Jozef Rogulski
Jozef Rogulski
After spending stints in renowned kitchens such as Cliveden House and The Waterside Inn, Jozef Rogulski helped launch The Game Bird at London’s Stafford hotel where, as executive chef, he cooks a menu of refined, beautifully presented contemporary British comfort food.
It’s a bold decision trying to modernise classic British dishes. Playing around with such recognisable flavours leaves you with nowhere to hide and can really split the crowd; many have tried and plenty have failed. So it’s nice to find a chef like Jozef Rogulski at The Game Bird who, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, is simply elevating British comfort food to its rightful place. By using the best ingredients, calling on his classical expertise and presenting his dishes in a clean, contemporary way, he’s able to bring traditional combinations into the twenty-first century while still delighting the traditionalists among The Stafford Hotel’s high-end clientele.
Born into a family of chefs, Jozef first started cooking at home aged fourteen but didn’t initially have an interest in it becoming a career. ‘Both my grandparents were cooks,’ he says. ‘My uncle prepared the food at Heathrow and my auntie owned a restaurant in Italy, so I was always surrounded by good food. However, being a chef was never something I consciously aimed for. We realised at school that I wasn’t particularly academic and it was always clear I was going to do a hands-on profession. My mum suggested having a go at becoming a chef and it happened organically from there.’
After attending an open day at Thames Valley University, where he was able to watch demonstrations from chefs including James Martin and Brian Turner, Jozef caught the cooking bug and went on to do both his chef and restaurant diploma and foundation degree there. Fuelled by his competitive nature, he took every course he possibly could, ranging from ones in pastry to others in Japanese cookery. ‘Naturally I’m just quite a competitive person,’ says Jozef. ‘As soon as I walked through the door, I knew I wanted to be the best at cooking and to learn as much as possible. That’s why I did so many courses.’
This drive to be successful stood him in good stead and, having worked part-time in professional kitchens throughout his diploma including the Runnymede Hotel in Egham and Cliveden, at the age of nineteen Jozef landed his first full-time position at one of most prestigious restaurants in the country – Alain Roux’s The Waterside Inn. It was here he began to learn that being a chef was about much more than just the cooking. ‘What I learnt more than anything was discipline. The respect that the chefs had for their seniors was incredible yet there was still a real family feel; all the chefs and waiters would sit down to eat at the same time and there were lots of lovely little traditions. I also learnt a lot about the quality of produce and the importance of respecting ingredients.’
Jozef spent a year at The Waterside Inn but ultimately decided that in order to broaden his skill set he needed to be part of a smaller team where he could be more hands on. Having worked part-time at Cliveden House during his diploma, he returned in 2007 to work at its Michelin-starred fine-dining restaurant Waldo’s under head chef Daniel Galmiche, where over the course of two years he climbed up the ranks to the position of junior sous chef. He would ultimately return to Cliveden in 2010, but it was his next move that was seminal in his journey to becoming the chef he is today. ‘Working with Tom Kerridge at The Hand and Flowers really realigned me with what I wanted to do,’ says Jozef. ‘It made me realise that I wanted to focus on cooking British food and using British produce, to take things that have been done before and show them in a new light. The Hand and Flowers was all about simple yet elegant food and I loved that.’
Returning to Cliveden House for a third and final time after leaving Marlow was instrumental in Jozef ending up in charge of the kitchen at The Game Bird. When executive chef Carlos Martinez decided to leave the hotel in 2013, he asked Jozef not only to come and help him launch The Stafford Hotel’s new restaurant but offered him a first head chef position – an opportunity which the twenty-six-year-old simply couldn’t refuse. ‘I was incredibly eager for the role,’ says Jozef. ‘If I look back at it now, perhaps I was a bit young and not quite as mature as I could have been, but it’s been a great learning experience ever since walking through the door.’
The Game Bird’s philosophy of championing British produce and serving stylishly dressed yet uncomplicated takes on the classics aligned perfectly with the style of cooking that Jozef had enjoyed cooking so much at The Hand and Flowers. This was his opportunity to bring his own ideas to the table and he grabbed it with both hands. After working alongside executive chef James Durrant developing the offering, after four years at the restaurant Jozef took over as executive chef himself – a position he still holds to this day. One of the most rewarding things about working at The Game Bird, however, has been having the chance to work closely with culinary director Ben Tish. ‘He’s probably the chef that I’ve learnt the most from,’ says Jozef. ‘He’s so cool, calm and collected and never blows things out of proportion – the best manager of a kitchen I’ve ever worked for.’
It would have been very easy to play things simple at The Game Bird and serve a cut-and-pasted interpretation of British food with no personality. Instead, Jozef has crafted a menu with real flair and has been rewarded with two AA rosettes and numerous other awards. This is a chef with a huge amount of determination; with so much experience behind him already and the sole aspiration of becoming the best chef he can possibly be, who knows where the future lies for Jozef.
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