Quickfire Q&A with… Evan Welsh, Area Manager Cooking, Hobart UK
A key member of the Hobart chef brigade, this Motherwell-based catering specialist has been embedded in the industry for the past 33 years. Beginning life as an apprentice chef, Evan worked his way up through the cooking ranks to hold multiple head chef roles as well as the prestigious role of group executive chef for an award-winning chain of hotels.
We caught up with this proud Scot to find out about his go-to world cuisine, talk chef heroes and find out which cheffy item he is seldom seen without.
What's your background in hospitality?
I started out as a commis chef at the Marine Highland Hotel in Troon. I was an apprentice, so I went to college on my days off. I stayed for 4 years before moving on through various different restaurants and hotels – even owning my own place in Spain before coming back to the UK as a head chef. My last chef position was as group executive chef for Manor View hotels, until I made the switch to Hobart!
How many years have you worked in the hospitality industry?
I was a chef for 33 years before joining Hobart!
Any notable mentors along the way?
My old boss, Richard Sturgeon, who was the Executive Chef at the Marine Highland Hotel. He gave me my break into the industry. Throughout college, he gave me a sound basis of how to cook and there's things that he taught me 30 odd years ago that I still do today.
What do you love most about the industry?
The camaraderie, of the kitchen brigade all working for one purpose. In the industry, it’s about knowing you’ve done a good job. People have been out, had a nice meal, enjoyed what you’ve made and are going home happy. On the cooking side of Hobart, we are a close team, and we do a lot together, so we still get that feeling of camaraderie.
In your view, what are the biggest issues affecting professional kitchens at the moment?
The lack of chefs. A lot of chefs got laid off during Covid and haven’t come back into the industry. For years in the trade, people were expected to take on a 40-or 45-hour contract and work 60 hours a week without being paid for it. That can’t continue to happen and the modern generation wont accept it as a way of life. It’s not expected in any other industry but seems to have been normalised in hospitality.
If your role was to mirror that in a professional kitchen, what would it be?
I still think like a head chef a lot of the time and I know I’m often looked at as one of the members of the team with the most recent experience of the trade. After the number of years I spent in kitchens I don’t think that will ever leave me
What’s your favourite bit of Hobart kit?
The Precipan. I see it becoming more and more relevant in kitchens and it has so much multifunctionality. Especially when people are downsizing and reducing the size of the kitchens.
The kitchen’s on fire – what’s the first thing you take?
My recipe book. It’s full of things I’ve picked up over the years. It’s not the same book, I’ve copied it over multiple times, but it’s packed with tips and tricks as well as recipes. I still do things the same way as I did back when I was 17!
What’s the best meal of your life, and why?
It was a small Italian restaurant called Piccolo in Tenerife. My favourite dish was Beef Tagliata, which is essentially a stripped-up steak. I’ve been there a few times and love it! It’s the food as well as the atmosphere and the setting. Fresh Italian cuisine, small restaurant, small menu, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean The memories of being there is what makes it so great.
If you could only eat one cuisine for the rest of your life, what would be your go to?
Southeast Asian. I specialised in it for around 10 years and got a real taste for it
What would be the dish that you would cook for the rest of your team?
Nasi goreng. Malaysian comfort food
Who’s your favourite chef, dead or alive?
Paul Wedgwood. He has his own restaurant – Wedgwood’s on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. His food is brilliant, he’s forward thinking, a genuinely nice guy, puts a lot in to training and treats his team well, he and his wife who runs the front of house deserve all the plaudits they’ve been getting over the last few years.
What’s your guilty pleasure food?
Rhubarb crumble and custard.
What’s your favourite ingredient?
Tamarind, unusual, sweet tangy fruit, features a lot South East Asian cooking and can be used in a lot of different dishes.
What’s the cheffiest thing you have in your home kitchen?
As a bit of a private joke, my wife bought me an Air Fryer for Valentines this year! I use it most days.
What’s the best back-of-house set up you’ve seen in a restaurant?
The Crab Shack in Glasgow. It’s one that I was involved in designing of in 2022, it has fully suited Bonnet modular kit with a flued layout, with everything easy at hand for the chefs. It’s an open kitchen that customers can look into, it just looks fantastic.
We invite you to come and meet our chef brigade and experience the benefits of cooking with Hobart for yourself, book a demonstration.