We recently had the pleasure of talking to Ronnie Murray, the Executive Head Chef of the iconic events company Camm and Hooper. Ronnie has a wealth of experience, having also worked for some of London's most prominent restaurants and groups, such as the Hix restaurants and Caprice Holdings. Needless to say, he knows good food pretty well! 

In this interview, Ronnie talks about his journey, sharing key lessons he has learned along the way, as well as important trends in the F&B and events industries. 

There's also a funny story for you at the end of the interview! 

Ronnie, thank you so much for your time! Could you give us an outline about your journey and experience leading you to become the Executive Head Chef at Camm and Hooper? 

I guess I never really wanted to do anything else, I had always wanted to be a chef. As a kid, I was playing around in Grandma's kitchen, pretending to be a cook, and I remember one of my early birthday presents was a little hand mixer. My mum was also a kitchen manager and chef in a school kitchen, so it's sort of in my DNA!

When I finished school at 16 (back then you were allowed to!), I went straight to a hotel. It was a live-in job, and I got a solid background and knowledge about restaurants and how to do big events. 

Afterwards, I had various projects and also travelled for a year and got a bit of international experience. 

When I returned to London, I started work for Caprice Holdings at J Sheekey. It was a fish restaurant for fine dining, for lack of a better word. I made head chef at 22 and I remember I was on 22k at 22 and feeling like I'd made it! 

I was also lucky enough to then be part of the opening of Scotts in Mayfair, which is now one of London's most iconic restaurants. The venue was incredible and I really got to learn the ins and outs of how such a business works. 

That's where I met Mark Hix, and after 7 years at Caprice Holdings, I joined him at his own company. It was another fantastic opportunity there, opening iconic restaurants such as Tramshed... 

I remember I was cycling the first time I went to visit the venue and it took 5 minutes to just cycle around the room when there was nothing but the massive hall. Talk about daunting… it was incredible. And then Mark said ‘We're only going to do chicken or beef'! He's an eccentric genius for sure! 

Afterwards, I spent 3 years with my own company. Anyone who has their own business will tell you that it's a massive challenge! Almost more daunting than a Tramshed or a Scotts. 

That's incredible. With so many incredible moments, what have been your career highlights so far? You worked at Hix, you were also on Great British Menu... Do you have a specific highlight that comes to mind?

There were so many great challenges and opportunities! 

A bit of TV is interesting, but I'm glad it's not how I make my living! The Great British menu was a fantastic opportunity to cook with big-hit Michelin guys.

That's important because ultimately I think success comes down to people. Realising that you're well-connected in the industry is a highlight in and of itself. It's the old saying that ‘it's not what you know but who you know'. I have to pay back a lot of people in beer for helping me out! I'm nothing without the people I have around me. 

Oh, and one thing I have learned over the years is that it's a very small world and a very small industry, so it's never wise to upset anybody!

Yes, I can imagine! And speaking of the importance of people, is it quite difficult to hire or retain talented people at the moment? Many young people can be impatient, or want big salaries from the start… 

They also want to be on TV! Joking aside, it can be hard.

We have a chef meeting every month, and something that's always on the agenda is staff retention. I think that's the key these days. 

You can't carry on like before, having people burn out. We try to create a healthy environment, we look after people, we pay well, so we're reasonably good at retention. 

We also focus on flexibility. We have people with kids that need to work around their commitments, we've got people who are trying to educate themselves, and we support that. We look at colleges and training schemes and we arrange flexible schedules. They're talented people, and we need them in our business.

It's a bit of give and take. Nothing is off the table these days, otherwise you get left behind. 

I understand. And it must help to have this diversity as well, right? 

Yes, absolutely. Back in the days, it was like an all-boys club but that's gone now, the industry has changed. We've got different positions now, different people, and it brings more buzz and energy. 

And speaking of the changing industry, do you see any new trends in F&B and the events industry for this year? What do you think is the next big thing in the food world? 

The million-dollar question! I think people's health and well being is forefront these days, and we need to focus on that through quality food.

For me, part of the appeal for the Camm and Hooper job was figuring out how to get as close to restaurant quality food in the events business. It's all about using technology and your resources to find clever options for delivering quality when you're short on time. 

We've all been to events where you get bad food that you pay a lot of money for. That's how it used to be, but things are changing and I'm really glad to be a part of this change.
 

The difference now is that people are wiser, they understand how food is cooked, and they're prepared to pay for quality. We need to deliver to expectations. Restaurants can't get away with bad practices anymore.

Think about pizza. If you go out for pizza, you expect a decent stone cooked pizza, not a rubbery, frozen one that was just heated in the oven. But that's what you got 10-15 years ago. 

Yes, I even feel like home cooking has changed so much. What I cook at home is much more diverse than what my parents used to cook.

Yes, I probably have potatoes once a week nowadays, and we used to have them 5-6 days a week. And forget about pasta! 

Yes, exactly. 
Thank you for your amazing insights! I only have a few more quick questions now. 

If you could only eat one dish from your Camm and Hooper menu, what would it be? 

Apple pie.

What's your favourite Camm and Hooper venue and why?

It's like having children, you can't have a favourite!

What food do you like to eat in your own time? 

I've got a lovely small garden, and I've just finished with my purple sprouted broccoli. There's nothing better than getting home, walking out into the garden to get some broccoli, and then steaming it, slashing it in a pan with some chopped fresh herbs, also from the garden. It's delicious.

What's your favourite kitchen equipment or gadget?

Gadgets come and go. At the moment, it's Unox ovens, they deliver a little bit better than others. They have Wi-Fi connectivity, you can connect them to each other, and they make their own components.

It's like cars: everyone uses the same types of car, and then Tesla comes with something slightly different. That's what Unox have done with ovens. 

Can you tell me about a funny kitchen incident without me getting you into trouble? 

Haha! Oh my gosh!

A very long time ago, not at Camm and Hooper, I was training someone to be a chef. We were talking about chickens while having scrambled eggs for breakfast. Somehow he had never realised where the eggs came from. He just realised right then and there that they came from chickens! He was absolutely horrified and refused to eat his breakfast. True story. 
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We hope you found this interview as inspiring as we did. You can connect with Ronnie by following him on Twitter or Instagram.