Graham Squire trained under John Williams and Martin Nail at Claridge’s, working his way up to senior chef de partie before leaving in 2009 to work with Adam Byatt at his Clapham restaurant Trinity. It was at Trinity where Graham worked alongside Tom Sellers, who went on to open Restaurant Story. In 2014, Tom opened his first pub – The Lickfold Inn – near Petworth in West Sussex and persuaded Graham to run the kitchen as head chef. Graham talks to Hospitality & Catering News about the challenges of running a restaurant in the countryside and why he’s no fan of social media.
What led you to work in hospitality?
When I was young I used to watch Marco Pierre White and I always had a passion for food. Then my father saw a slip in a newspaper about Bournemouth and Poole College’s Specialised Chef’s Scholarship, so I went along for a interview and got a place. Part of the three-year course was a work placement at Claridge’s, so I went to work there and my career went from there.
The Lickfold Inn opened in 2014, how is business now nearly four years on?
The pub was derelict for five years before we took it over and it’s in such a remote area, that it has been difficult to get it off the ground. It took a good year and a half to get properly established and we are still spreading the word now. Some people don’t realise we’ve re-opened nearly four years on.
Our plan was to make it somewhere special – not your usual burger and chips kind of place – so we grow vegetables, keep chickens and are bringing in beehives next year. We want this place to last 20 to 30 years and be a real community hub.
I’d describe the style of food as seasonal, modern British with a European influence. There’s French in there too because I’m classically trained. We do a lot of foraging and grow a lot of vegetables, which adds to the experience and have two main areas for different dining occasions. Downstairs is more free and where we offer tapas-type dishes to enable the guest to eat as little or as much as they want without committing to a full meal. Upstairs is the restaurant, where it’s more formal and people will engage in the experiences.
How does the dynamic between you and Tom work at The Lickfold Inn?
Tom gives advice when needed and helps with areas like the reservations systems. We worked together at Trinity and when an investor bought this place and got Tom involved he introduced it to me. I just fell in love with the place.
You went from working in restaurants in the city to a country pub. Have you had to make adjustments to the way you cook and run the place?
Being from London, I found loads of things different in the country. Here people are coming for a dining experience, but they are also coming out for a relaxed dinner, so you have to balance the food. As much as you might want to create different dishes, many people are just out for dinner and you have to make sure that’s adhered to.
We have busy weekends, but there are times of the week when it’s quiet and you still have to motivate staff. In most places in London you have the luxury of having a wait-list and no-shows are not as damaging, but we don’t get people walking past here to fill empty tables so we have to work harder to ensure they come.
To cut no-shows we ask for credit card details for weekend bookings, or for larger groups in the week and guests are often shocked, but that’s the way it has to be. We’re a business and need to fill tables. There’s a naughty pattern we’ve found where people are booking about five restaurants for Sunday lunch, so they can pick and choose where they want to go and not turn up for the others.
What are the pros and cons of working as a chef in the countryside?
It’s beautiful and in the summer there are lots of events in the area that help us. It is amazing in terms of produce – there’s wild garlic and mushrooms growing nearby. Those are the pros. The cons are that Wednesdays and Thursdays are quiet and the staffing issue is a problem. In London you hire someone and they’re passionate about what they do. Here you have to find accommodation for them, or they have to drive, so you’ve already reduced the staff you can get by 30%. There are a lot more factors and boring things like dealing with cess pits that you don’t get in London. It’s an experience, though and a challenge I love to face.
What do you love most about the industry?
I’ve always loved food and making people happy. When people come out for a special occasion, whether it’s an anniversary or a birthday I love being able to ensure they have a good time. We have an open kitchen here so you can see people come in and sit down with a nice gin and tonic before their meal. They are looking forward to it and love the food. It’s great to witness it. To make someone’s night is fantastic.
I’ve always loved food too and keeping on top of new trends like fermentation. There are so many different styles, it’s amazing how many different ways you can work with ingredients.
What irritates you the most about the industry?
The way things are going now with social media really irritates me. It’s a great tool to spread the word and show people what you do, but it’s also never made us feel so alone. People have their phones ready at the table to take photos of the food, but when you’ve tried your best to get a dish to them at the perfect temperature and then they spend 20 minutes taking photos, it can be really disheartening. There’s too much emphasis on image too. The photo only tells part of what the dish is. How do you know what it tastes like? To be a chef is quite trendy now and lots of people decide to do pop-ups and the like, but you have to spend years learning the basics and grafting. You have to understand the dish, not just see it.
Who has been your biggest inspiration in your career and why?
There are loads of great chefs. When I was at Claridge’s it was John Williams and Martin Nail who were really great at building you up and giving you the best opportunities they could. Adam Byatt at Trinity inspired me in a different way. He’s a great restaurateur and has a great eye for making the most out of ingredients. It has never been so rich for good chefs in the industry now. There are so many you can be inspired by.
Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
I love the Lickfold. It’s close to my heart and a beautiful place. I just want to keep working here on different projects and make it the kind of place more people want to come to. We’ll never be self-sustaining, but we are trying to increase what we do here. We’ve got hens, are planning to put in beehives and I’d like pigs eventually. West Sussex is beautiful and a great place to be. I don’t see any reason to leave it.
Emma Eversham
Hospitality & Catering News, Interviews Editor