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.
Sometimes all you crave is a masterfully risen and fired pizza slice: luscious tomato, stringy mozzarella, basil leaves, and a crust baked enough to feel crunchy on the outer end and fluffy on the inside. And British chef Tom Kemble certainly knows something about it. The mastermind behind London's buzzy new Spring Street Pizza in Borough — a beautifully designed pizzeria inspired by old-school NYC slice shops, brought to life by Marcel Breuer's Cesca chairs, speckled 'terrazzo' tables, spherical lighting, and a tinge of nostalgia — Kemble started his career running a student cafe while still in university in Nottingham.
After relocating to London, the art history graduate's cooking trajectory took a sharp turn when, from his first professional kitchen job at a gastropub in Blackheath, Kemble found himself joining the brigade of the capital's Mandarin Oriental and its Foliage restaurant, and later, serving food to the elites between Switzerland, the US, and the Caribbean.
After stints at several critically acclaimed, Michelin-starred establishments, including London's Hedone and the Swedish Fäviken, the chef headed now-defunct Bonhams on New Bond Street to its first Michelin star only seven months after its opening, and gave Sussex's The Pass, which he helmed, a praised culinary rebrand.
With the arrival of COVID-19, Kemble realized it was time to retreat from fine dining into something only seemingly simpler and equally delicious: pizzamaking. A few years down the line, and Spring Street Pizza, which launched last April, was born.
The instantly iconic address strives to echo the dynamic atmosphere of New York's pizza joints. Working with Italian-style biga dough, high-quality ingredients, and homemade dips, he crafts 18-inch pizzas designed to be shared, along with mini cocktails, Mediterranean wine, and creamy soft serve. Nothing Kemble could perfect without his most trusted kitchen utensils.
What Kitchen Essential Speaks Most to Your Craft?
"If I had to pick one, it would be the Hasegawa chopping board as it is the foundation of all kitchen prep, and using a board like this makes cutting tasks so enjoyable (coupled with a very sharp knife). However, in reality, you really need to invest in some choice utensils that all support each other when doing daily kitchen tasks. All these items enable me to handle beautiful ingredients carefully and cook with precision."
"This top-quality Japanese chopping board comes with a stable wood interior. Light to handle and clean, it goes soft on knives and has a great 'feel' when slicing and dicing. The fact that it's also dishwasher-safe is a bonus."
"Microplanes have become a ubiquitous utensil in commercial kitchens over the last 20 years. Essential for grating hard cheeses, garlic, and zesting citrus, this one is an affordable, sleek, and functional model."
"Forget the cheffy small tweezers used to delicately place micro herbs. These 30cm tweezers can manage all kinds of produce; from turning a big rib eye steak to plating up a spaghetti carbonara."
"A good thermometer takes the guesswork out of creating a perfect 'cuisson' when cooking meat. Quick read and waterproof, it's really handy for nailing that perfect cook. It's a great guide and helps to practically demonstrate the importance of resting your meat well."
"This classic Swiss design speed peeler is simple, fast, cheap, and reliable — all you need from a peeler when battling kilos of potatoes for your sunday roast."
"These dual scales are perfect for weighing out spices to the 0.1g, along with a larger set for general cooking purposes."
Recently, there has been a bit of a high-low affair taking over London, where street and fast food, glou-glou wines, and, yes, soft serve are all being served behind the same counters. Discover our edit of unconventionally beautiful ice cream hotspots to check out in London to get where we're coming from, or indulge in an equally aesthetic night at one of the top burger eateries in the capital.
