3 minute read
‘My Heroes are the Unsung Ones’
HOTELS & LEISURE DISCOUNT CODE: SUMMER21
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We get the low-down from Luke Newton, Luke Newton, the new Head Chef at The Mill. the new Head Chef at The Mill.
About me: I’m a 32-year-old chef, who has a background predominantly in ne dining and worked most of my professional career in top hotels at 3 AA rosette level. Enthusiastic and ambitious are the two traits I nd have made me relatively successful. I’m very familyorientated and would love to own a little charcuterie/wine bar one day. I’m a huge football fan and have a very close-knit family back home in the north-east.
How I became a chef: I was studying A Levels and I got sick of having very little money. At a young age, having professional parents, I enjoyed cooking for myself as we all came home at di erent times, so we very seldom had family meals and I enjoyed using all of the ingredients in the house.
Why I love my job: Every single day is di erent; the challenges of being a manager are tough and then with hard work you absolutely see the rewards. It’s a very challenging industry, but the buzz of service and making people happy with food is ultimately why I do my job. them and, hopefully, I did the same to them. Healthy competition breeds a culture of winners and these chefs are my heroes and I owe a lot to them!
Menu highlights: Lamb rump, Ratte potatoes, pickled Shimeji and pea, Little Gem lettuce. When I look around e Mill and see the grass and the landscape, this dish typi es our location and my style of food. ere’s no ego here; it’s simply good ingredients married and paired with each other to give a light dish that’s very much packed with avour and looks a er the health conscious.
Favourite menu dish: Cod loin mussels and Bombay potato – I love curry and I love sh, so again this is simple, fresh and packs a little heat. What else do you need?
Summer recipe: Height of summer, it’s got to be an open mackerel sandwich – yes, it’s incredibly simple, but with a glass of white wine and the sun shining it’s perfect. Simple toasted homemade sourdough! A simple diced beetroot and potato salad, mixed with chives and light mayonnaise with a tiny hint of English mustard, buttermilk mackerel.
Favourite style of cooking: Everything I enjoy is quick and simple, I love fresh dressings and simply cooked pieces of sh, light salads and all kinds of seasonal vegetables. e closer the food is to its original state is the best kind of food for me. Great ingredients need no work.
Signature dish: Smoked pea and ham risotto, Parmesan espume, fresh tru e.
Comfort dish: Minestrone soup, crunchy loaf of bread and butter.
Secret hack: KFC chicken breast! A bit of our and buttermilk, a lot of random spices – homemade KFC is incredibly easy and so, so good!
Culinary heroes: Growing up, I had very in uential head chefs and watching TV’s Rick Stein was the one I related to the most as he was passionate about sh and simplicity, and that struck home with me. But my heroes are the unsung ones; the chefs I am very much friends with now, that I learnt my trade with, and competed with on a daily basis. ose CDPs [Chef de Parties] who now their own kitchens and are successful head chefs in their own right are the ones who inspired me to be better than
