TOM LEWIS

“I always say: less is more. When you are a young chef you desperately want to add this and this and the other, do more and more complicated things. To try to teach to my young chefs to be brave when they are cooking and not add something is much harder. Because they want to add everything. I think the great thing about getting older is that sometimes you just want one lovely thing. You just want a perfect small tomato. Or a perfect piece of fruit. The good think about being older is how you enjoy things again. When you are young the world is amazing; and then you get older and you have to pay the mortgage, and the world in not so cool; and then you get a little more older again and maybe then you understand a little what you like from life and what you need from life. When you are young it’s a nightmare, because you want it all!

With food, a little knowledge is dangerous. We live in a society where our telephones talk to our dishwashers, talk to our lights, we are very disconnected from where our food comes from. I think food is too cheap. I believe we should pay more for food and eat a little bit less. And maybe better. Health is the new goal. To be healthy is the best thing in the world. And food is very important because food takes you to places. Food is a fuel. You make it and you need to enjoy it and take your time. It’s part of our culture”.

Chef Tom Lewis is a philosopher cook who runs Monachyle Mhor with his family and dreams how he can make the people who come to his door feel better (NOMAS Scotland p. 32)