Kook De Partie

 

 

 

 

While working in London, each DJ tour provided a convenient excuse to move on from one company to another the system that accompanied my portfolio career appeared to be working juggling gigs and creative roles in London.

 

My last job in the industry was at a mad cliché of a digital production house. Basically, we were doing a load of ‘paid thinking’ for Google in California and New York. The client would repeatedly lob gargantuan amounts of cash at this Shoreditch (where else) located studio. We would in turn ‘throw thought shapes’ for them not build anything literally just think: make a design deck and maybe create a wireframe or two, but never deliver a finished product, as all Google coding is done inhouse with their own unique internet friendly language.

 

We were being paid to provide solutions. This meant playing with Google supplied concepts as wideopen as: “space” or “storefront”. In response, we would propose a series of increasingly outlandish ideas (events, art installations, games, apps). Using the very latest digital technology, we would attempt to engage the world and win awards with our creativity while simultaneously ramming home their online products (maps, docs, mail, YouTube et al) all so that a senior dude at Google HQ could sell the concept into the powers that be above him.

 

It could be argued that I was in the very nexus of digital creative thought, healthy pay, massive budgets and crazy brainstorming. But I jacked it all in, October 2014, to focus on my latest project. 

 

The 2 hour commute (Brighton to London) grated. A 7am train in and rarely getting home before 8pm did not seem at all natural after 20 years of selfdetermining music industry lifestyle. But worse than the trials of transport were the ‘tiers of approval’ above me both in whichever agency I worked and then within each client company.

 

As a fulltime musician, I was used to waking up in the morning and going: ‘I need a film to promote my new single’. A series of phone calls would follow. I would beg/borrow/steal cameramen, fashion clothes, studio, editor etc, and then shoot a film in 1 day on a budget of £500 and it would be shown on MTV in a couple of weeks. I hadn't thought about it at the time because that was how it rolled, but I called all the shots, making lifelong friends in the process and I loved it.

 

As you might well know, it was a very different story in the ad industry. My creativity and global entertainment experience was appreciated wherever I worked, but these ‘tiers of approval’ consistently binned most of my ideas and then mutilated and neutered the few that survived so that they bore no resemblance to the concept I had initially presented. Indeed, I met seasoned creatives, 2 years into their position at one of the aforementioned agencies, whose ideas had never been developed to fruition.

 

I had done it, I had got to the place where I thought I wanted to be, but once there I needed an out. I went through a few months of catharsis balancing earnings against passion in what I believe in then early in 2014, I had a revelation. I decided that I needed to work for myself again, and as music no longer offered a consistent (read ‘family responsible’) salary, I would choose the other massive passion in my life: food.

 

Food was without doubt the best thing about travelling around the world as a DJ. Sure, being presented to thousands of partyready ravers, being looked after like a rockstar and sampling the odd tropical beach had its benefits, but the consistent highlight for me was the opportunity to sample excellent cuisine from San Francisco, USA to Almaty, Kazakhstan.

 

As anyone who has toured with me will know, priority #1 on arrival in a city is choosing where we eat. From fine dining in Copenhagen to street food in Singapore I had tried everything and anything whenever possible.

 

My years of intense tour travelling also allowed me to clock the wide variety of hospitality on offer from soulless empty hotel eateries in Manchester to getting a table at the most sought after sushi restaurant in Rio de Janeiro. I had sampled 7 star hotels, ‘no star’ guesthouses, tents in festivals and restaurants to match: high dining Michelin starred venues in Paris and spit and sawdust bars in Mexico the whole gamut.

 

On days off between gigs, I discovered that food provenance was also a massive passion. I found time on tours to take cookery lessons in exotic locations like Bali. I could happily while away hours chatting to farmers, butchers, brewers, cooks and chefs about their role in food supply from organic veg to milk made from vodka, homecooking to working in a brigade like a sponge, I had absorbed it all.

