‘I was still only twenty, twenty-one years old,’ he continues. ‘I was learning so much, taking on different kitchens, working with different chefs.’ Determined to keep learning at a rapid pace, Oli threw himself into some of the world’s best kitchens – first, the military precision of Daniel Humm’s three-Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park, then Esben Holmboe Bang’s transcendent restaurant Maaemo in Oslo. ‘I’ve worked for a lot of different people, but never met someone as passionate and driven as Esben,’ Oli says of his old mentor. ‘I’ve never seen someone want something so much. He’d often be first in and last out of that kitchen.’ That drive got Esben three Michelin stars in just five years, making him the youngest three star chef in the world in 2016, but it took a toll on Oli – his sous chef at the time – who hit a wall after two years of intensely hard graft. ‘I lived at the restaurant, basically,’ he says. ‘It got to the point where I couldn’t do anymore – I was totally drained. I’d do anything for that restaurant, but when you care about something so much and you put so much into it, sometimes you just need a fresh start.’

Oli’s fresh start came at The Fat Duck, where he fulfilled his dream of returning to the restaurant. He was very happy and comfortable at the Fat Duck, he says, but the chance to work with Simon again was too good to pass up. ‘Working with Simon is great,’ says Oli. ‘He trusts his chefs, he leaves us in charge of everything. Whenever he comes in I feed him and give him what he wants to eat and he’ll give us good feedback. He’s very intellectual – he never swears, never loses his shit. I’ve seen him in situations where things are completely out of control, but he’s always calm. He’s just a great person to work with.’

The menu at Roganic is ever-changing, with two or three dishes rotating onto the menu every week depending on what’s in season at Simon’s farm in Cumbria. Having worked at three-starred restaurants all over the world, Oli has seen his fair share of amazing produce, but even he admits that the crates that arrive from Cumbria each day are pretty special. ‘It’s easily some of the best produce I’ve ever worked with,’ he says. ‘It literally gets picked and then comes straight down to us from the farm, so there’s no need to over-complicate things – we let all the produce speak for itself.’

That phrase – ‘letting the produce speak for itself’ – is one we’ve heard many times before, but it makes sense at Roganic. The dishes are delicate, minimal, but absolutely packed full of flavour – a combination of intelligent cooking and outstanding ingredients. The menu simply gives you a hint of what’s to come, whetting the palate with ideas of the flavours involved – lamb belly, honey and capers, or celeriac, whey and garlic, for example – but some of Simon’s old favourites remain, like the grilled salad that has been so popular at L’Enclume for many years. ‘A lot of our recipe development is totally organic – ideas for new dishes will just pop into our heads,’ says Oli, ‘and then we’ll tweak them over time.’ They don’t always work out, he admits, but when you’re working with the best produce in the country, dishes rarely end in disaster – ‘they just don’t always reach the level that we want,’ he says.

With one star in the bag after less than a year and a decade spent in three-starred establishments, it’s not surprising that Oli is pushing on for more. ‘You have to have a goal in any industry,’ he says. ‘At Eleven Madison Park, every single time we had a team meeting, Daniel (Humm) would say, “I want to be number one in the world.” It’s all he’d say. Everyone was working towards that goal.’ Sure enough, Eleven Madison Park won a third star after Oli left, and then became the number one restaurant in the world shortly after.

‘I’m not stupid – I know unless a miracle happens, or Simon turns around and gives us fifty chefs and an unlimited budget, we’re not going to get three stars – but I think you still have to push to be the best. What’s the point in coming to work otherwise?’