They’d be the last ones to tell you — they aren’t great at blowing their own trumpets — but the Unruly Pig’s success, really, is down to our chef-patron Dave Wall and his head chef, Karl Green. They are the nicest guys I have ever worked with in all my working life. Liking and enjoying the company of the main chaps with whom you work each day… well, I’d say it’s more than half the reason why we are where we are today.
Dave and Karl have autonomy in the kitchen. I get to taste the dishes and pass views and comment — which they mostly ignore! — but where I might have a reservation about a dish, they’re almost always right, and I am almost always wrong. We have a frank and forthright relationship, though, and it mostly just seems to work. That said, I do drive them both bonkers at times — it’s the age gap. I am 66 this year, and Dave is 39, and Karl 32. I can nag at times and drive them up the wall, albeit with a lot of love. I was chatting to one of the team and once made the mistake of saying words to the effect that Dave was the son I never had. Word soon spread, and soon whenever I was wanting to catch up with Dave on something, the kitchen would shout out, “Dave… your Dad wants to speak to you!”
