Gordon’s story: challenges are key to learning your craft

Gordon CarberryCraft Development Chef, Sodexo UK & Ireland

I’ve been immersed in Dublin’s hospitality scene since the age of 15 and have worked as a chef in the city for 19 years. It’s taken me through the doors of a variety of kitchens, from a Michelin starred restaurant to Dublin Zoo.

I just love the industry. It’s a feeling I can’t explain, even to this day; that craziness and adrenalin rush that comes with a busy service.

It was my mum and my brother who first lit the spark. Mum was always cooking and I remember when she was making apple pies and crumbles we’d be whisking the cream for her with the promise of being able to lick the spoon as a treat. My older brother became a chef and would cater for functions and parties in friends’ houses. I was always there, helping out.

From kitchen porter to head chef

My first paid job was as a lounge boy, a front of house hospitality role, and then I moved to a kitchen porter’s role at the zoo. That’s when I met someone who was to become a lifelong mentor, Audrey Crone, she was a development chef at the time. She saw something in me (I was always asking questions) and put me through my chef qualifications.

While I was studying, a college tutor suggested I volunteer for some shifts at Derry Clarke’s Michelin-starred restaurant L'Ecrivain, to gain more hands-on experience. I walked through the door on my first day and was handed 40 kilos of scallops to shell and prepare. How’s that for getting thrown in at the deep end! Being in a Michelin starred environment provided a great learning experience; I saw things I’d never seen before, new techniques and attention to detail.

After graduating I was looking for more challenges and spent time in commercial restaurants in Temple Bar, at Dublin Airport, eventually returning to contract catering as a head chef at a private school. Every place I worked showed me a different side of cooking, including how it was possible to produce quality food for thousands of people every day.

Bringing the tastes of Ireland to customers’ plates

I joined Sodexo in 2022 as a head chef and for the last three years I’ve been working as a development chef, leading teams at 18 sites around Ireland. I develop our core menus – often tweaking them to suit the Irish market – and ensuring our chefs have the dishes, tastes and flavours that suit their customer profiles. I love the freedom and the fact that no day is the same. We’re big on seasonal produce, freshness and flavour. I want to make customers’ mouths water.

Flying the flag for Sodexo and sustainability

In 2023 I won a bronze in Sodexo’s Chef of the Year competition and a year later, I represented Ireland in the culinary Olympics in Stuttgart. That was phenomenal, competing with around 1,000 chefs from around the world.

This year, the Cook for Change competition was on my radar. I spent around seven months developing my dish, tweaking and changing it, building in new techniques and looking at all the ways to use parts of a parsnip, the ‘hero’ ingredient. The whole ethos of sustainability for me is zero waste. The dish – ‘Meacan Bán’ (Irish for parsnip) – included miso glazed parsnip, parsnip puree and crispy parsnip skins served with parsnip and apple shrub. I tested it out with colleagues in the craft team and my mentor Audrey. That’s how every dish I’ve developed has been created, through tasting and feedback from peers.

The final was streamed live online and I had friends and my son watching back at home – my wife was invited by Sodexo to join me in London at the event so it was great to have her in the room. The wait for the results was torture as I couldn’t gauge how well I’d done. I’ll always find something that didn't go the way I wanted it to.

 

Judge Anna Haugh was raving about the winning dish in the Culinary Innovation category. I was sitting there thinking ‘she’s not talking about my dish’, and then she announced me as the winner! The whole journey was inspiring.

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