and the Royal Scotsman train. A passionate believer in Scottish ingredients, Neil makes a point of listing his suppliers on his restaurant menus.
Here he talks to the blog about Farmers’ Markets, roe deer and meeting his wife on the Love Train.
Q: Had you always wanted to be a chef?
NF: It’s in my blood. My father was a chef. My uncle was a chef as was my grandmother and her mother. The food business is in the family veins. As soon as I could, I left school, got a job and started cooking.
Q: What was it that attracted you to life in the kitchen?
NF: My first job was at an Italian restaurant just outside London. That was in 1986 and it gave me a lot of insight into how a kitchen worked. I just loved it and knew that it was what I wanted to do. The split shifts, the camaraderie, the banter, the fun, the hard work, the lack of sleep: it all fitted in to what I was looking for.
Q: You have worked in some famous restaurants. I know it’s like choosing between fingers but which one had the most impact on you?
NF: One of my favourite jobs was on the Royal Scotsman train. That was an incredible experience. I spent three years on that train; two years as sous chef and one as head chef. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
The scenery was stunning. I’d be staring out the window while peeling carrots and seeing Rannoch Moor roll past. You would see parts of Scotland that you just don’t see if you are driving by car.
While the train was travelling through Scotland, we would pick up the most incredible produce from suppliers who would come to the railway station platforms. Lobsters, langoustines, scallops, squat lobsters, roe deer. It was the most beautiful food. We had no limits on our budget. The only rule was that the meals had to be the best.
I met my wife on the train. She was a stewardess. Eleven or twelve years later, we have two kids and we’re very happy. All because of the love train.
Q: Knocking out top notch meals in a train galley can’t have been fun?
NF: It was very hard work but great fun. We had nowhere to spend our money except once a week we would get a night off in London. So we would eat out at Ramsay at Aubergine or Sally Clarke’s or Marco at the Hyde Park Hotel.
Q: Was your time on The Flying Scotsman the trigger for your love of Scottish ingredients?
NF: It had a lot to do with it but so did working at Kinnaird and Ballathie. I harp on about produce and Scotland and local sourcing and I know that I get a bit boring about it but it’s important to what we do here. I’m proud of the produce we have here.
I’m at the Farmers’ Market every Saturday picking up tomatoes or Sasha Grierson’s chickens or herbs from Phantassie Organics or fish from Tim at Creelers.
I want to keep the money in the local economy. I don’t want it to go elsewhere. In the course of a year, I spend a lot of money buying produce for the three restaurants. It’s part of a chain. The food is grown here, sold here, we make something from it and then it is eaten here. That has meaning and makes sense to me.
Q: Do you think that the ‘local, seasonal’ theme is in danger of being over-used and losing its meaning?
NF: It has become trendy. Every second chef says they use local produce and have done for years but they don’t. We genuinely do. If you look at some of the restaurant menus in town then they will feature tuna and pineapples and squab pigeon from France. How dare you describe yourself as a Scottish restaurant when you are using produce from all over the world? Why fly things in from the other side of the world?
Q: That seems a very hard line approach?
NF: We do use spice such as mace in our pork pies and we use the odd vanilla pod. But we draw the line at main ingredients. I don’t want to be anal about it and do everything in my power to not use oregano or what ever but if we can get it locally then we will do it locally.
Q: Do your customers really care that you go to such lengths for your sourcing?
NF: I’m not sure that all of them do but there is a fraternity who do care. They like the fact that we are unique and give us a pat on the back for caring so much.
Q: You are one of the few chefs who buys whole animal carcasses and breaks them down for use in the restaurants. Is it important for you to keep those skills alive?
NF: We make our own bacon and cure our own hams. We buy whole pigs and lambs and muttons. We break down whole roe deer carcasses. We don’t do it prove a point. It’s cheaper than buying pre-prepped portions but it also good fun. We’re learning all the time and we’re keeping these skills alive. I think that it’s important to pass that knowledge on to new generations of chefs.
But it’s about something wider than us. There are all these small producers around the country who are doing great things with their lambs or cheese or venison. We need to support these artisans. If they go under then we have only ourselves to blame. If you don’t use it then you lose it. We’re keeping it going.
Chewing the Fat with Neil Forbes
Neil Forbes is the executive chef at Edinburgh’s Atrium, blue and Cafe St Honore restaurants. Before joining The Atrium in 1999, Neil had worked everywhere from Ballathie House Hotel to Braeval via the Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons and the Royal Scotsman train. A passionate believer in Scottish ingredients, Neil makes a point of listing his suppliers on his restaurant menus.
Here he talks to the blog about Farmers’ Markets, roe deer and meeting his wife on the Love Train.
