For a man who is still regularly (still!) fêted in interviews as the Dorchester's youngest ever head chef — which he was, five years ago, as a 26-year-old — Tom Booton certainly doesn’t feel like the newest kid on the block. “I was employing someone, checking the year he was born, and he goes: ‘2004!’ And I looked a Big John, and I was like: ‘He doesn't even remember the millennium!’” Booton lets out a laugh. “And I know I've got a baby face, but I mean, come on, I’ve also got grey hair.”
We’re getting the young thing out of the way; Booton is 31 now and besides, age has never been the most interesting thing about him. “It used to frustrate me, but it doesn’t any more,” he says. “When I first started here, I was getting kind of trolled — that I was too young to have this job, because how could a hotel of this nature invest in a 26-year-old? And I was like: hold on, I’ve already been head chef for three years at a one star [The Westbury, in Mayfair].”
