Tom Waters didn't have the most linear entry into the world of cookery. Nor does he have a wildly romantic backstory that goes back generations to the scents wafting through his grandmother's kitchen from which his love of cooking stems, he tells me honestly as we catch up a few weeks into his extended – and open-ended – and extremely popular pop-up residency at Cardiff's Ground Bakery (co-owned by his now good friend Tom Simmons and Wales' George North) with his own restaurant concept Gorse.
But what he does have is an interesting journey filled with passion, determination, a chef who took a chance on him – and, naturally, good food. The 31-year-old from Newport explained how his entry into cooking is not a "very traditional" one but one he happened upon whilst in Paris of all places.
"I haven't got any romantic stories about like codding peas at my grandmother's or anything. It wasn't like that – don't get me wrong my mum is a really good cook and she would always cook from scratch every night but I wasn't interested until I got to uni and I had to do it for myself.
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"I went to university in Bristol. I studied French and German and in my third year [I went on] a year abroad. So I went and spent six months in Paris and six months in Berlin. I worked in an office and I loved the actual being [in the country] but I realised I really hated being in an office and I really loved the food.
"That was what I centred my weekends around. I would just go hunt out the best bistros, the best croissant, the best patisseries I could find and then when I got back, in fourth year, it came time to applying for jobs and I just went: 'Well, actually, there's only one thing I want to do' so I went out and actually bought – the first cookbook I ever bought was – The Square cookbook. I just couldn't believe food could look like that or be like that. And I just became obsessed with the idea of working at The Square."
Lo and behold that's exactly what he did – something he reflects on as "pretty special". But that wasn't until a few years down the line after a renowned Welsh chef took a chance on a "bloke with absolutely no experience" and gave Tom his first culinary break.
Swotting up on the Michelin Guide and the Good Food Guide Tom reflects on how he went "really old-fashioned" and wrote a letter to a plethora of London restaurants asking them to take a punt on him despite his lack of experience in the kitchen.
"I just tried to get in there with passion," he remembers, adding how Brynn Williams "was one of the few people that wrote back and said: 'Yeah, come and have a go'." He adds: "[I was there for] two and a half years with Brynn. He completely shaped the way I view cooking and he basically just harboured me into becoming a chef really. Went on to work at The Square and The Phill, which was amazing, and it went from there really."
He cites Williams as aan "absolutely outstanding chef and a really good guy – he's a really good mentor". Having worked his way up from a chef de partie at his mentor's Michelin Guide restaurant Odette's to becoming junior sous chef at Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck the time came for Tom to carve his own path with his very first restaurant in his home land of Wales.
Gorse restaurant isn't like many other restaurants in the city though. It is a pop-up meaning that it is only available on certain days and usually for a set period of time. That said this particular restaurant, which had previously set up shop at The Glory Stores, Little Man Coffee Co and the much-loved Ground Bakery once before last autumn, will be at Ground this spring for not just a good time but a long time – it has no end date at the time of publishing.
Explaining why he decided on this concept Tom said: "It's a pop-up but we take it seriously. There's a lot of good examples of pop-ups that have turned into really good restaurants everywhere in the world. There's a restaurant called Saison in San Francisco – they started off as a pop-up and it is now an incredible restaurant.
"I think it's a good low-cost and low-risk way of testing the waters and seeing if what you're doing is receptive for an audience. And we've been really lucky from the get-go. We've sold out every single dinner – fully booked – which is pretty amazing. I was pretty blown away by that."
Gorse offers a set tasting menu that will consist of seven courses, all of which are prepared by Tom in the Ground kitchen solo, which has a window so eaters can see exactly how their dinner (which comes in at £70) is being made. That setting is a big part of why Tom wanted to return to the bakery for this residency. That and the fact that it's one of his and his wife's favourite brunch spots in town.
"There's not too many set tasting menu restaurants in Cardiff – there are a few – but I just think we really focus on produce. On using absolutely amazing Welsh [produce] but also some British. We're really trying to focus on creating a cuisine which is reflective of our time and place, where we are right now.
"We've got this amazing, beautiful coastline and that's why I chose the name Gorse in the first place is because it really reminded me of west Wales growing up and you see all this amazing flowering gorse and it's really rugged up in the coastline. I just thought that was really cool."
With produce like fresh fish and seaweed from our own coastlines, Gower salt marsh lamb, and the "amazing Welsh cheeses" Tom adds that he hopes to introduce his customers to "a few different flavours that people haven't necessarily had before – just a bit different."
