Justin Brown Interview
Justin Brown (Chef)
Interview by Louisa Nashir
Originally from Bedfordshire, Justin moved to London at the age of 16 to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a chef.
His first job was at the Landmark Hotel, a 5 star deluxe establishment in Marylebone, London. Here, he had a pleasant three years fine-tuning his craft before he felt that the time was right to move on and develop his career further.
Such was Justin's growing reputation that he was soon offered work with Jamie Oliver and Ben O'Donoghue at Monte's Club in Knightsbridge as well as working with Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones in South Kensington.
In recent years, Justin has been a guest on several radio shows and written articles for various prestigious food magazines as well as appearing on BBC2's Masterchef The Professionals.
How does it feel to win so many awards?
It's a great achievement to win all of the awards I have won, after so many years as a chef it makes you feel like the hard work and long hours have paid off, I take nothing for granted and will always persist to win everything I enter.
What first interested you about becoming a chef?
Originally watching chefs on TV got me interested, Gordon Ramsey was just starting to make a name for himself and cooking was a natural step for me, I've always been interested in food and I could never do anything else.
Is there anything you don't like to cook?
Not really, chefs usually are more specialised in certain areas but personally I love to cook all aspects of food from game to fish, sauces to dessert.
Do you find you tend to judge others food when eating out, in a restaurant for example?
I never judge and I've never complained but of course I do have my own opinions, everyones cooking style is different including mine so usually when I go out I look at the positives and negatives and sometimes it helps give me inspiration and ideas.
Who would you most love to cook for and what would you make?
I have cooked for lots of celebrities but I really like cooking for chefs, so a few chefs like Tom Kerridge, Ken Hom and Sat Bains would be great to cook for.
When you are home and not working, how do you spend your time?
I normally go to London and eat in a nice restaurant or stay in at home and cook some really homely food, cooking is a way of life so even when I'm not working food is always there.
Is there any foods you would love to banish and never see again?
I could be a snob and say things like frozen foods ect but honestly no, all food has its purpose, I just stick to what I like to cook.
You launched Browns and Suns Outside Catering in January 2011 how is it going?
It's going well, its hard times for everyone at the moment but we have had a few weddings and in the future we have bookings for outside events so it something that will build over time.
What would you say is your signature dish?
A dish I did at the 2009 Chef of the Year Awards and won with was my double cooked shoulder of lamb, garlic mash, curly kale and a thyme jus, its been on my menu for years and is still a very popular dish.
Justin gained the first AA Rosette Star for the Sun Inn – which was opened in August 2010, just a few months afterwards.
The Sun Inn A30 Winchester road, Dummer, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG25 2DJ tel 01256 397234
www.suninndummer.com