Adam Rawson: London’s hottest young chef on Peruvian food, Pachamama and opening a new Viajante

Ben Norum meets Adam Rawson, a chef who's cooking up stars, hot sauce and a new restaurant inspired by Nuno Mendes
Something's cooking: Adam Rawson has big plans
Ben Norum28 September 2015

If you don’t know the name Adam Rawson, you will soon. Earlier this month the 25 year old was named Chef of the Year at the Young British Foodies awards and in February he will launch a restaurant that “pays homage to” Nuno Mendes’s closed Viajante.

He is currently head chef at Marylebone’s Pachamama, which fuses Peruvian and British cuisines, and has previously worked with Gordon Ramsay, Nuno Mendes, Claude Bosi and Bjorn van der Horst as well as at Dalston’s White Rabbit and burger bar Lucky Chip.

His passion for Peruvian began while travelling and was cemented at top Lima restaurant Amaz, but he is insistant that his style is anything but authentic.

“I cook English Peruvian, if I had to do traditional Peruvian I would be lost,” he says. My cooking style is very international – I’ve worked at English, Indian and Japanese restaurants as well as in Peru, it's just that Peru happens to have so many wonderful flavours and ingredients. My food is similar to that of Nuno Mendes. If something tastes great with something else then I’ll put them together, it doesn’t matter what side of the world they’re from.”

Bright: Peruvian dishes at Pachamama

In February he will launch a second restaurant – as yet unnamed – in Chelsea, which he describes as a “posh Pachamama”.

“It will be Peruvian fusion again and the vibe will be similar to at Pachamama but the food will be elevated. We want to increase the number of small producers we use and create high-end more intricate dishes. We’re so busy at Pachamama that we can’t do this – the new site will be half the size and higher-end, but still very laid-back.”

“If I would compare the new restaurant to anywhere I would say it will be similar to Viajante. I learnt so much during my time working there with Nuno and what I create will pay homage to that, although it won’t be as high end.”

He has big ambitions: “We want to get a star at this one,” he says.

"I learned so much by working in absolutely rubbish places"

&#13; <p>Adam Rawson</p>&#13;

It was Adam’s dishes such as delicate shavings of celeriac renderd in Galician beef fat and seabass ceviche bathed in nitro-frozen tiger’s milk which impressed the judges, but his cooking hasn’t always been so elaborate.

“I learned so much by working in absolutely rubbish places, like pubs where everything was cooked in a microwave. It pushed me to find ways to do things better. So many chefs just turn up at top restaurants where all the cooking is done in bags and that’s all they know – I think it’s important to learn how to use a pan first.”

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His time at Viajante working with Nuno Mendes and at Farringdon’s Eastside Inn with Bjorn Van der Horst shaped his cooking, but working under Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s wasn’t for him.

“I didn’t really enjoy my time at Claridge’s. It was too French, and too hardcore.”

But Adam’s workload sounds pretty hardcore itself. Alongside assembling a team and devising dishes for the new restaurant launch next year, aiming for stars and running the kitchen at Pachamama, he is also starting to produce his own range of Peruvian aji chilli sauces.

Once again, he’s ambitious: “We want them to be stocked in supermarkets – we’re going to take on Tabasco.”

Hot sauce aside, this young chef is well on his way to becoming hot property on the London restaurant scene – it might be worth getting a booking while you still can.

Follow Ben Norum on Twitter @BenNorum
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