Ask the Foodie: Shane Osborn
After spending 20 years in London, 11 of those as head chef of the two-Michelin-star Pied à Terre, Australian-born Shane Osborn wanted a change. So he sold his share in two restaurants, and his house, to travel with his family.
The time away from the stress of the kitchen helped him overcome a life-threatening allergy to a range of ingredients, including fish, shellfish, eggplant, figs and mushrooms. Feeling refreshed, he was ready for a new challenge.
Since August, Osborn has been head chef at St Betty in the IFC, formerly Betty's Kitschen.
Yes. My mother was a caterer, and from around the age of 13, I started to help her. I found it exciting, and I loved the banter that goes on.
I also learned cooking at high school. And, as a good Aussie boy, I did a lot of barbecuing. I think that the kitchen is an exciting place for kids. Helping makes you feel like a grown-up. When I left school, I was offered an apprenticeship in a restaurant in Perth.
It is hard to say. In the early days, when I first arrived in London, it would have to be Marco [Pierre White]. He was like a rock star. He had a look, an attitude, and he had beautiful women hanging off him. That didn't happen to chefs before him.
My first Michelin meal was at his restaurant, Harvey's. I went to work for one of his former sous chefs. All together, it cemented the feeling that being a chef was for me.
The cuisine is now modern European, and there has been an increase in quality and consistency. There is a focus on using regional ingredients. We are also working with two local suppliers for organic produce, and have bought some land in the New Territories. We are building a greenhouse, a beehive and a wormery [for compost]. The aim is to grow foods that we can't find locally that I like to work with. Normally, they would be imported from Europe. Things like Jerusalem artichokes and obscure herbs such as sweet cicely.
