Discovering the Beauty of Food With Archie Thomas

I don’t know about you, but I believe food has an incredible ability to hold memories.

Whether it’s the taste of the apple crumble my mum used to make every Sunday, the smell of a Christmas lunch, or the sight of my favourite dish I discovered on holiday (Pad Thai!), food can transport us to a memory and spark nostalgia.

However, amidst the cost-of-living crisis, eating has become tedious to some of us, with many relying on cheaper and quicker options.

With so many incredible flavours available to try, it has never been more important than now to celebrate the beauty of food and continue to create those vivid memories.

I recently spoke to Archie Thomas, a local chef, to discover his journey in the Hospitality industry, the importance of celebrating the beauty of food and his plans for the future!

When did your journey as a chef begin (and what inspired you to enter the industry)?

My journey began like many chefs. I was 14 and took a job as a pot wash at my local pub.

I enjoyed the kitchen environment, the energy and the excitement. I started to become more involved with cooking.

However, I also began studying and was working within theatre and music as a sound and lighting engineer.

When covid started, and lockdown was implemented, I began to cook more at home and watched many cooking shows, and soon began to get a real passion for food.

I spent most of lockdown cooking at home, and teaching myself some new skills, much to the delight of my family who got to sample this.

As soon as lockdown was over, I took a chef job back at the pub where I started and never looked back.

What's your process for creating new dishes?

My process for creating new dishes is heavily influenced by seasonality and locality.

We are extremely lucky in Norfolk, with such amazing produce locally.

Being creative with a dish is easy, it’s great to just throw things together and constantly try new and unique things. The hard part is making sure that it will sell, for example, not doing anything too out there, as many people unfortunately are quite reserved with food.

Cost is also a huge factor; you want the dish to be affordable whilst still using the best produce you can.

There are so many factors to consider when creating new dishes, and whilst there are many things that can inspire you, it is also important to know your market. This itself can be inspiring, taking classic food that everyone knows and utilising more cost-effective ingredients whilst cooking food that you enjoy cooking.

Cooking food that many others cook, but doing it with your own flare is all part of the fun.

How do you balance classic dishes with your creativity?

This is a great question!

One thing that is noticed by many chefs is how food trends are changing.

People seem to like simpler food, things that they recognise.

You could put your heart into creating some unique and exciting dishes, yet biggest sellers tend to be burgers or fish and chips. For me, it is just as important to make sure that these items have as much effort put into them.

As a chef there are certain dishes you enjoy cooking more than others, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be passionate about the classics. You just need to make them exciting for you to cook, which will reflect on the customers.

What impact do you aim to have on those that taste your dishes?

The impact is simple - you want someone to be wowed, to talk about the meal days after eating, and ultimately to return.

The greatest compliment you can receive is "this is the best I’ve had". Everyone eats every day, so hearing that is the impact any chef would want.

You want people to be as excited about food as you are.

We work long hours, often without breaks, missing many social events, so we want all this effort to be recognised by those who eat it.

How important is it to use local flavours in your work?

I feel that any restaurant should source food as local as possible.

Where I work, The Kings Head in Blofield, a lot of effort goes into where we source produce. All our suppliers are Norfolk and Suffolk based, and as I mentioned earlier, I believe we have some of the best produce.

Of course, the UK is very reliant on the seasons in regards to growing food, and you will need to source elsewhere, plus there is fantastic produce from afar that you would want to use.

For example, one of my favourite potatoes is Jersey royal - not local, but as soon as they are in season, from March to April, they will be on my menu!

What is your proudest moment as a chef?

I wouldn't say I’ve had many proud moments as such.

There are many jobs out there where people are more deserving of feeling proud, for example people who save lives.

There have been times where I feel happy for myself, one of those times being my first head chef position. I was 21, which I believe made me the youngest, or one of the youngest head chefs in the county. It taught me a lot, but I was very proud to be in that position at a young age, I felt ready and hungry for it, and it helped me get noticed and build my career.

How do you handle pressure in the kitchen?

Everyone has their way of dealing with pressure.

It’s a high-pressure environment, long hours, everything has to be in sync, there are hundreds of thoughts going through your head at any moment.

