Young British Foodie: Fred Smith

Who: Fred Smith, 30.

Lives: Battersea

What he does: As head chef at the Chelsea gastro pub, The Admiral Codrington, Smith says: “My whole life is food and a lot of my friends are chefs. I’m constantly looking for things whether it’s a new ingredient or a new technique. Sometimes it’s just calling people for a catch up, going to restaurants or going to tastings to see what’s going on. The creative side of the job is the most appealing to me and I can find inspiration in the oddest of places… I normally work between 49-56 hours a week on site but that also means I have office stuff to do.”

Signature skill: “Burgers are clearly our best seller. I like food that people want to eat but it all started with a passion for beef and sourcing it properly and that kind of evolved into the burger thing. We have a great reputation for the quality of our beef and our steaks here. The fish and chips sells really well too and the squid is by far and away the biggest selling starter. We developed this Sichuan spiced flour that we use for it.”

How he did it: “Art was my thing at school. I was going to do an art foundation course but I used to feud with my mother about what we used to have for dinner so her response was why don’t you go out and cook your dinner yourself? I did and then at the same time got myself a summer job in a restaurant to save money for a trip to Australia. I really enjoyed the job and in the end I stayed there - at Ransome’s Dock in Battersea - for two years, worked at Bibendum for a year then went to Australia. After that went back to Ransome’s Dock and liked what they were doing then – having a real respect for the ingredients – started in gastropubs… I met with the owners of the Admiral Codrington and they asked me in nearly three years ago.”

Why he does it: “It’s really the beef thing. I’m now interested into looking at the way the animal is reared and what they eat. The other thing I like is passing my knowledge on to the people I work with. I have a fantastic team here.”

Where you can find him: Admiral Codrington, 17 Mossop Street, SW3 (theadmiralcodrington.co.uk). Fred is also involved with the Beef Cartel pop up. Dates for the next one will be announced soon. @FredSmith_