And while that sounds absolutely incredible – my mouth is salivating just thinking about the menu – being on show in front of 18 covers and hungry diners whilst cooking a meal to perfection must be slightly unnerving even if you've cooked at several of London's top restaurants. How does he keep his cool?
"It's difficult. It's really challenging," he admits before gushing over his house team. "I'm really lucky that we've got a really good house team who really help us out and take the pressure off me.
"I think it comes down to experience... The minute you start sort of flapping about, that's when you're going to go down. You've just got to keep as level headed as possible. And you've got to remember that they're watching you," he says lightly. "You want to try and appear calm – even though you might not be. You don't want there to be any tense atmosphere in the dining room. You want everyone to have a really chilled out nice time."
And that's one thing Tom wants Gorse to encompass – a chilled-out vibe with good food. Not at all formal and unpretentious and for customers to leaving having had a great and fun night. "There's nothing worse than going out for a really good meal and just feeling like you've got to put on airs and graces and there's dicky bow waiters hovering over you with a silver tray."
A far cry from the pomp and performance of such restaurants in London it seems. Alongside it being home Tom explains why he wanted to return to Wales after several years in London and the catalyst that spurred him and his wife – who is an accountant – to take the leap.
"After Covid I think it's recalibrated a lot of people's view on where they wanted to be and what they wanted to do. And we always want to move back at some point but the Covid lockdown expedited that process a little bit. It's really cool to be back in Cardiff – I love it, it's my favourite scene. It's getting better and better every year food-wise as well – even compared to like two or three years ago. It's coming on all the time, which is really cool."
He recalls a certain Jay Rayner review in which the renowned food critic wrote about his return to the Welsh city some years after leaving a scathing review of its independent food scene. In it he seemed to swallow – or rather update – his words. "It's like night and day since then," Tom says proudly. Read more on that here.
But when Tom isn't exploring Cardiff's bustling and budding food scene or whipping up a storm and prepping for the Gorse kitchen – which he says is a week-long process from preparing the dried food for the pop-ups to visiting food producers across Wales – Tom makes time in his day to fit in a run. He's part of a running club called Les Croupiers. "I'm pretty keen. I run a lot. I run like – it's going to sound crazy – 80 to 90 miles a week. Yeah, so like I'm quite keen on running. I run marathons and stuff. I spend all that time cooking and then spend all that time running."
As well as helping to clear his head – "It's absolutely amazing for your mind," he enthuses – Tom explains how he uses the time he is running to think about new ideas when it comes to food. "When I go out running for a long time, especially on a two-hour run or something, I'll come back and, straightaway, I'll get my notebook out. I'll just put down everything I've been thinking about. It's a lot of main ideas for the menu.
"People have different methods of creativity. I just find it quite meditative." It's something, he tells me, he used to do when he was younger but only picked it back up again during lockdown. It's also a way of relieving some of the stress
"Obviously [the Fat Duck] is a pretty intense restaurant – really lovely, lovely people, and a nice environment but it's just high pressure, three Michelin stars... A lot of pressure on you running service, running in the pass. You do need time to yourself because otherwise you just feel just consumed."
And running isn't the only sport he indulges in. Football is a big passion of Tom's too. His team? "Unfortunately Cardiff," he laughs, referencing Cardiff City's performance of late before quickly changing the subject back to his number one topic of food and more specifically his favourite places to enjoy some grub that hasn't been cooked by him.
On the list is Tom Simmons' restaurant Thomas - at which he's recently enjoyed a stellar Sunday lunch - located just a few doors down from Ground as well as city centre location Bacareto and Ffwrnes, which is in Cardiff Market. "Ffwrnes is absolutely fantastic. One of the best pizzas I've had. And we've had pizza everywhere," he says.
As for what's on the horizon for Tom Waters and Gorse post-residency he explains how he's keeping an eye out for his own permanent space for the restaurant. "It's just a question of when that time that spot comes about. I'm not going to rush into taking the first few [spaces]. I want it to feel like a nice intimate experience where you feel like you're eating in someone's living room.
"I just think the best experiences with cooking and eating are always home cooks – big family events. So I want to try and recreate that in a restaurant setting basically. A big spot where it's nice and open. Very chill." And, rather excitingly, he suggests that this dream may not be that far off in the future so foodies of Cardiff watch this space.
Gorse is popping up on Friday and Saturday nights at Ground Bakery in Pontcanna for the foreseeable future. For more information see the website.
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