Alastair Little

Alastair Little is a British self-taught chef.[2] He rose to fame in the 1980s with his eponymous Soho restaurant and frequent appearances on British TV. His shortform menus, changed daily and featuring seasonal produce, became the template for modern British restaurants. He now spends his time between Sydney, where he co-owns the restaurant Et Al,[3] and London, where he has a home food delivery service.

Alastair Little
Culinary career
Cooking styleBritish
Websitebyalastairlittle.co.uk

Early years

Little was born in 1950 in Colne, Lancashire. At age 11 "his parents started to take him on continental holidays and from that time on he lived for his next good meal. His earliest gastronomic memory was the taste of homemade chicken broth with noodles in Limoges.[4]

He studied social anthropology and archaeology at Cambridge.[5] It was at Cambridge that Little met future chef Rowley Leigh.[6]

Little left University in 1972 to become a film editor, starting as a messenger in Soho. He supplemented his earnings as a waiter at Small's, a Knightsbridge cafe. [7]

Career

In 1976 he turned to waiting full time in the Old Compton Wine Bar. When the chef walked out, he took over. Following stints in Suffolk, then Putney, in 1981 he started at L'Escargot, Soho, and lasted a year, before moving to 192 (Kensington Park Road) as chief cook. At 192 he met Kirsten Pederson and Mercedes Andre-Vega. The three of them opened "Alastair Little" in Frith Street, Soho in the autumn of 1985.[8]

It quickly became a landmark London restaurant. [9] He dispensed with the cover charge and 'extras' for service and vegetables, with simplicity as the key. The menu which was restricted to soup, salad, fresh fish and meat, plus puddings, was changed twice a day, according to the availability of supplies.[10]

Reviews were favourable. "Alastair gets more publicity than Princess Diana" said his fellow restaurateur Simon Slater.[11]

In a business known for its extravagance, Little's approach was ascetic, which led Drew Smith to describe it as 'the finest cafe in the country' There were no tablecloths, the napkins were paper, and his light, fresh, simple food saw him badged with the label 'godfather of modern British cooking'.[12]

In the mid to late eighties, restaurant development in London was already shifting gear, away from nouvelle cuisine. Little was a devotee of Elizabeth David[13]

In 1995 he opened a second restaurant off Ladbroke Grove in West London. The Times's restaurant critic Jonathan Meades described it as feeling "altogether right".[14]

Tavola

By 2002, both restaurants had closed and Little focused his attention on a new venture, a deli in Notting Hill, West London, called Tavola. In an interview, he was asked if he would ever return to running restaurants. "I'm like Steven Redgrave. If I look as if I'm going back into a restaurant, shoot me. I couldn't abide doing service these days."[15]

Take home dishes were laid out in earthenware bowls on uneven rustic tables as simply as possible. Homemade sauces, (ragu bolognese, sugo di coniglio cacciatore, green pesto), were sold alongside artisan pasta bought direct from Italy, "There are only 100 small pasta makers left in Italy. They're all mad, and mostly in the south." Little said. He ordered in October and sometimes it arrived in March. "It's twice the price of any mass-produced pasta. But it is really worth having."[16]

Australia

In 2017 Little moved to Sydney with his wife Sharon and opened a pop up restaurant "Little Bistro" inside the CBD Hotel, owned by the Merivale Group. He now co-owns and runs the restaurant Et Al in Potts Point, in the north of the Kings Cross area of Sydney.[17]

In 2019, he started a home delivery service in London based on the dishes he had created for Tavola called 'ByAlastairLittle'.

Personal life

From 1984 to 1995 he was partner to Kirsten Pederson. They have 2 children. In 2000, he married Sharon and they have one child.

Publications
  • Keep it simple : Alastair Little and Richard Whittington (1993)
  • Alastair Little's Italian Kitchen (1996)
  • The (Daily Mail) Modern British Cookbook: Alastair Little and Richard Whittington (1998)
  • Soho Cooking (1999)
  • Food of the Sun (Morocco, ME, S Europe) : Alastair Little and Richard Whittington (1995)

Other Media

Little is a regular contributor to The Guardian newspaper[18] and Noble Rot magazine.

Throughout the 90s Alastair Little appeared as guest chef/judge on Masterchef (BBC1) and contributor to Ready Steady Cook (ITV). He was consultant on Sir Lenny Henry's TV drama "Chef!"
In 2017 Little was the subject of a special edition of BBC Radio 4's respected Food Programme:A Life Through Food hosted by broadcaster Sheila Dillon and featuring chefs such as Angela Hartnett, Jeremy Lee, and Jacob Kenedy. [19]

In 1998, photographer Barry Marsden took his portrait. The resulting Black and White image now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, London.[20]

Awards

In 1993, his restaurant won the Times Restaurant of Year award. [21]

References
  1. Group, Celebrity. "Alastair Little". Celebrity. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  2. Sitwell, William (2020). The Restaurant. A History of eating Out. London: Simon and Schuster. p. 211. ISBN 978-1-4711-7961-7.
  3. Bolles, Scott. "'Godfather of British cooking' Alastair Little buys into Potts Point restaurant Et Al". goodfood. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  4. Chapman, Kit (1989). Great British Chefs. London: Pyramid Books (Octopus). p. 140. ISBN 1-871307-89-9.
  5. Stacey, Caroline (June 15, 2003). "Indy/Life". the Independent. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  6. Chapman, Kit (1995). Great British Chefs 2. London: Mitchell Beazley. p. 103. ISBN 1-85732-548-6.
  7. Chapman, Kit (1989). Great British Chefs. London: Pyramid Books (Octopus). p. 140–141. ISBN 1-871307-89-9.
  8. Chapman, Kit (1989). Great British Chefs. London: Pyramid Books (Octopus). p. 142. ISBN 1-871307-89-9.
  9. Unknown, Unknown. "Alastair Little". IMDB. Amazon. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  10. Chapman, Kit (1989). Great British Chefs. London: Pyramid Books (Octopus). p. 142. ISBN 1-871307-89-9.
  11. Sutherland, Alastair Scott (2009). The Spaghetti Tree. London: Primavera Books Ltd. p. 214. ISBN 978-0-9557892-0-5.
  12. Sitwell, William (2020). The Restaurant. A History of eating Out. London: Simon and Schuster. p. 211. ISBN 978-1-4711-7961-7.
  13. Chapman, Kit (1989). Great British Chefs. London: Pyramid Books (Octopus). p. 140. ISBN 1-871307-89-9.
  14. Stacey, Caroline (June 15, 2003). "Indy/Life". the Independent. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  15. Fort, Matthew (29 March 2008). "Around Britain With A Fork". Guardian Newspapers. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  16. Stacey, Caroline (15 June 2003). "Indy/Life". the Independent. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  17. Durack, Terry. "Built for comfort". GoodFood.com. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  18. Little, Alastair (27 July 2019). "Alastair Little: recipes for a summer Italian feast | Four Favourite recipes". the Guardian.
  19. Dillon, Sheila. "A Life Through Food". BBC Iplayer. BBC. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  20. "Collections". npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  21. "Alastair Little". IMDB. Amazon. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.