{"id":5507,"date":"2024-10-19T17:04:40","date_gmt":"2024-10-19T17:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/?p=5507"},"modified":"2024-10-19T17:04:40","modified_gmt":"2024-10-19T17:04:40","slug":"john-keenan-head-chef-at-glasgow-restaurant-55-bearsden-cross-on-swapping-a-career-in-music-for-one-in-restaurants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/?p=5507","title":{"rendered":"John Keenan head chef at Glasgow restaurant 55 Bearsden Cross on swapping a career in music for one in restaurants"},"content":{"rendered":"

What was your first industry job?<\/strong>
\nWorking at The Jolly Sailor pub in Portsmouth after I left the Royal Navy in 1979.<\/p>\n

If you weren\u2019t in kitchens, what would you do?<\/strong>
\nMusic was my first love and it will be my last. In all seriousness, after leaving the Navy, I spent many years working in the music industry across London, Glasgow, and parts of Europe. My biggest claim to fame is the dance classic FRAGMA\u2019s I Need a Miracle<\/em>, which many people will know and love. As manager of the group, back in 2000, I saw it sell 560,000 copies, earning us a gold disc. Other highlights included forming an independent record label called Contribution Records; managing Scottish singer Robert Ferrier, who was later signed to Mega Records in Sweden; and managing vocalist Roberta Childs, who reached number two in the dance charts with Here Comes the Rain Again<\/em>. When the time came to move on from the music industry, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in the professional kitchen!<\/p>\n

What industry figure do you most admire, and why?<\/strong>
\nIt has to be Gordon Ramsay for his sheer talent and determination \u2013 you don\u2019t reach the top in this game without talent.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your pet hate in the kitchen?<\/strong>
\nSpoons left at the bottom of sauce containers after service and then put back in the fridge. It shows a lack of concern.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the oddest thing a customer has said to you?<\/strong>
\nAt a place I used to work, we served chicken breast on the bone. A female customer complained, saying: \u201cLook at my breasts, they don’t have a bone!\u201d<\/p>\n

Sum up your cooking style in a single sentence\u2026<\/strong>
\nFlavour, colour, and neat presentation, in that order.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the worst review you\u2019ve ever had?<\/strong>
\nTouch wood, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve had one.<\/p>\n

What advice would you give someone starting out in the industry?<\/strong>
\nLearn from everyone and observe everything \u2013 that\u2019s how you pick up skills!<\/p>\n

Which single item of kitchen equipment could you not live without?<\/strong>
\nA good kitchen knife, obviously.<\/p>\n

What would you choose to eat for your last meal?<\/strong>
\nA rack of lamb served with dauphinoise potatoes, green beans, and a nice red wine sauce with mint.<\/p>\n

\u00c0 la carte or tasting menu?<\/strong>
\nTasting menu for me.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best meal you\u2019ve ever had in a restaurant?<\/strong>
\nAn amazing lamb curry, cooked by Tony Singh, while sitting at the bar in Oloroso in Edinburgh.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favourite fast food joint?<\/strong>
\nPizza Express used to be good, but I haven’t been for a while.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the dish you wish you\u2019d thought of?<\/strong>
\nThe classic Scottish dish of mince and tatties.<\/p>\n

MasterChef or Great British Menu?<\/strong>
\nMasterChef<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most overrated food?<\/strong>
\nItalian cuisine.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re restaurant dictator for a day \u2013 what would you ban?<\/strong>
\nTweezers and edible flowers!<\/p>\n

Who would your dream dinner party guests be?<\/strong>
\nStevie Wonder, Nile Rodgers, and Denzel Washington.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your earliest food memory?<\/strong>
\nVesta chicken curry kit from the 70s.<\/p>\n

Twitter or Instagram?<\/strong>
\nInstagram.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the closest you\u2019ve ever come to death?<\/strong>
\nNothing, really, hopefully it\u2019s a long way off.<\/p>\n

Where do you go when you want to let your hair down?<\/strong>
\nRehearsal studio with a band to play some drums.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your tipple of choice?<\/strong>
\nRum, lime, and ginger beer.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favourite food and drink pairing?<\/strong>
\nBuilder’s tea and chocolate Hobnobs.<\/p>\n

What do you consider to be your signature dish?<\/strong>
\nBeef Wellington in filo de brick pastry with fondant potatoes, kale, and peppercorn gravy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What was your first industry job? Working at The Jolly Sailor pub in Portsmouth after I left the Royal Navy in 1979. If you weren\u2019t in kitchens, what would you do? Music was my first love and it will be my last. In all seriousness, after leaving the Navy, I spent many years working in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5507","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-restaurant-news-uk"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5507"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restaurantnews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}