In a Nutshell, Chef Michael Leathley: ‘Worcestershire sauce improves everything’

Tucked away on the shores of Loch Linnhe, The Pierhouse is one of Argyll’s most idyllic and romantic destinations, offering breathtaking views to the islands of Lismore and Mull.

Head chef Michael Leathley talks to us about learning to play the piano, how cookbooks ignited his passion for food and the ones he still picks up today. 

What’s the closest thing you have to a signature dish:

My favourite dish at The Pierhouse is our seafood platter, including the freshest langoustines, mussels and lobsters harvested from Loch Linnhe and Loch Etive, as well as fine handpicked oysters from the oyster beds of Loch Creran, just 10 minutes from the hotel. It’s quite a romantic thing to share looking out over the Loch.

Describe your style of cuisine in ten words:

Classic, seasonal, seasoned, comforting, nostalgic, local, colourful, playful, unpretentious, fresh.

Best and/or most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten:

It was at restaurant Andrew Fairlie for my 40th birthday, the service and the food were very special.

Worst/weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten:

Tripe. It’s just not nice.

Worst thing you’ve ever cooked:

A sole Florentine for a big wedding of more than 300 people. Everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong. The course ended up being removed from the meal. I have never really lived it down. That service still haunts my dreams.  

What’s the dish that you’re most proud of having cooked:

Salt-baked halibut stuffed with spruce pine and burnt butter hollandaise, which I served at our Forage & Feast event in July. It looked and smelled beautiful, and food always tastes better shared.

Favourite ingredient:

Worcestershire sauce. It improves everything – sauces, meat, fish. I use it quite a lot just as a little pop of flavour. I’ve been mixing it 50/50 with brown sugar recently and topping our oysters with it. It’s delicious, sweet, salty and peppery.

Your go-to recipe book:

Elizabeth David French Provincial Cooking or Jane Grigson’s English Food.

What other country’s cuisine really excites and intrigues you?

Pickling, fermenting and cooking processes from around the world. I’m fascinated by Vietnamese cooking, and also curing and pickling in the Baltic states.

Most you’ve ever paid for a meal:

It’s a bit vulgar to value a meal on just its cash value. Any expensive meal I’ve ever had I’ve always tried to forget the bill at the end.

Your favourite Scottish chef:

Jeremy Lee. I love the way he writes and talks about cooking and the joys of food .

Favourite chef outside Scotland:

Fergus Henderson and Simon Bonwick.

Who taught you to cook or ignited your passion for food as a youngster:

My dad did a lot of cooking and I remember all the cookbooks, Madhur Jaffrey, At Home with the Roux Brothers, Rhodes around Britain. I was always encouraged to cook and left to try things out.    

Most important lesson a young chef can learn:

Keep organised and make lists and always have a damp clean cloth on your section.

Culinary mentor – the most important person in your development as a professional chef:

The Team back in 21 Queen Street in Newcastle where I had my first work experience in the late 1990s. It was the first proper kitchen I’d seen, and the excitement and energy I still feel today. The short time I was there set me up to keep coming back to kitchens.    

Best thing about the industry:

The people, creativity and camaraderie of working as part of a passionate kitchen team.

Worst thing about the industry:

The long hours.

What’s the biggest sin a chef can commit:

Sending out a dish you know is wrong.

What do you eat when you’re at home:

I love cooking simple, tasty food with my son Jonas at home. He’s obsessed with fish and noodles at the moment.

Celebrity guest or your perfect dinner party – who would you most like to cook for:  

Jarvis Cocker, the late Keith Floyd, and the comedian Dave Allen I think would be fun to have dinner with.  

Tell me a something about you that virtually no-one knows:

I’m learning to play the piano.

What’s your favourite wine?

Sauternes, with a snappy Blue Cheese and over-ripe fruit.

Your spirit of choice?

I’m not great with spirits, so I don’t drink as much anymore, however I like a cold gin and tonic with lime. I like the Isle of Raasay Hebridean Gin at the minute.

Do you play music in the kitchen and, if so, what’s your go-to track or artist:

1980’s megamix. Having said that, I find it really hard to concentrate with music on. I’m the kitchen kill-joy these days turning the music down all the time.  

If you weren’t a chef, what would you be:

Unemployed. I really don’t know, but I’ve always liked the idea of being a writer or an artist.

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