Quickfire Q&A with…Mike Stagg, Area Cooking Manager, Hobart Chef Brigade
Meet Mike Burns, a culinary veteran with over 46 years in the industry. From his early college education to roles as an executive head chef, Mike has been embedded in the industry he loves, landing a role at Hobart in his twenties and working there ever since (awaiting his longevity award)!.
Beyond the kitchen, he may cite paella and Indian as favourite cuisines, but Mike’s a simple man at heart, with a bacon sandwich as his guilty pleasure. We sat down with him to reminisce about his ultimate meal, discuss his eureka moment upon discovering kiwi fruit, and chat about his love of the camaraderie as part of the passionate Hobart Chef Brigade.
What's your background in hospitality?
I started off training as a chef doing a four-year day release college for my City and Guilds, working at The Selfridge Hotel on Oxford Street, which was a red four-star hotel at the time, and trained under the head chef. I was lucky enough to work at several different establishments before I moved to my first head chef position. Shortly after, I worked with THF (Trust House Forte), as an executive head chef, but I had gone from straight shifts in London to doing split shifts up north, which wasn’t ideal. So, I got a job with a brewery called Greenall Whitley and I had a pub in Warrington for 12 months. It was like being out of the frying pan and into the fire – we got burgled after about six weeks which caused a lot of problems!
How did you end up at Hobart?
After the burglary, I looked around for a job and Hobart was advertising – that was in 1989. I’ve been with the company now for 34 years – that’s every decade of my adult life! I started off in sales, and then as a demonstration chef. I believe in the Hobart products, and that’s why I’ve stayed around for so long – I’ll have to get my longevity award soon!
How many years have you worked in the hospitality industry?
46 years.
Any notable mentors along the way?
I’ve had a few. I looked up to a couple of sous chefs when I worked in London. One was a guy called Chris Watts, who went to work at the RAF club in the City of London, and the other was Brian Steele. He went on to become the Head Chef at Holiday Inn Swiss Cottage before moving down to Devon and buying a guest house. Another of my mentors was Mark Fuller, he was the general manager at THF, and gave me my first head chef position.
What do you love most about the industry?
The people, but also that every day is a learning day. You find new cuisines, new tastes and new flavours that hit the marketplace. I remember working as a young lad, kiwi fruit had just launched. I took some home to my grandparents who were visiting for Christmas – and they look at this fruit thinking “what is this?”. I explained, they tried it, and found it delicious! Now, kiwis are very common. It’s all these different tastes, and now you have the pop-up street markets with all the different cuisines you can imagine.
In your view, what are the biggest issues affecting professional kitchens at the moment?
The obvious one is that there is a massive deficit of chefs in the industry, people are still struggling to get staff due to the aftereffects of the pandemic. A lot of people had to change profession because of the private sector shutting down and the public sector furloughing people during COVID – which has had a huge impact now. The second one, which is becoming more prevalent, is the cost of dining out. The cost of food is going up due to global issues and everything has risen in price as a result.
Why do you like being part of the Hobart Chef Brigade?
I like that you get to go out in the world and see places that you would never get to see in an office job. Travelling all over the place. I also love the people I work with and the fact that we’re all a family and help each other out. I like the whole embodiment of what Hobart stands for and how we see ourselves in the industry. We have ground-breaking innovation and we’re always at the forefront.
What’s your favourite bit of Hobart kit?
I have two! The High Speed Steamer is the only piece of equipment that has been there since the day I joined in 1989. I think it’s such a unique product and is invaluable in a lot of kitchens because of its speed and the quality it produces. I never thought I’d be wowed again in the same way, but the Precipan does that for me. It’s the next generation of bratt pan – you get a more even cook and it’s got FastPAD technology. It’s a really versatile piece of equipment and a real space saver.
The kitchens on fire – what’s the first thing you take?
It would have to be my knives. I’ve still got a couple from when I was an apprentice at 17 – my bread knife and carving knife – and I still use them.
What’s the best meal of your life, and why?
One of my favourite dishes is paella, traditionally made with rabbit, chorizo, and seafood – it’s fantastic. My wife makes it for me. But one of my all-time favourites was as a young lad going on holiday with my mates in Spain. Sat on a beach, I had a bottle of San Miguel in one hand, and a plate of calamari in my other hand. To me, that was just heaven. Living the life!
If you could only eat one cuisine for the rest of your life, what would be your go to?
Indian food. But only as long as I was allowed to have a glass of water with it!
There’s so many different flavours going on and you can control the heat of the food. I cook it quite a bit myself and make my own chicken tandoori.
What would be the dish that you would cook for the rest of your team?
Scrambled eggs on toast. With the egg, you mix it all up and bind it together and it’s like the Hobart cooking team. We’re a good family, a good bunch of guys and I think scrambled eggs on toast is simplicity at its finest.
Who’s your favourite chef, dead or alive?
Rick Stein for the seafood and everything he does. And of the newer chefs, Tom Kerridge.
What’s your guilty pleasure food?
Bacon sandwiches – on proper homemade bread, with some lovely bacon and a bit of brown sauce. You can’t beat it.
What’s your favourite ingredient?
Chilli. It can be used in starters, main courses and even desserts like chilli chocolate. It’s a very versatile spice.
What’s the cheffiest thing you have in your home kitchen?
My meat slicer. When we cook a joint, we leave it to go cold, and I can slice it beautifully thin for sandwiches. My wife bought it for me a few years ago and it gets used quite frequently.
What’s the best back-of-house set up you’ve seen in a restaurant?
Northcote in Langho – the executive chef was Nigel Haworth before he handed the reigns to Lisa Goodwin-Allen. The quality of the food is sublime. Nigel was my very first purchaser of a Hobart cooking suite back in 1991, and the kitchen there was a traditional partie system – there’s a meat section, fish, veg, pastry, larder etc., and it’s very well organised. They did their homework on me as well! When we arrived, they knew my wife didn’t like what was on the menu, so he made her lamb instead. They’d actually taken the time to check if there was anything on the menu that we didn’t like – I’d never had that before – hospitality at its finest.
We invite you to come and meet our chef brigade and experience the benefits of cooking with Hobart for yourself, book a demonstration.