Q: Had you always wanted to be a chef?
NF: It’s in my blood. My father was a chef. My uncle was a chef as was my grandmother and her mother. The food business is in the family veins. As soon as I could, I left school, got a job and started cooking.
Q: What was it that attracted you to life in the kitchen?
NF: My first job was at an Italian restaurant just outside London. That was in 1986 and it gave me a lot of insight into how a kitchen worked. I just loved it and knew that it was what I wanted to do. The split shifts, the camaraderie, the banter, the fun, the hard work, the lack of sleep: it all fitted in to what I was looking for.
Q: You have worked in some famous restaurants. I know it’s like choosing between fingers but which one had the most impact on you?
NF: One of my favourite jobs was on the Royal Scotsman train. That was an incredible experience. I spent three years on that train; two years as sous chef and one as head chef. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
The scenery was stunning. I’d be staring out the window while peeling carrots and seeing Rannoch Moor roll past. You would see parts of Scotland that you just don’t see if you are driving by car.
While the train was travelling through Scotland, we would pick up the most incredible produce from suppliers who would come to the railway station platforms. Lobsters, langoustines, scallops, squat lobsters, roe deer. It was the most beautiful food. We had no limits on our budget. The only rule was that the meals had to be the best.
I met my wife on the train. She was a stewardess. Eleven or twelve years later, we have two kids and we’re very happy. All because of the love train.
Q: Knocking out top notch meals in a train galley can’t have been fun?
NF: It was very hard work but great fun. We had nowhere to spend our money except once a week we would get a night off in London. So we would eat out at Ramsay at Aubergine or Sally Clarke’s or Marco at the Hyde Park Hotel.
Q: Was your time on The Flying Scotsman the trigger for your love of Scottish ingredients?
NF: It had a lot to do with it but so did working at Kinnaird and Ballathie. I harp on about produce and Scotland and local sourcing and I know that I get a bit boring about it but it’s important to what we do here. I’m proud of the produce we have here.
I’m at the Farmers’ Market every Saturday picking up tomatoes or Sasha Grierson’s chickens or herbs from Phantassie Organics or fish from Tim at Creelers.
I want to keep the money in the local economy. I don’t want it to go elsewhere. In the course of a year, I spend a lot of money buying produce for the three restaurants. It’s part of a chain. The food is grown here, sold here, we make something from it and then it is eaten here. That has meaning and makes sense to me.
Q: Do you think that the ‘local, seasonal’ theme is in danger of being over-used and losing its meaning?
NF: It has become trendy. Every second chef says they use local produce and have done for years but they don’t. We genuinely do. If you look at some of the restaurant menus in town then they will feature tuna and pineapples and squab pigeon from France. How dare you describe yourself as a Scottish restaurant when you are using produce from all over the world? Why fly things in from the other side of the world?
Q: That seems a very hard line approach?
NF: We do use spice such as mace in our pork pies and we use the odd vanilla pod. But we draw the line at main ingredients. I don’t want to be anal about it and do everything in my power to not use oregano or what ever but if we can get it locally then we will do it locally.
Q: Do your customers really care that you go to such lengths for your sourcing?
NF: I’m not sure that all of them do but there is a fraternity who do care. They like the fact that we are unique and give us a pat on the back for caring so much.
Q: You are one of the few chefs who buys whole animal carcasses and breaks them down for use in the restaurants. Is it important for you to keep those skills alive?
NF: We make our own bacon and cure our own hams. We buy whole pigs and lambs and muttons. We break down whole roe deer carcasses. We don’t do it prove a point. It’s cheaper than buying pre-prepped portions but it also good fun. We’re learning all the time and we’re keeping these skills alive. I think that it’s important to pass that knowledge on to new generations of chefs.
But it’s about something wider than us. There are all these small producers around the country who are doing great things with their lambs or cheese or venison. We need to support these artisans. If they go under then we have only ourselves to blame. If you don’t use it then you lose it. We’re keeping it going.

keep those skills alive?

NF: We make our own bacon and cure our own hams. We buy whole pigs and lambs and muttons. We break down whole roe deer carcasses. We don’t do it prove a point. It’s cheaper than buying pre-prepped portions but it also good fun. We’re learning all the time and we’re keeping these skills alive. I think that it’s important to pass that knowledge on to new generations of chefs.

But it’s about something wider than us. There are all these small producers around the country who are doing great things with their lambs or cheese or venison. We need to support these artisans. If they go under then we have only ourselves to blame. If you don’t use it then you lose it. We’re keeping it going.