Wine has always been a drink that was intrinsically connected to food; even non-wine drinkers know some of the codified rules about what wine goes with what food. But the majority of venues usually lead with one foot over the other. Restaurants with impressive wine lists still largely posit themselves as food-first, and wine bars often serve little more food-wise than some bread, cheese, charcuterie, or similarly snack-ish bites. But London’s recent influx of contemporary wine bars has hosted some of the most exciting cooking in the city. Increasingly diners are turning to wine bars not just for a snack to go with their drink, but for full meals of bold cooking. Such is the case at the newly-opened Goodby Horses in De Beauvoir Town. And it’s there, in the kitchen, that you’ll find Jack Coggins, previously of Hackney’s Papi and Hot4U, cooking up some stonking food.
Hot off the back of chatting with the likes of Athinagoras Kostakos, Zan Kaufman, and Halil Şimşek, we had a chance for some ‘Kitchen Chatter’ with Jack Coggins.
What inspired you to become a chef, and who are your biggest culinary influences that have shaped your cooking style?
I’m mostly inspired by a love of sharing food with people. All my most important relationships have always been, at least in part, formed at the kitchen table. I’ve never not worked in a kitchen, and I don’t think at any point I ever “decided” to be a chef. I just always loved enjoying food with people in my personal life, and the fact that I can do that as a profession is an unbelievably lucky thing.
I have so many culinary influences, I wouldn’t be able to name them all. My celebrity chef inspiration is absolutely Rick Stein; he was the first chef I really loved watching. You can just tell that loves food as much as the people he meets and I love that. He also loves Greek food, and so do I – I have Greek heritage and I draw on that style of cooking a lot for inspiration. Some of the restaurants I really appreciate and admire are Estela, Wildair, Lyle’s, Ester, Rustic Canyon, Roots, and Vivant Deux to name a few.
My biggest influence however is my stepmum, who’s an incredible cook who just loves feeding people. It’s also restaurant-quality food, I wouldn’t call it simple home cooking in the traditional sense, it’s actually better than a lot of restaurants.
What are the biggest challenges and rewards of being a young chef in London?
The rewards absolutely outweigh the challenges of being a young chef in London. It’s been historically challenging financially making your way up the kitchen hierarchy, but it’s getting slowly better in that regard. It’s a job that prices people out because the salary for your first few jobs and the hours you’ll do for it make it hard to save any money in London. Ironically, during that period it’s generally fairly hard to have the money to eat out at similarly priced restaurants that you’d be working in.
The big reward though is the community; everyone generally looks after each other within the industry. And for me personally, I’m from Homerton originally, and being able to do the job that I love so much and still be so close to home is a huge luxury.
How have shows like “The Bear” and other media representations influenced public perception of chefs?
The Bear is one of the good ones in a lot of ways; it shows the stresses but also the relationships and the camaraderie. I think a lot of the others paint it too much in a negative light a lot of the time, it’s generally only as stressful as you make it for yourself. We’re not trying to alienate the next generation of chefs, and I fear that sometimes we might. In any case, my kitchen’s not very “Hell’s Kitchen”.
How has the London culinary scene changed over the past few years?
I think since the pandemic, the appreciation of restaurants is greater than before. The last few years have been tough with a lack of staff, but hospitality as a body of people is fairly resilient. There are a lot of cool places that have opened in the last few years though, and more opening all the time.
Where do you see the London culinary scene heading in the next 5-10 years?
It’s a very exciting time to be involved in restaurants. I think the industry is moving back towards giving people more comfort in their food. A lot of cool Italian restaurants have opened up (Dalla, Leo’s, Tiella). I’d like to see some more straight-up Greek restaurants!
Can you share a memorable experience or anecdote from your time working in London’s kitchens?
My weirdest anecdote is probably when I was working at Hot4u with Matthew Scott just before the second mini-lockdown. It was mid-December, and it was my last day. He’d bought me a bottle of wine and we had a fun menu to go out with a bang on. We got a call from the GM Tim saying that he had Covid and that we weren’t going to be able to open because we didn’t have enough staff. We just shared the bottle of wine, went to get a covid test and then went home. It was a really weird time and I’m so glad it’s over.
Jack Coggins is currently heading up the kitchen at Goodbye Horses. Find out more, and make a booking, here.