Ella Walker talks to the celebrated seafood chef about his culinary highs and lows.
You won't write off seafood if chef Nathan Outlaw has anything to say about it. The Michelin-starred restaurateur, based in Cornwall, grew up scoffing fish and chips like the rest of us, but now utterly elevates seafood - making dishes that are simple yet elegant.
His latest cookbook, Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, fortunately lets you in on his kitchen secrets, so even if you can't make it to the West Country to try his food firsthand, you can give it a good go at home.
We caught up with the dad-of-two to discover the memories that have helped shape his life in food...
His earliest memory of food is...
"It always seems to be Christmassy stuff, or buffets. My parents always used to have quite a few house parties and I remember being younger and there'd be buffets.
"Summertime barbecues, and picnics as well - my parents didn't have lots of money, so we'd always take picnics to the beach - [that's] a really good memory for me: sandy sandwiches."
Outlaw's culinary high moment is...
"Having the restaurant; it's always what I set out to do. Before I was a chef, I didn't know there were awards or things like Michelin stars, I didn't have a clue. I just became a chef because I enjoyed cooking - and those things are great, but for me, it's about having a restaurant.
"I always wanted my own place, I thought about it when I was younger, so the day we opened that. Restaurant Nathan Outlaw opened in 2007 in a hotel space, but the actual opening of the current location [in Port Isaac, Cornwall], because me and my wife own it, means much more here than it ever did before."
The worst disaster he's ever had in the kitchen is...
"I've never had anything that's stopped service. I remember one New Year's Eve I was on my own in the kitchen, back in my first restaurant called The Black Pig, and I thought I'd make some doughnuts for a petit four to go with the coffees at the end.
"I made the mistake of serving them without checking them, and basically, put it this way, they were as hard as golf balls! They kept coming back! My wife never let me forget about it, even if we walk past a doughnut in a shop, she'll say, 'Better than yours!'"
Restaurant Nathan Outlaw by Nathan Outlaw, photography by David Loftus, is published by Bloomsbury Absolute, priced £45. Available now.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here