Dom Taylor and Michel Roux Jr. on bringing Caribbean food to The Langham, London
Caribbean food is not an obvious fit for a five-star London hotel...
Michel Roux Jr.: I agree and disagree with that. If you think about luxury hotels you don't automatically think of Caribbean food. But if it's good enough, why not? It's refreshingly different, and Dom’s food is more than good enough for The Langham, London. His flavours impressed from the outset, his jerk chicken in particular was incredible.
Dom Taylor: One of the main bits of feedback I had throughout the show was that what I was doing was too rustic for the environment in which it was to be served. I was quite resistant at first – I was worried that if I refined my product I would lose myself in the process. But Michel showed me how to cook more high-end food while still being me.
There aren’t many restaurants that seek to refine Caribbean food…
DT: That’s right. It’s a closely guarded cuisine. In general people from that background don’t want it to change. Something I said a lot throughout the competition is that I wanted to create food that my grandmother would recognise as authentic. But at the same time, I needed to take Caribbean food to a place where foodies would say ‘wow, that’s exciting’. It wasn't easy to strike that balance, but I believe I have.
What’s on the menu?
DT: The dish that I am most proud of is my jerk chicken starter. To a certain degree, jerk chicken is jerk chicken. So I have tried to create something that is quite personal. The marinade is unique to me. I use deboned thighs and I serve it with a lemongrass dressing that provides the acidity needed to balance out the heat. We serve it with plantain jam, a plantain crisp and a burnt segment of lime. Another key dish is my take on ackee and saltfish (the national dish of Jamaica). It’s normally served as an oily stew but I’ve stripped it right back and turned it into fish cake, which I serve with Scotch Bonnet aioli and a salsa made with pineapple, tomato, coriander and lime.
MRJ: Dom has modernised the food but I would not say it’s posh. It’s still recognisable as Caribbean food, and the flavours are unbelievable.
The show was filmed over a year ago…
MRJ: We’ve had a lot of time to reflect and get everything in place. We've changed the uniforms, got some beautiful modern Caribbean artwork and have done lots of menu tastings. But the menu is still very Dom. It's all his ideas.
DT: It’s been odd not being able to talk about it. It feels like the past year has gone very slowly. But we made it. The doors are open and I'm super excited for people to come and try the food. I’ve spent the last few months working closely with the team at The Palm Court Brasserie (which is hosting The Good Front Room). The cuisine is unfamiliar to most of them, but once you understand food you can cook pretty much anything. I'm using root vegetables that are native to the Caribbean, but they're not that different to a potato really. The more intense spicing is probably the thing that has taken them the most time to get used to.
What did you do prior to competing on Five Star Kitchen?
DT: My mother is from Jamaica and my father is from Saint Lucia. I was born in Yorkshire but grew up in London. I've spent most of my career as a chef cooking European food, I did a long stint at The Belgrave Hotel (Taylor left as head chef). I only started cooking Caribbean food professionally about five years ago when I started my private catering business. We mostly did private dining in people’s homes but we did a few restaurant residencies and pop-ups.
How long will be the residency at the hotel run for?
MRJ: Initially it's a six-month pop-up. But it certainly could be extended if it's a success and Dom wants to continue doing it.
DT: As with any new relationship, we’re going to have to work hard and keep checking in with each other. But we’re both hoping it will be a big success.
The show made out you had ‘won’ a restaurant’. Can you tell us anymore about the terms of the deal?
DT: I've been hired by the hotel and I’m being paid a good salary. As such my focus now is very much on The Good Front Room. It’s going to take my undivided attention if it is to work. But it’s obviously a project that will build my profile in London and beyond. It’s been my dream to open my own restaurant since I was a child. But dreams need to evolve. I’m not sure having my own bricks and mortar is necessarily the right thing for me, especially in the current climate. I’m not sure what I want to do next. I'm someone that is very much guided by the universe. I'll take every day as it comes and see what happens.
The Roux at The Landau has been closed for a while...
MRJ: There are plans afoot. The Langham is in negotiations with an external company. I will not be involved but it won't impinge my role as culinary director at The Langham, I will still oversee the rest of the F&B at the hotel. I will also continue to be involved with the wider group, which has hotels in locations including Hong Kong and Australia.