When the pressure gets a lot, it’s good to take a step back, have a deep breath, rationalise your thoughts, and tell yourself that you are just cooking some food, nothing serious.

I also believe it’s important to help reduce pressure through organisation, creating a menu that is manageable for your team, and time management.

Although saying all this, a beer after work helps reduce the pressure!

Many people rely on convenience food that fits around their busy schedule. How important do you believe it is to still celebrate the beauty of food?

Convenient food plays a huge role in how people eat these days.

People get busy with work, childcare, and just have busy lives. Whilst it’s great that there are healthier, convenient food options available, I do personally believe that people become too reliant on it and are missing out on the fun you can have with food - nothing beats a home cooked meal with family.

Next time you are in a supermarket, just have a nosey at other people’s trollies. So many people just buy from the frozen aisle, or readymade meals. This is not what food should always be about - to eat is an experience.

You can only experience so much when you're taking something out of the freezer and sticking it in an air fryer.

I often go to Spain, and it is much more ingrained in the culture there to spend time cooking food with great local produce, and eat with family, friends and neighbours. This I love - dinner is an event, not just something to fill you up.

I just wish we had more of a similar culture.

Do you have a favourite cuisine to cook?

I wouldn't say I have a favourite cuisine to cook.

There are thousands of dishes from thousands of cuisines, and I enjoy to try new things.

I have mainly worked in establishments that serve 'modern British', but this can mean many things. As long as you don't confuse cuisines, taking elements from different places whilst keeping everything consistent is what cooking is all about.

I think the cuisine that has influenced how I cook the most is French cuisine, there are so many dishes and ways of cooking that most chefs use every day that originate from old school French cuisine.

What power do you believe good food has?

Food is a fantastic way of bringing out memories.

The times I have enjoyed most in life have been sharing certain meals with friends and family and just smelling that meal will take me back to a certain place.

For example, one of my favourite dishes is seafood paella.

I have many memories of eating it with family and friends on holiday, sharing wine and spending the whole evening sat on a terrace, watching the sun go down, talking and listening to music.

Whenever I cook it, mentally I am on that terrace watching the sunset. In reality I’m in my kitchen looking out of my window to a far less inspiring view. But this is what makes certain food so great - it’s an escape.

What impact do you believe social media has had on the food industry?

Social media has a huge impact - most jobs I’ve had have been through talking to people on Instagram.

I view Instagram as a CV and a place to showcase what you can do.

It is also great for inspiration - there are many great chefs out there using social media and it is interesting to see everyone’s unique style and share ideas.

Social media is also great to build your business - it is how many people find out about a place, or find out about yourself.

A good social media following really helps a business.

However, it can also affect you negatively - unfortunately a lot of people hide behind a screen and comment things that aren’t necessary. I see it a lot with people who I follow, as well as my own personal experience.

I believe it is important to continue doing what you feel is right, post things that you are proud of and belief will progress you or your business (and ignore those who push their negativity onto you!).

What skill do you wish to learn next year?

The great thing about this industry is that there are countless amounts of skills to learn.

No chef will ever be perfect at everything. Every day is a learning day.

Personally, I would like to do a sommeliers course.

I hope to have my own restaurant one day, specifically a wine bar/bistro. I like the whole experience of going out for dinner, including the drinks (plus, it’s a great excuse to drink a lot of wine!).

I would also love to get more experience with butchery, particularly larger animals. It’s important to utilise as much of an animal as you can, and having animals come in whole is more cost effective and gives you the freedom to have the end result that you desire.

Do you have any plans for 2026?

I do have some plans for the new year. I hope to start my own side business.

One of my passions is making ice cream. Nothing beats homemade, custard based ice cream.

There are some great local ice cream companies out there, but also so many ice creams that are mass produced and loaded with cheap ingredients. I believe there is a market for proper ice cream.

It will be a hard business to get started, as there are many independent ice cream companies out there.

However, I have many tried and tested flavour ideas that I want to do. I want to market it as ice cream that you won’t find anywhere else, with unorthodox flavours. We will see what happens...

To keep up to date with the work (and delicious food!) of Archie, you can head to his Instagram (@chefarchiet_)!