From hell to a fine old grilling

Josh Emett says that to be a good chef, you need to be extremely pedantic with a lot of imagination and flair.

New Zealander Josh Emett is the head chef responsible for dragging the once-eminent Savoy Grill out of the Edwardian era and into the 21st century.

Emett has overhauled the historic London restaurant's menu, giving classic cuisine a modern twist.

The Daily Telegraph declared the 2003 relaunch as perhaps the most successful hotel restaurant takeover yet by Emett's bosses, Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing.

Just eight months after re-opening, the 102-year-old restaurant gained its first Michelin star.

Sleekly renovated in chocolate and caramel, the Savoy Grill seats around 130. Emett, 32, heads a total staff of 50 in the $1.25m kitchen, which has the lowest staff turnover of the Gordon Ramsay group.

The Waikato Polytechnic graduate's CV includes two years at Auckland's Cin Cin on Quay. During his OE in the mid-Nineties he completed 10 months of serious work at fine-dining eateries in London. When his visa expired, he moved to Melbourne, working six-day weeks for the acclaimed Est Est Est.

He returned to Europe in 2000. After three months work on yachts in the south of France - "nice but totally unrealistic" - he went to the original Hell's Kitchen: Ramsay's Royal Hospital Road.

"It was ferocious. But that was what I was looking for - a lot of pressure. It was a pressure cooker."

Now considered one of the world's top five restaurants, Royal Hospital then had two Michelin stars but Ramsay wanted a third. The guys who lasted were the tough blokes, plus a couple of tough girls.

"Ramsay isn't at all like his volatile TV persona. It's a hell of a lot worse in real life. I watch him on TV thinking, 'I can see what he really wants to say'."

It was at Ramsay's Claridges restaurant that Emett proved he could do the job of head chef. As senior sous-chef, he regularly found himself running the kitchen of one of London's busiest restaurants. A year later, Ramsay took him out to lunch and offered him the Savoy job.

"It's a big contrast to New Zealand, where, although the food is fantastic, formal dining is rare. In a way that's really nice - people want to be relaxed when dining out.

"You've got to give your customers what they want but we also try to get them to try new things, too."

What makes a good chef?

You need to be extremely pedantic with a lot of imagination and flair.

Favourite ingredients?

Baby turnips and Jerusalem artichokes.

Favourite food?

I'm a huge rice fan. I could eat it every day.

Anything you won't eat?

Oysters and raw tomatoes.