The Townhouse Kemptown is enjoying a new lease of life
Home on the range
The Townhouse Kemptown is enjoying a new lease of life since Canadian head chef Malcolm Campbell took over the kitchens. Andrew Kay finds out more
By reputation chefs can be difficult, temperamental and seemingly dangerous characters. Given the long and anti-social hours they work and the hot conditions they work in, it is perhaps easy to see why. But when I met Canadian chef Malcolm Campbell nothing could have been further from the truth.
Born of Scottish émigré parents, in Toronto, Malcolm freely admits that he was a difficult teenager with little idea of what he wanted to do with his life. At the age of 17, as soon as he could legally leave home, he travelled to Vancouver, “a four and a half hour flight away”, to try to find a path. And it was in Vancouver that he found his true vocation as a chef.
“I got a job within a restaurant with a French chef and trained there until I achieved a Red Seal, the local qualification for skilled trades,” says Malcolm. “After a while I decided that I needed to move to London, which really surprised my parents.
“I decided to go along to The Ritz Hotel in Piccadilly and to my amazement I was given a job on the spot. I worked at The Ritz for a year and a half. It was hard work in a very exacting kitchen, 16-hour shifts, sometimes 18, but it was great training and experience. Next I really wanted to work in a Michelin starred restaurant. I always wanted to keep learning, and I still do.
“I then moved to The Bingham in Richmond where I was proud to be one of the kitchen brigade that took the hotel from one to two rosettes and then on to gaining its first Michelin star. It was there that I really learned the most from chef Shay Cooper and I spent three years there before moving on.
“I moved to a small country hotel that was a bit down and out and went at it hard to get what I wanted, and in fact we got two rosettes in one year.
“It was a great experience building up the reputation but I needed a change and a new challenge. My girlfriend suggested Brighton so we came down to look and this opportunity came up at The Townhouse. I sent down my CV and luckily got the job.
“The style of our cooking is modern British with French influences”
“The Townhouse has been around a while and has a very loyal clientele. I immediately liked the restaurant space and felt confident that with my team we could take things on to a new level. The style of the cooking we are doing is modern British with French influences. I’m slowly starting to evolve the menu, introducing new seasonal dishes all the time. We are currently introducing autumn dishes and these will eventually give way to more robust winter dishes.
“I like my food to look great on the plate, the style is very important, but not at the expense of a customer feeling satisfied. The days of tiny portions are gone but we still create dishes with great attention to detail.
“It’s been a gradual change but the menu is now all my own food and I’m refining what works and dropping things that don’t work. I’m here for the long term and I’m really loving it.
“I like to pop up later in the evening, when the kitchen is less busy, and see how things are going. We’re already getting great feedback and have now introduced comment cards. Good feedback is always nice but it’s the things that we are not getting right for our customers that we really need to know about so that we can improve. A lot of chefs have huge egos – but you never know everything, it’s always a learning curve.
“The regulars are now getting to know me and I’m really enjoying the place, it has a great atmosphere, very relaxed, and I like the live music too, it adds something extra.
“Right now we are finalising the Christmas menus, there will be classics but a few other things and our new website is on its way too. It’s a very exciting time.
“We’re lucky to have such great regular customers, and our loyal clients are loving the changes that we have been making. I have changed a lot in the kitchen, some new equipment and a team with me that I know and like to work with. Right now we are introducing a new lunchtime menu that will appeal to the business community, a sensible menu suited to busy people on the go. We also have our VIP room which is ideal for business meetings over a bit of delicuious food.”
So will Malcolm ever go back to Canada? “You never know, I came short term and I’ve been here eight years already and I still love it. Maybe when our very young daughter is older we will go back to get her educated, but for now I’m loving being in Brighton. I’ve never liked living anywhere as much as I like being here!”
The Townhouse Kemptown Restaurant & Bar, 81–82 St James’s Street, Kemp Town, Brighton, BN2 1PA 01273 693216,
Open for lunch 12pm–3pm Monday to Friday, all day Sat and Sun breakfast Saturday and Sunday, and till 11pm Friday and Saturday nights.
www.thetownhousekemptown.co.uk
