'I miss Carrs Pasties': Bolton chef who helped set up one of London's top restaurants

Yahoo

10 hours ago

A Bolton-born chef has become a social media sensation as co-head chef at one of London's hottest restaurants - Fallow.
Will Murray, 32, from Astley Bridge, said he had a love for cooking from a young age - but had an untraditional start to his career.
He went to Thornleigh Salesian College, where he chose to do work experience at a local butchers, to find out more about the butchering process.
He said: 'I did work experience at Carr's Butchers on Blackburn Road – I used to buy all my meat from him and I just wanted to learn more about how it actually works.'
However, when he went off to study at the University of Birmingham – his choice of degree was far removed from the culinary world.
He said: 'I did classical literature and civilisation – which was just completely useless for my later career – but it means I'm quite good at researching.'
Will worked alongside his studies.
Will Murray (Image: Fallow) He said: 'I was working in a few pubs and bars – it was dodgy hospitality at best – I was just having a good time, honestly, and working to pay for it.
'I got away from cooking and went to uni – but after it I just got started as a pot washer in an Italian restaurant in Sheffield.
'I slowly worked my way up to Michelin-star restaurants – and moved down to London.'
Eventually, Will ended up working at Heston Blumenthal's restaurant, Dinner, where he met fellow chef Jack Croft.
The pair would go on to found Fallow, which would make waves on the London scene when it first opened in 2020.
The restaurant has a focus on sustainability – using seasonal, local British ingredients and making sure to use every part of an ingredient.
Will Murray (left) with co-head chef Jack Croft (right) (Image: Fallow) But Fallow has also used social media to boost its success – and boasts over a million subscribers on their YouTube channel.
Will said: 'In short, social media is very important to restaurants, simple as that.
'In Fallow, a conservative estimate would be that about 60 per cent of our bookings come from social media – but we obviously have returning customers.
'But it's all well and good having good social media – but if the kitchen isn't running at its best – then the people won't come back.
'The hardest part of social media is we have to create new dishes – we're always working on them.
'The hard part is creating the dishes and the easy part is creating the social media.'
However, now that the brand has grown so big – with two other restaurants Fowl and Roe under his belt too – managing has become a bigger part of his role.
Will said: 'We try to build a strong team of people – we have 320 staff including our kitchen teams and we have to manage all of that.
'I'm definitely not cooking on the grill like I used to every day, but we have got lots of new projects that we're working on.'
Will estimates around 60 per cent of Fallow's bookings come from social media (Image: Fallow) Will gave his advice for any aspiring chefs wondering how to break into the culinary world.
He said: 'I think a good bit of advice I got given was that you can always cook down, but you can never cook up.
'So for me, I didn't want to cook complicated food, but I got lots of experience in two Michelin starred restaurants.
'Another piece of advice is that staff are in really short supply these days – so it's actually quite easy to get a job.
'When you're in – make it your priority to be the best in that kitchen – be the first one in and the last one to leave.'
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Will said that there's been a shift away from London when it comes to high dining recently – and if that had been the case when he was younger, he may not have left.
He said: 'Manchester has got some great restaurants now – if that was the case back in the day I might not have left Manchester.
'I might not have even left Bolton because it's so close.'
Now with two Michelin starred restaurants – Skof and mana – Will says it's a great place for young chefs to learn their craft.
He said: 'You could get two years experience there before moving down – but it's not all about London any more.
'It's moving around which is nice.'
Will Murray (left) said he might have stayed in Manchester if the restaurant scene was as good as it is now 20 years ago (Image: Fallow) READ MORE: Heartbreaking tributes to owner of popular Bolton chippy at funeral
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Will said that, although Bolton wasn't a culinary inspiration for him, he has fond memories of two restaurants in particular.
He said: 'There was a restaurant on Bradshawgate called Tiggis and if you ever did anything good at school and had something to celebrate – it would usually be there.
'Another one is The Strawbury Duck – near the reservoir.
'But the two things I miss most about Bolton are a pint of Flat Cap and a Carrs Pasty!'