 

Food then. More specifically a restaurant. I made it my new mission and I am the happiest I have been in years. My wife, Rebecca, and I, now run an allday dining eaterie in the North Laine, Brighton.

 

Being flanked by such an able wife is nothing short of a godsend. Rebecca has considerable restaurant experience and manages the day to day of our restaurant like she was born to do it her

incredible work ethic is matched only by her charm and team leader skills while I am the 'flighty concepts dude' who is super passionate about ingredients and hospitality and who might know a bit about marketing.

 

The last 2 years in ad-land were not a write off. I got those jobs in London thanks to people that believed in me and I learned much from the ad industry. I was able to build a compelling business case for our new restaurant (which drew on my experience of making documents for MasterCard or BMW). It won us investors. My creativity was massively supported by my wife's financial wizardry. She provided spreadsheets so tidy that our investors and bank manager asked where we got our help from.

 

We named our restaurant 'Kooks' as it is a celebration of the countercultural vibe that permeates every aspect of Brighton and the fabulous citizens and who fly ‘the freak flag’ for our fine city. 'Kooks' is a 'boho bistro': a home from home good honest food at prices that won't break the bank: breakfast served until 5pm; mains from midday and dinner from 6 flanked by a well stocked bar. Great staff will present our patrons with plates packed with flavour.

 

Talented and skilled proactive staff have proved pivotal to fulfilling our dream and we’ve lucked out with our current employees. Our kitchen crew are fabulous and incredibly passionate about food our Head Chef, James Flavell, has produced a seasonal menu that more than delivers, and he is in turn supported by a talented and experienced brigade. We share inspiring tales of ingredients, techniques and suppliers and we celebrate positive customer feedback.

 

Our front of house team have admirably risen to the challenge to make our customers very, very welcome. We believe it’s an honour to serve someone who has worked hard all day a great plate of food or a great glass of wine and we meet weekly to discuss how we can improve our customers experiences at Kooks. It’s a philosophy that’s clearly working as our bookings keep rolling in and our online reviews typically give us top marks.

 

Thanks to my background in sound, the restaurant music policy is finely honed. My sizeable music collection (more than 30 years of hoarding eclectic noise) has been painstakingly digitally archived for easy access at Kooks. Playlists evolve each day, being sensitive to time and ambience and absorbing new purchases. We have weekly featured artists and LPs, and are alway sensitive to our customers sonic needs.

 

Everyday, as we market our restaurant, we are meeting the lovely people that make Brighton work; venue owners, shop proprietors, guest house keepers, council representatives, the great

people of Brighton and the visitors who love our vibrant city Rebecca and I are now totally plugged in to our home city rather than just casual residents and it’s a welcome change.

 

In summary, we have both never felt more alive and mentally engaged. I am part of the community of independent traders that make the North Laine great. It is definitely harder than we have ever worked physically and mentally as I type this I got in at 3am after hosting Eddie Izzard’s aftershow dinner, and then got up 3 hrs later to do the school run but crucially none of this matters: I am in control again of my own life. I am able to iterate and implement changes daily if necessary and reap the rewards or indeed learn from my mistakes.

 

It's beyond hugely exciting: everyday we are vaulting hurdles and jumping through hoops to ensure that our customers have the best experience we can offer them. The footfall past our location yields excellent trade every weekend and most lunchtimes throughout the year but our mission continues to make Kooks a destination in the evening at the front end of the week too so please pop in and sample our new menu the orange and cinnamon bread and butter pudding has to be tasted to be believed.

 

Having opened in May, 'Kooks Restaurant' is most definitely a home from home for our growing number of regulars. We’re a stone’s throw from the Brighton Dome, Corn Exchange, Theatre and Komedia so we’re ideally placed for a bite to eat or drink either side of your show.

 

Come on down, and say hello. We’re incredibly proud to be serving Brighton, breakfast, lunch, dinner daily from 9am until late and we would love to feed you and look after you like we feel you deserve.