Classically trained in French cuisine and shaped by two decades in Michelin-starred restaurants, private members’ clubs and steakhouses across Europe and Asia, Chef Thomas Brimble now serves as Brand Food Manager at Hunter & Barrel. His journey spans from Mallory Court and Maxims Casino Club in London to Bali’s award-winning Boy’N’Cow, bringing with it a philosophy of honest, product-led cooking and plenty of stories from the road.

What first sparked your love for food, and how did you get your start in the industry?

I discovered my passion for the craft as a very young man at the apron strings of my mother and my grandmother, Alison and Irene, where we saw cooking and baking as a family pastime back then, and a great way to keep us entertained as kids.

That’s really where I developed my passion. My first job was as a kitchen porter in a sausage and mash restaurant. I quickly rose through the ranks, and in only a few years, I was a Demi Chef de Partie with a wealth of experience working in Rosette kitchens all across the UK. 

This was when I decided to take my training more seriously, and I joined the circuit, which is a training loop in Europe, where a lot of chefs go. 

What’s been your journey so far – from your first job to where you are now?

I was classically trained, and I spent the next two years travelling and working in country house hotels, private residences, and Michelin-star kitchens all over Europe. It’s a fantastic opportunity for any chef. On my return, I joined Mallory Court Hotel under chef Simon Haigh,  a fantastic restaurant in the heart of Leamington Spa, where I continued my training.

Soon after that, I found myself at Maxims Casino Club in South Kensington, London, which is a private members’ club. It’s all catered to the needs of very high-profile clientele from all over the world – part of the Genting Group.

I spent the best part of the decade working at private members’ clubs all over central London, including the world-famous, UK’s oldest private members’ club, now closed. 

Then, after nearly 20 years working in fine dining, I was offered the opportunity to join a small but rapidly growing premium casual restaurant group based in Hong Kong as their regional culinary lead.

So with minimal ties to the UK and the whole of Asia to explore, I jumped at the opportunity, and that’s where I’ve been based for the last decade. Within a year of being in Hong Kong, we developed a burger shop concept and got a mention in the Michelin Guide.

A few years later, we sold that concept. My wife and I took some time to travel around Southeast Asia before joining a small company called Boy Creations as their Chief Culinary Officer. We opened a number of fantastic restaurants across the APAC region, most notably one of Bali’s top steakhouses, Boy’N’Cow, in Seminyak, which I’m incredibly proud of.

From there, it was a natural progression to join Seagrass Boutique Hospitality as their Culinary Lead for Hunter and Barrel.

What have been some of your greatest achievements along the way?

I’m very proud of the Michelin recommendation for our burger shop concept. The Michelin recommendation came from Michael Ellis himself, who was the director of the guide in the UK.

Winning Best Small Country House Hotel in 2008 for Mallory Court Hotel early on in my career, along with my most recent restaurant before Hunter & Barrel, Boy’N’Cow, which we won Best Steakhouse in Indonesia for five years in a row, are some of the things I’m most proud of professionally.

Which chefs and cuisines inspire you most – past or present?

My background and my training are in classical French cuisine. But where my heart lies is in what we call modern European cuisine today, which, similarly, in modern Australian cuisine and modern English cuisine – they’re all product-led. 

For example, speaking about centrepiece cooking, where we have a really good piece of steak, a really good piece of chicken, or a really good piece of lamb, whatever it may be. Just very sensible and honest cooking, not too heavy on process, not too heavy on technique.

Exploring Australia’s food scene, and what are your current favourite food joints?

I’ve been heavily focused on getting up to speed with Hunter and Barrel and travelling around to our other locations, so I haven’t had the chance to explore the Australian culinary scene yet.

From what I’ve seen walking around, there are a lot of good food markets. The general quality of produce available is really high. Even things like sandwich shops and small bakeries.

It’s really nice as a chef to see such a high entry level of cuisine generally and types of produce, so that’s something I’m excited about.

Any exciting food trends you’ve tried at home – or snuck onto the menu?

Freak Shakes was a big thing a couple of years ago, and my favourite was the Freak Bloody Mary, which was a Bloody Mary with sausage rolls, prawns, cotton candy, a whole scotch egg, and bacon – the whole variety of things. That’s something that I would often make for my wife on a Sunday morning. That’s probably the craziest of the food trends that I’ve tried at home.

Imagine a tall Bloody Mary with the length of a wooden kebab stick, with all the accompaniments you can think of on top – sticks of olives, crispy bacon, a stick of pork pie, prawns, and loads of vegetables. It’s a bit like a seafood cocktail, but with a Bloody Mary base and loads of pork products.

And finally, what do you love doing when you’re not in the kitchen/at the venue?

If I’m not working, I like to spend time with my wife. We watch a lot of television, a lot of soap operas, K-pop, that sort of thing. 

Outside of that, we tend to go walking on Sundays and do a bit of exercise. But for the majority, we just like to relax, chill, nothing too intense.