As Neil and I chat over the phone, I’m struck by the different worlds we live in. The weather is the same – bright sunshine and blustery winds – but whilst I can see treetops swaying through office windows, Neil is out walking his dog on the Yorkshire Moors. ‘I’m looking for wild garlic!’ he says. ‘I know it’s around here somewhere – I want to do octopus with a wild garlic nam jim (a Thai-style spicy dressing). It should be pretty tasty, as long as I can find some.’
Neil’s forward-thinking small plates at Skosh have gained a bit of a cult following in York. There was a time when this sort of exploratory cooking would have struggled outside of the capital, but York today has a vibrant food scene – one that has thoroughly embraced Neil’s wide range of influences. From pork belly vindaloo with yoghurt rice to salt-baked celeriac glazed in teriyaki and served with leeks and furikake (a dry Japanese seasoning), Neil’s globe-trotting style takes inspiration from India, Japan, China, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas, often in the space of a single menu. ‘It is different,’ he admits, ‘but that’s what I want it to be. It’s my food – if I want to do pork belly vindaloo and miso-glazed cod then I can!’
Neil’s obsession with exotic flavours goes way back to his childhood. The son of a Yorkshire mother and an Indian father, Neil grew up on an eclectic diet of stew, apple pie, dal and curry (though not necessarily all at the same time). His dad in particular was a keen cook. ‘He loves food and gastronomy,’ says Neil. ‘I remember him braising beef cheeks, cooking lamb racks, that sort of thing. I think his excitement about food rubbed off on me.’