If there’s one word that has followed chef Tom Allen throughout his career it's family. Upon talking to the humble and soft-spoken chef, it’s obvious that being part of tight-knit relationships has played an important role in his professional and personal life.
Having recently received one-MICHELIN-star for Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, located in Atlantis The Royal resort, for the MICHELIN Guide Dubai 2023 edition, the Head Chef has found a way to form strong relationships with the people he’s worked with since starting his career.
Read more: All newly added restaurants in the MICHELIN Guide Dubai 2023
As soon as he began working with a small 30-cover restaurant, Lumière, located in his idyllic hometown of Cheltenham, chef Tom quickly realised that surrounding yourself with like-minded and good-hearted people is key to having a successful start. Hitting it off almost instantly with Lumière’s chef/then owners, Lin and Geoff Chapman, the English chef credits meeting and working for the Canadian couple as pivotal to his career. “They almost became second parents, Lin and Geoff,” he says, “I learned so much about cooking and flavours and food, but also, I was at such an impressionable age that I learned so much just about life and the world. It was a real family environment and then from there I went to the Fat Duck Group.”
Even though he moved from a family-run business not too far from where he grew up, chef Tom easily found his footing and new family within the Fat Duck Group. There, he spent three and half years working across different sections at the three-MICHELIN-star restaurant and had the chance to experience a different level of expertise. His career with his Fat Duck Group progressed quickly and became part of the development and launch team for Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in London in 2011. Since then, he’s played a key role in growing his Fat Duck Group and Dinner family. He moved to Dubai with his wife and two daughters, where he became the head chef at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in the ever-so glamourous Atlantis The Royal resort.
As he leads his new team in the hotel’s first one-MICHELIN-star restaurant, he brings the spirit of family to create a genuine bond and trust with those he spends the majority of his days with. “One thing I do as a leader, and something I instil into the senior team, is to not just work with someone and be professional with them, I want to know about them personally,” he says. In doing so, he establishes a strong team in the kitchen.
“The level that we work at is hard enough, so we want people to wake up in the morning after their days off and feel happy and inspired about coming to work.”
This philosophy is clearly mirrored in the eatery’s open kitchen; diners can experience his team’s calm and organised dynamic as they prepare their iconic dishes.
We sat down with chef Tom to get to know a little bit more about him and how life has been since earning one MICHELIN star.
What inspires you?
Personally, my wife and two daughters encourage me to do what I do, and food and travel. When I think food and flavours, I think you can have that connection and have something in common with everyone in some way.
What was the feeling you had when you received the MICHELIN star?
To be honest, Jon (the General Manager) and I were sat next to each other, and I think we were quite shocked because of the amount of time that Dinner had actually been open. To receive a star after being open for a very short period of time, we were actually really shocked, we were completely overjoyed at the award and very proud and very honoured to receive the recognition from the MICHELIN Guide. It was a mixture of emotions, but also, I think you know the detriment of all the hard work that the team had put into the pre-opening.
Have you seen any impact on since receiving the MICHELIN star?
Absolutely. Probably for the six weeks after receiving the award, there was definitely an influx in covers and business. I think it's a lot of industry people as well, which is nice. It's always nice to cross paths with like-minded people from the industry. So, it's been good for business, which is great, and I think for the awareness for the brand as well in Dubai for Dinner and for Atlantis The Royal, it's incredible.
What's one piece of advice you would give to young chefs?
Know that you're going to be working very hard and that finding the right restaurant and team is a very important thing. Restaurants are very different all around the world, but I think finding the right restaurant for you and your character, also surrounding yourself with the right people; I've been extremely lucky throughout my career that I've been around really good, genuine and honest people, who if you show hard work and dedication to, they believe in you. You make luck and you’re dealt luck in life, so I think it's good to be given opportunities and you need to be good enough to take those opportunities and make it your own and then take what you learn from there to go on, so I think it's really important to surround yourself with good people that can help you grow as a person and then, hopefully, you can go on and do great things.
