The SSAW Collective is a community of chefs, florists & growers committed to an ethical way of working with seasonal produce.
Through campaigns and collaborations, we advocate for positive change in our food and floral systems.
JOURNAL
Representing creative individuals whose craft, skill and practices are all connected by a commitment to positive change.
17/10/24
ANNA HIGHAM
- A KITCHEN OF ONE'S OWN
Everyday the head chef running the shift at The River Cafe sits down at a table by the kitchen to write the menu for the coming service. They sit at 9:30 in the morning and 3:30 in the afternoon. The table is littered with folders of papers and lists; a list of the vegetables in house, what meat is in the fridge, how many langoustines or scallops they may have, what the team of preppers have already done or will need to do that day and of course, the rota showing which chefs are working that shift. Some chefs like to get going alone, with just this list of ingredients before them, others have their favourite muses sit alongside to help and inspire. Each service brings a new menu but the vocabulary has been firmly set after 35 years as a restaurant. Squid on the grill with red chillies, a dry pasta, a fresh pasta, a filled fresh pasta maybe a risotto if there is a chef working who makes them well, mozzarella with the best in season vegetables with plenty of olive oil, a whole fish in the wood oven, lamb on the grill. It is a menu written through social interaction and collaboration. The chef the night before may have been placing the meat and fish orders, the next chef that morning dictating what the prep team need to do, junior chefs asking for jobs chip in as the menu forms, Ruthie (Rogers) on the phone or in the restaurant saying she wants a particular dish to appear that service. It is a wonderful exercise in removing a chef's ego, an exercise in how to create to please many and also one’s self.