Pam Brunton - Creating Scotlands Greatest Restaurant 'Inver' & The Craziness Of Working For Tom Aikens, Noma & Fäviken

The Go To Food Podcast

The episode features an in-depth conversation with Pam Brunton, co-owner of the Michelin Green Star restaurant Inver. She traces her culinar

Key takeaways

• Pam Brunton's professional background includes experience at high-pressure restaurants like Tom Aikens, The Greenhouse, Noma, and Fäviken.
• Inver relies heavily on local Loch Fyne seafood, such as hand-dyed scallops and creeled langoustines, and produce from nearby market gardens.

Main topics

• Culinary career journey
• High-pressure kitchen culture

Notable quotes

The rooms almost subsidise the restaurant.

Conclusion

A profound look at how extreme culinary experiences and a commitment t

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:04) Well, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome back to the award-winning Nissan Blast brought to you by the greatest POS system in the world, Blink. I hope you have it here, Pam. I've taken a look, I can't see it. I Speaker 4 (0:12) think we do, do we? We do. Oh my gosh. Speaker 3 (0:15) This is the greatest start to a podcast ever. They've actually got Blink. Speaker 4 (0:18) Oh, so that's absolutely not the kind of question you asked me, huh? No, no. Mostly clueless. Speaker 3 (0:21) But Speaker 4 (0:21) listen, it's Speaker 3 (0:22) been confirmed. This is incredible. And can't stop using it. We're delighted to be joined by the co-owner of one of Scotland's greatest restaurants. I would say greatest. I have. And you'd agree with me? Speaker 2 (0:29) Yeah. So there we Speaker 3 (0:31) go. We can swap the parts. I agree with you. Yeah, and you agree with it. That's three of us. That's three out of three. But you've come through some of the toughest kitchens, including Tom Aitken's friend of the show, the greenhouse, a bit of work in Noma, Favikin, Indervolf. Before opening this incredible place, first person in Scotland to win the Michelin Green Star. And I'm still proud of it. It's Speaker 2 (0:48) the Speaker 3 (0:48) incredible Pembroke. Lucky enough to be alongside you in this incredible place. We've been meaning to come up here for months. We're finally here. Thank you so much for having us. It's Speaker 4 (0:54) a Speaker 3 (0:54) beautiful, beautiful Speaker 4 (0:55) place. Speaker 3 (0:55) You are so Speaker 4 (0:55) very, very welcome. It is always nice to make new friends. It's Speaker 3 (0:59) absolutely gorgeous. But take us through the offering here. If we arrive, which we did, in a Speedy Fit 500, what delights can we expect in a sort of culinary sense? Because visually, it's absolutely beautiful. Speaker 4 (1:09) So what you can't see right now, I hope you'll see later on, is that the loch is literally a stone's throw from the window. It's closer than some kitchens dry stores. So we use a lot of really incredible... Produced straight from the loch, like hand-dyed scallops and creeled langoustines and crabs. Brought to us by Mary, who used to be the local high school's PE teacher. We got a lot of young chefs coming up from London and they're always blown away by the quality of the shellfish. Nothing is ever like this in London. It looks sad and half-dead and this guy's just... This guy's attached itself to my wrist and I can't get it off. Chef! Speaker 3 (1:45) We were with Brendan Appleby from Tavern the other day and Speaker 4 (1:48) he was saying he has a restaurant that Speaker 3 (1:50) just blew his mind open and changed his life forever. Changed how he saw the world he said. Genuinely, that's what he said. Speaker 4 (1:56) There's no small claim. He's a Speaker 3 (1:58) gorgeous man as well. Great food at Tavern. You should get down there next time you're in London. Speaker 4 (2:02) And I probably will. I'm very, very fond of Brendan. Yeah, he is. So yes, I mean, we're not just a shellfish restaurant, obviously. We also use a lot of incredible local produce from farms and hillsides and gardens. So wild venison is happening at the minute. We can find our own mushrooms. We work with a wonderful couple, Kate and Russell, who have a market garden a few miles up the road and they'll bring us salads and herbs. Speaker 3 (2:26) We're going to be seeing that later, aren't we? Speaker 4 (2:28) No, we're going in the opposite