As head chef at Fenchurch Sky Garden on the thirty-seventh floor of London’s famous ‘Walkie-Talkie’ building, Daniel Fletcher arguably commands one of the capital’s most beautiful restaurants, with views stretching over the London skyline in all directions. It’s an impressive space – a long way from the local restaurant where Daniel first embarked on his kitchen career. ‘I started just washing up dishes when I was about fourteen,’ he says. ‘I got talking to all the chefs and started being more interested in the kitchen, and one day the chefs turned around and said, ‘You know what, Dan? You might as well just help us prep this,’ and that's how it all started.’
Daniel grew up in Northallerton, surrounded by the sweeping moors and dales of North Yorkshire. Beautiful though it may be, opportunities for ambitious young chefs are rather limited, so Daniel looked further afield to progress his career and wrote to Tom Kitchin in Edinburgh, asking for a trial. ‘I just kept sending him my CV until he said yes!’ he laughs. ‘I love his whole ethos on food, and the style of cooking. Having that influence so early in my career really set the ball rolling on what I like cooking, putting on the plate and eating. He really shaped the way I look at food.’