NAIDOO MIKE Rising Star

When working on new dishes, what is your development process?

Executive Chef Mike Naidoo is passionate about sustainability. Currently working at Catch at The Old Fish Market, he selects fish directly from the boat and sources every ingredient from local, sustainable suppliers. Having worked previously for Jason Atherton at Pollen Street Social, Mike has built a strong community of staff in Dorset, encouraging them at all levels to take pride in their work and to see hospitality as a career choice – not just a stop-gap.

How have you honed your skills over the years?

I’ve been lucky enough to work with some really great (and Michelin-starred) chefs over the years and I have learnt a lot of valuable skills as well as a strong work ethic. I went to college and studied cuisine, but I had an interest in food to begin with and worked in hospitality from a young age. So, there’s some learning and some experimenting all mixed in there!

I begin with whatever is coming off the boats - the fish and shellfish is always my starting point. We only serve what the local fishermen land, so I work up from that. Next, I see what our producers and growers are showcasing, again tying into what’s available at that time of year. I change recipes or ideas to incorporate what’s available, to include particular ingredients that I know we’ve only got a short season to work with.

How do you embed sustainability into your kitchen?

Catch has been open now for about 18 months and from its inception, sustainability was at the forefront of our decisionmaking. The restaurant is heated with an air source heat pump and we don’t use table linens to avoid boil-washing and its impact. We even filter and carbonate our water on site so as not to use bottles, and provide this free of charge to our diners.

From a kitchen perspective all our ingredients are sourced from within the county of Dorset. We own our own boats, so we know exactly how our fish is caught and by whom. The boats we source fish and shellfish from are owner-operated and use methods such as rod and line and static nets - it’s the most sustainable way to fish as there is little or no by-catch.

We’ve moved to running only one menu - our tasting menu. This means that there’s much less waste in the kitchen as everyone is served the same courses. We get to really showcase amazing, local, sustainable seafood in the most produce-efficient way. Finally, we’re invested in our community, we support our local fisher community, we employ and nurture local staff. We’re really proud of our Weymouth roots and supporting the local community is a big part of our sustainability ethos.

What cuisines, flavours or techniques are you loving right now?

One thing we’re really into at the moment is barbequing fish in the kitchen, which offers a really interesting flavour to the meat, we’re barbequing fish bones to use in sauces - adding these intense smoky flavours.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the industry?

Work as much as you can at the start - and I don’t mean work 20hr days, 7 days a week, I mean immerse yourself in hospitality, in the kitchen, in cuisine. Soak it all up right from the start, as this is what’s needed to move forwards and up.