direction. Fake news. Speaker 3 (2:31) We're not going to be seeing that. We're going to be going the other direction. We're gonna be seeing something. Speaker 4 (2:34) You're gonna see Finn who's a young farmer who's currently raising mangalitsa pigs, Icelandic sheep and the family also have dairy and meat cattle that live in a pretty idyllic, I'm gonna, I'm throwing it out there, you will not have seen a more idyllic farm. Come Speaker 3 (2:53) on, spoil it, spoil it little Kaz. That's unbelievable. Can you talk us through what's on offer in the morning? Speaker 4 (2:58) I mean, I guess you'll find out. We will do, but for the listeners. So we bring a picnic basket to your bedroom, so you don't even have to get out your pyjamas. You don't even have to get out your bed if you want. What's in the basket? So we have a changing cast of charcuterie that we obviously make ourselves. So pork rillettes or sometimes sliced ham, local cheeses. freshly boiled eggs and currently there's a black pepper mayonnaise and a viking salt it's kind of like smoked onion, spiced salt and a little bit like kentery or something that kind of little range of spices. Then we've got pastries so we make all the pastries in the house and you get a choice of a couple of different ones I think there's a like a sweet custardy bread and butter pudding thing at the minute and then there's a pan suisse with a compote of greens, kind of like a spanakopita. Speaker 2 (3:50) And Speaker 4 (3:50) house-made feta cheese, caramelized walnuts. We don't make anything easy for ourselves. No, you don't. Speaker 3 (3:58) Fucking hell. What happened to a bottle of Weetabix? Speaker 4 (4:01) We can do that for you. Speaker 3 (4:02) No, I'm joking. I don't want that. I want everything in that basket. Speaker 4 (4:05) Homemade yogurt. Yogurt flavored with fig leaves and fruit compote. But Speaker 3 (4:10) that's what I want to say, because Brendan was saying when he worked for you, he... Blue is mine that you've walked in for work, you're making cheeses, yoghurt, koji, miso, charcuterie, ferments, you're churning your butter, you're baking sourdoughs, you're butchering whole animals, you're making pickles, you're doing pasta, you're doing ice cream. Speaker 2 (4:24) What Speaker 3 (4:24) does an average day look like for a chef? Busy. Yeah, sounds it. And how big's Speaker 2 (4:30) the tea? Speaker 4 (4:30) At the moment, I think there's 10, but we're open seven days a week, so that just allows people to have days off. They all get three days off a week. That's beautiful. and their hours sit about 48, 50 odd, maybe 52 in a really hectic week. So it's not Speaker 2 (4:44) bad. Speaker 4 (4:45) Well, for the industry, that's great. For the industry, it's pretty great, I know. And we're quite nice. Speaker 3 (4:49) Well, let's go right back because, Pam, well, you're obviously Scottish, but you were born and raised in Karnisti near Dundee. But your mother grew up in Zimbabwe. So take us back to your eldest food memories. Because I know Ben's obsessed with the wonderful babotti. Can you take us through what babotti is? Speaker 4 (5:03) It's minced meat cooked with spices particularly. But there's always some kind of sweetness in there as well. So like dried fruit. Then there's this kind of custardy topping. We'll do a version of babote in the restaurant. I love spice. Like, I love, and I have no intention of, like, stopping using it, even though it wasn't, you know, it wasn't part of the Scandinavian food movement. Fine, but again, like, for me, one of the tensions in that whole, like, new Nordic food movement is that they did edit out a lot of stuff that actually, you know, cardamom and pepper and these are... definitive flavors of certain Scandinavian cuisine and why do why we're not talking about them why is it all about moss yeah Speaker 3 (5:47) can everyone behave? Speaker 4 (5:49) moss, niche berries and like ancient shellfish that would probably be best left alone and Speaker 3 (5:54) then at 13 you start cooking for yourself am i right because your mum says if you're veggie you cook your own dishes then yeah Speaker 4 (6:01) that's exactly what happened you've done your research come on very impressive we don't come all the way up to Scotland Speaker 3 (6:05) to not research come on Speaker 2 (6:07) So you were a veggie at 13? Speaker 4 (6:09) Yeah, maybe even a wee bit younger, 12-ish, something like that. I went on a camping trip with some friends and it was the first time that I, I guess it was springtime, and it was the first time I kind of associated lambs in the fields. with lamb what we had for Sunday dinner. So you were kind of, I went over and I was like, mum, I don't Speaker 1 (6:27) want Speaker 4 (6:27) to eat meat anymore. And she was like, okay, that's fine. You don't have to eat meat, but you're going to have to cook for yourself because your father won't eat vegetables and I'm not doing two meals. I really remember I got really into ginger, like fresh ginger at one point because I went somewhere, it was like a whole food cafe in Edinburgh during the festival or something. and ate this plate of vegetables that they'd done. I mean, you'd think it would have been very simple, tomato sauce, but with fresh ginger in it. And it's like, whoa, what is this flavour? This is amazing. So suddenly everything had ginger in it. It still does. Speaker 3 (6:58) Well, ginger's a gorgeous thing. And another gorgeous thing is Edinburgh University, where both you and Ben went. Ben saw through the course. You didn't. What happened? What were you studying? Where did you go? Speaker 4 (7:07) Well, I was studying philosophy, which I loved, and this was kind of part of the problem, alongside Sanskrit and Gaelic. So two barely spoken languages, but foundations for a lot of thought that still exists and philosophies that have had this huge pervasive effect on how we've constructed the modern world. I loved the course, I loved the course so much. What really frustrated me was that certain students, colleagues on the course were not giving it the same perhaps attention and love that I was. to quote one of them when I said, so why is it you decided to study philosophy then if you're being so bloody flippant about it? And he said, well, I couldn't just go and get a job. Speaker 1 (7:54) It Speaker 3 (7:54) didn't even give you a philosophical answer. Like I think therefore I am. Bit of cant work, bit of music. Do you know what I mean? Speaker 4 (7:59) Exactly. So I was like, well, okay, I'm going to go get a job. Speaker 3 (8:02) No. Yeah, yeah. So you head to the rugged highlands. Speaker 4 (8:06) I headed to the West Coast, yeah. I spent a couple of years in Caillevaux-la-Cauche, which is where you get, it used to be the ferry, it's now the bridge to the Isle of Skye. Oh, nice. And that was where I got my first cooking job, in a little seafood restaurant called Sea Green, with a friend who offered me a job, who was working in the kitchen at the time, who offered me a job after I cooked her dinner. She was like, oh. You cook? Okay, well we need someone in the kitchen. And I worked in pubs and got fired from a couple of jobs for not taking them seriously enough and having too good a time with the locals. That's amazing. Speaker 4 (8:42) But since I got my first cooking job I have never been fired since. So Speaker 3 (8:45) as soon as you got that job obviously it wasn't the greatest restaurant in the world but were you immediately in Speaker 4 (8:50) love with it? Speaker 3 (8:50) It was a Speaker 4 (8:50) great restaurant. No, not in the Speaker 3 (8:51) world, I'm saying it was top ten. But I'm saying that were you immediately in love with cooking? Yeah, Speaker 4 (8:56) I immediately felt that this was something I would like to do more of. Didn't have a grand plan, didn't have a game plan, didn't immediately think career but I thought... actually there's a bunch of stuff here I really want to learn and I'll keep going until I've learned it and even if I don't do it forever at least I'll have learned a bunch of skills that I actually want to have in my life but here we are 30 odd years from not quite 30 years later and still going. You Speaker 3 (9:23) then eventually end up in Glasgow, Art House Hotel right alongside Isaac McHale who's gone on to be two-star Clive Club we've interviewed him he's Speaker 1 (9:30) a Speaker 3 (9:30) friend of the show he's a big character in every sense Speaker 1 (9:32) he's great Speaker 3 (9:33) but firstly what was that restaurant like and secondly could you tell I mean he could tell that you were gonna be incredible but could you tell that he had something about him as well? Speaker 4 (9:40) Yeah absolutely Isaac was