Globally acclaimed chef Mark Greenaway opened Grazing by Mark Greenaway in Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – The Caledonian in 2019, which currently offers a 100-Mile Menu of ingredients sourced within 100 miles of the restaurant.
Before this, he worked at a range of some of the finest dining establishments in the world. He finds inspiration through his use of seasonal Scottish ingredients and uses the finest local produce to transform simple ingredients into unique culinary experiences.
We sat down with the talented chef to find out a little more about his greatest influence, his love of Scottish ingredients and where you’ll find him on days off.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, including where you are today, professionally, and what got you here?
I have been a chef for over thirty years now, and I believe I got here through sheer determination and a competitive streak. I’m naturally competitive as a chef and always want to be better than the chef standing next to me, and that drives me to improve. One of the great things about being a chef is how creative it is – you’re only ever limited by your own imagination. Teachers used to tell me to stop looking out the window, saying I wouldn’t find the answer out there – as a chef, the answer probably is out there.
What or who inspired you to become a chef?
It was a mindset more than any one person – there was no Gordon, Jamie or Heston when I became a chef. But I enjoyed cooking at home and it came easily to me, so it felt like the natural next step to pursue it professionally.
Who has been your biggest influence to get you to where you are today?
In 1999, I went to Sydney for five years, and for two of those years I worked for a head chef named Darrell Felstead. He was incredible at what he did and was only four years older than I was, but was already executive chef at the time. I saw what he was accomplishing and told myself that that’s where I wanted to be.
What’s your signature dish?
I’ve always said I would never have a signature dish because that implies it’s perfect. As a chef, I know that no dish can ever be perfect. At Grazing in Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – The Caledonian, we have the sticky toffee pudding soufflé which has been on the menu since we opened. I created it for the show Sunday Brunch on Channel 4 just before we opened, so it was a no-brainer to add to the menu and it’s by far our best-selling dessert. You could say that’s one signature dish – but I couldn’t settle on a single signature dish.
What are the most important considerations when crafting your menu?
I particularly value seasonality, choosing ingredients at the beginning of their season – there’s no point in choosing something that only has a week or two to go. I always consider the equipment in the kitchen and the team around me. It’s not just about me – it’s always about the team. I always gather the team together and say, right, this is what’s coming into season, what have you done before and what do you want to do? How can we change dishes you’ve cooked before, add our own twists, and produce them on the busiest nights at Grazing? We always work from Saturday night backwards – if we can’t make a dish on Saturday, our busiest night, it doesn’t go on the menu.
At Grazing, our current tasting menu is the 100-Mile Menu. Every month, I sit down with my head chef, speak to our suppliers, and find out what’s available for the next six weeks within 100 miles of Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – The Caledonian. We then get some of these ingredients in, play around with them and plate them up, and make a decision. Crafting the menu is always a collaborative effort.
Do your personal preferences influence the menu at all?
Of course. I’m lucky that there are very few things I don’t like, but I would never put anything on a menu that I wouldn’t like to eat. That’s what makes every restaurant in the country different.
How would you describe your cooking style?
Refined simplicity. To me, this means letting the ingredients shine, not overcomplicating them. It’s sometimes a lot harder to refine simplicity than it is to hide behind 10 or 15 things on a plate. With refined simplicity, dishes aren’t masked with three different sauces or five different garnishes – if it’s not perfect, it’s not perfect.
Do you have a favourite time of year or set of ingredients that you look forward to working with?
If you ask me this question at four different times of the year I’d tell you that’s the season I’m most inspired by! Each season brings its own challenges and joys. Winter brings root vegetables but there are no summer berries, but come the summer there are no root vegetables. I do have a favourite season, and it’s whichever one we’re currently in.
What is your favourite ingredient to create with?
I love creating with seafood because of its simplicity and how little you have to do to make it shine. If you mask it in too much of a heavy sauce you end up taking away from the flavour of the seafood – you have to keep it simple. I also believe that late summer strawberries from Scotland are the best in the world. I never put strawberries on the menu in my five years as a chef in Sydney because I couldn’t find any that tasted as good as they do in Scotland.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a chef?
I’d like to think I’d be doing something creative, like an architect, or another career where I would still have the freedom to create. As a chef, you’re only ever limited by your own imagination – you can get a box of ingredients in the morning and make something amazing by dinnertime. There aren’t many professions that allow you to do that.
What is your favourite dish to cook at home?
Roast chicken – it’s a one-pot wonder.
When are you happiest?
At the end of a really busy service when everyone’s pulled together as a team and you get feedback from guests saying they loved it. That’s why we do it.
What is your favourite piece of kitchen equipment?
A Thermomix – it’s a blender that heats and blends at the same time.
When you’re not in the kitchen where can you be found?
In one of my other kitchens!
What’s your favourite takeaway or comfort food?
Fish and chips.
Where is your favourite place to dine?
It depends on what I’m looking for – I don’t have one favourite place to dine. If I go out for a £10 burger and it’s an amazing burger, I love it. If I go out for a £150 Michelin-starred meal and it’s great, I love it.
I had never dined in a restaurant before I became a chef, and chefs don’t dine like other people. We go and eat at other restaurants to see what they’re doing or not doing, what the service is like, and what the venue is like. I eat in high-end venues for this reason, but I still love a £10 burger like everyone else.
What do you think is the most over-hyped food trend?
Is everyone still doing kale or has that finished now? Either kale or avocado on toast.
What differences do you find working with local produce as opposed to non-local produce in terms of what you can create and flavour?
The difference is always the freshness of the produce. Because Scotland has such rich pastures and it’s never travelled far, when we’re dealing with Scottish produce it’s always fresher, brighter, and the flavours are more pronounced – whereas if you get the same produce from London, the flavours will be dulled from sitting in transit for 12 hours in a fridge. We always try to buy as locally as possible – this is the ethos behind our 100-Mile Menu at Grazing in Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – The Caledonian.
How do you go about menu planning? What’s the process from picking the ingredients to getting them fresh into the kitchen and into dishes?
We first speak to our suppliers and find out what’s coming in. I always catalogue everything I’ve ever done, so I have a massive catalogue of recipes and images to use as a starting place. We look through these and determine what might work and how we can adapt it or simplify it. We always speak to the team and find out what they’ve done before – they might know a technique that I don’t know, and that might be the commis chef or it might be the sous chef. It’s a collaborative effort.
How would you describe the food you create at Grazing to someone who’s never experienced your kind of food?
Grazing is refined simplicity in a casual background. No matter what walk of life you’re from, you’re going to be comfortable coming in. We can do something as simple as a roast chicken or as grand as a beef Wellington that comes carved at the table.
What’s your favourite flavour combination?
Strawberries and cream. It’s just so simple.
What is the USP of your restaurant?
It’s the fact that we use as much local produce as we possibly can in each season. Scotland is so rich in ingredients, and we don’t fly avocados in from abroad just because I want to use avocados. It’s also the fact that it’s such a relaxed atmosphere within the grand setting of Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – The Caledonian – it really is a special night out.
What do your future plans entail?
To do more! I have a book coming out at the end of May, so that will be a whirlwind for me. I hope to become busier and busier – in a positive way!
Factbox
Located in: Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – The Caledonian
Address: Rutland St, Edinburgh EH1 2AB
Phone: 0131 222 8832
Website: markgreenaway.com
