Chef's Essentials is the Livingetc series exploring your favorite chefs' go-to kitchen utensils and how they contribute to shaping their craft, so that you, too, can start collecting their treasured cookware — each piece uniting functionality and style — and hone your culinary art.
For some, food is a lifelong passion that begins early on. For others, a discovery that blooms as years pass. For Peckham-bred emerging chef Nathaniel Mortley, AKA NattyCanCook, it embodied a fresh start. A family affair from the get-go, he first tried his hand at cooking while supporting her aunt's cake-making business as a teenager, and went on to pursue his culinary call with a course at Lewisham College, later landing a job in the kitchens of the Oblix at The Shard and Jason Atherton's City Social.
Having fallen into trouble with the criminal justice system in 2019, he served a two-and-a-half-year-long sentence at HMP Brixton. Here, his innate love of cooking was rekindled by The Clink Project, a charity providing training and social rehabilitation to inmates, which led Mortley to become the sous chef of its restaurant, The Clink.
Today, the young chef, who, following his release, turned to gastronomy to express the nuances of his Caribbean roots, boasts nearly 70k followers on Instagram and collaborations with brands like Apple and Spotify. From 2210 by NattyCanCook, his debut London restaurant in Herne Hill, which opened last November, he delivers a French-inspired fusion of Bajan, Jamaican, and Guyanese ingredients crafted to inspire, unite, and uplift. Rooted in culture, attention to detail, and consistency, his revisited staples would be nothing without these blades.
What Kitchen Essential Speaks Most to Your Craft?
"The chef's knife is the most important tool in my kitchen. Everything starts with it. From breaking down fish and meat to precise vegetable prep and finishing touches during service, a good knife allows you to work with speed, confidence, and accuracy, which is essential in a professional environment. Over time, it becomes an extension of your hand and part of your identity as a chef. In my cooking, where bold Caribbean flavors meet refined technique, the knife underpins the consistency and attention to detail that define my food."
"This Blenheim Forge feels personal. Strong enough for heavier prep but still refined in use, it's a versatile must-have for every chef's set."
"Extremely sharp with a clean, minimal aesthetic. It's really good for delicate slicing, particularly fish and fine garnish work. It feels very pure and precise to use."
"A solid, dependable classic, this WÜSTHOF Classic Ikon Chef's Knife is well-balanced and ideal for more robust prep tasks. It's the kind of knife that works hard every day without fuss. You'll get a similar performance from the Victorinox Fibrox Chef’s Knife currently on sale for just £27.95."
"A more easily retrievable and valuable alternative to the Blenheim Forge blade shared above, this Victorinox Swiss Modern Chef's Knife gets you professional performance at a fraction of the price."
"Reliable, elegant and built for serious service, it's a knife that performs at a high level without being flashy."
"The Tsunehisa Ginsan Nashiji Gyuto is very thin and incredibly precise. Great for detailed vegetable work and clean slicing where presentation matters, it is lightweight and fast in the hand."
"A valid alternative to the NENOX X Gyuto knife, this Mac Professional option is far easier to find than other Japanese chef's knives, but equally trustworthy."
Always wanted to be able to make food that looks as pretty as it tastes good? Well, according to the fashion world's favorite chef, Imogen Kwok, it may be time to invest in a mandoline, or so she told us while spilling the beans on her most cherished kitchen utensils.
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