smashing it he was he was only 19 I think and he was I think he was the sous chef or something and I was still bimbling about in my about 22 or something I think I was so. Well Speaker 3 (9:50) you both head down to see Mr Aikens I mean what was your decision to head down to London like seriously and also going to Aikens's kitchen I mean obviously one of the greatest chefs of that era but were you quite terrified had you heard stories? Speaker 4 (10:02) I'm sure you've heard the stories. I don't know. Speaker 3 (10:05) Take us through it. Bjorn Fransen worked for him, said it was the most manic kitchen he's ever seen. Yeah, it's definitely manic. But Speaker 4 (10:10) it was alive. It was all of those things. And I don't regret doing it. Like, I mean, I... Yeah, sure, there were some pretty horrific stories. And I'm not going to repeat them because I don't feel... But it's Speaker 3 (10:20) sort Speaker 4 (10:20) of things you witnessed. I need to add to that mythology. Things Speaker 3 (10:22) you witnessed in the flesh, yeah. Speaker 4 (10:24) Yeah, sure. Speaker 3 (10:25) Yeah, it Speaker 4 (10:26) was... It taught me a lot. I learned how to work very hard and very quickly. Speaker 3 (10:30) Bjorn said that he used to change or he'd put on like eight or ten specials 20 minutes before service. He Speaker 4 (10:36) used to, when I was there, it was Monday to Friday they were open, closed Saturday, Sunday. And so on Monday morning you would come in and he would have just written a whole new menu. And it'd be stuff he hadn't tried before. He's like, we're doing these potatoes! raviolis with a watercress mousse in the middle we've never done it before but we're gonna have it ready for lunch and they're just like wow Speaker 3 (11:04) And what was considered a normal working day on a Monday to Friday for him? Speaker 4 (11:08) At Eakins? Yeah. We all started, I think it was about 8 o'clock, at the point where I did the pastry section for the three-ish months or something. I was the first one in, so I used to open the door, I think about 6 o'clock in the morning, to get the doors all started. And you'd be done. I mean, sometimes you made the last tube home, sometimes you didn't. And if you didn't you were on the night bus and it was like 2am before you were getting into the flat and then you were I had the it was the quarter past five it was the first tube that I got back down to Chelsea Speaker 3 (11:41) Jesus Christ Speaker 2 (11:48) Did Speaker 3 (11:48) you get to enjoy London at all? A couple of drinks after work or not? Speaker 4 (11:51) Not when I was there, no, not at all. It wasn't, yeah, but it wasn't, it was Chelsea, right? So you would leave work, there was nothing around you at that time of night. It wasn't like, in the period, in the years where I was working in like Soho in the West End, there was... There was a lot of great fun. Did you think about Speaker 3 (12:07) quitting though when you start going like, wait a second, I'm getting up at five, I'm getting the tube at five, I'm getting home at two. It's even worse than the hours he used to do when Speaker 4 (12:14) he Speaker 3 (12:14) worked in Paris. Speaker 4 (12:15) Did Speaker 3 (12:15) you think about quitting or not? Speaker 4 (12:17) Well, I mean, I did in the end. Yeah. Speaker 3 (12:18) I Speaker 4 (12:18) gave him notice. Speaker 3 (12:19) Yeah, but you did an incredible job. Not many people, Speaker 4 (12:21) not many people did. Speaker 3 (12:22) No, I can imagine a lot of people walked out during service. Speaker 4 (12:24) Oh, grown men didn't last till lunchtime. Speaker 3 (12:27) Really? Speaker 4 (12:27) Yeah. I mean, there's a new guy starring. Oh, okay. Bye. Speaker 3 (12:34) Did you get to take anything from the food? Because apparently the food actually was incredible. Speaker 4 (12:38) Yeah, I mean, a lot of it was very delicious, yeah. I still make his pickle golden raisins. That's a Tom Egan's thing. Speaker 3 (12:43) It's a nice little shout out to the big man. Speaker 4 (12:46) Pickled in lemon juice and pernil and tarragon and things, I've still got them. Speaker 3 (12:49) Was it then on to the Greenhouse? Speaker 4 (12:51) Yeah, the Greenhouse. Which is obviously an incredible Speaker 3 (12:53) restaurant. Speaker 4 (12:54) Yeah, at the time they were doing this weird rising star thing they called it. There