‘Everything tasted like something I’d never tasted before,’ Christian Faulkner says of his first days staging at Ikoyi, chef Jeremy Chan’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant. ‘Everything had a purpose. It felt comforting, but experimental at the same time. I thought ‘I’ve never worked in a restaurant like this’.’ It was early 2021, a few months before Ikoyi burst onto the world’s radar when it won the One to Watch Award in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. At that point slanted towards West African cooking, Ikoyi’s spice-based cuisine now takes in flavours and techniques from around the globe, using a scientific, analytical approach to cooking for which Jeremy is known. ‘It was way more intense than anywhere I’d worked before,’ Christian agrees. ‘Everyone was quiet, laser focused and really passionate. It was a really good time in my life to open up to that, and I knew it was the kind of regimen that I needed.’

Christian had arrived in London fresh from Montreal, where he’d been working alongside British chef Marc Cohen. It was in the middle of lockdown that, he says, ‘something told me’ to move to the capital and, in particular, Ikoyi. ‘It just looked so different and exciting compared to other fine dining restaurants,’ he nods. ‘It’s got a really unique style. I love cooking with spice and heavy flavours – the look of Ikoyi, using Scotch bonnets and raspberry powder and amazing spices you haven’t heard of, was really appetising to me.’ Having made the return trip home, he briefly appeared behind the stoves at east London neighbourhood spot Pidgin while he waited for a role at Ikoyi to open up, joining the brigade as a sous chef soon after. 

Having been promoted to head chef in 2023 (the restaurant landed its second star the previous year), today Christian leads the line at Ikoyi, working closely with boss and mentor Jeremy. Few chefs get to put their stamp on one of the world's most exciting menus, and Christian understands the value of the opportunity. ‘I have so much respect for Jeremy and what he’s built. He’s a very intensely passionate person; I’ve never met anyone so engaged and so connected to what’s going on,’ he says. ‘He’s the biggest inspiration in my career so far, in terms of how he works. He’s super connected with the farms, the fishermen and the butchers; I find it really inspiring to work around someone who is so, so passionate about what they're doing.’

Christian, after all, shares that connection to terroir, and in particular the sea. Raised in Jersey, his early memories centre around helping his fishmonger dad in the shop and tucking into seafood platter dinners. ‘Me and my brother worked in the fishmongers from when we were ten,’ he says. ‘We weren’t allowed to use any knives or chop any fish until we were tall enough to stand at the counter, so he’d get us doing all the little fiddly jobs like washing mussels and picking cockles.’ He was filleting fish by fourteen (and placing second in a national filleting contest at twenty-one), but delivery trips around busy hotel kitchens deterred him from wanting to become a chef, and he instead headed down the creative path, studying art and graphic design at university. His marine calling beckoned, though, and he spent two years in Cardiff as a fishmonger, honing his skills. ‘My true passion is fish and seafood, but I knew it would reach a point where I’d need more engagement.’

When that time arrived, Christian moved to Australia for a taste of professional kitchens, working in wineries and beachside bistros and getting to grips with all that cheffing entails. After, he jetted to the Alps to work as a chalet chef, a job which gave him enough freedom to experiment with his own style. ‘I had a few life skills and knew how to work in a kitchen but I wasn’t very good,’ he laughs, ‘but I had lots of ideas and I was very energetic. I wanted to show my own personality. You get complete free reign of what you want to cook for the guests, depending on what there is locally, and that really taught me how to design a menu depending on what’s around you.’

Next was a return to Jersey and Number 10 as Joe Baker's sous chef, before the spell in Montreal, where he cooked at Marc's St John-inspired Lawrence as head pastry chef. Though he knew they were rounding out his experience, his roles up to then had largely been influenced by opportunity, rather than a particular career plan. It was working at Number 10 that inspired a focus over what came next, and the decision to return to England, move to the capital and seek out Ikoyi was, he says, the first which felt more targeted. 

Christian wears his Ikoyi whites with pride, but is keen to carve out his own identity. He’s been popping up at kitchens around the capital, including Carousel and Leandro Carreira's The Sea The Sea for its Untapped series. ‘I really wanted to test myself again, and put myself out there,’ he says. ‘It's good to be vulnerable, make mistakes and not be scared to show your identity and test yourself.’ He knows he'd like to have his own restaurant in the next few years, one which stays true to his seafood roots but also celebrates America's fast food, snack culture, adding a playful twist to his refined cooking; clam and pine nut chowder, cornbread and Creole shrimp and poutine, cuttlefish ragu and Pecorino have made it onto his pop-up menus. ‘I love that diner style,’ he says. ‘I’d want people to come and have fun and eat crazy delicious food that looks beautiful and is really refined. A snack-inspired, seafood menu with a lot of spice. There are seafood restaurants in London but there isn't anyone doing anything crazy and unique.’ Christian is confident enough to believe he can be the chef to fill that void, but grounded enough to put in the work it will inevitably require. 'Jeremy always says to stay humble,' he says. 'Never think you’re perfect. If you think you’re perfect you’re giving up, in a sense, so it’s important to stay humble – there's always more to learn.'