ALAN BATES

“A lot of people do not recognize me as the Chef when they come into the restaurant. Honestly, and that’s fine by me, I like my privacy,” says the chef who prefers to let his food take the spotlight. “I look young, especially without a beard like I have now, so no one expects me to be the head chef.”

As he sits there in a ray of afternoon sunlight peeking through the windows of his past haunt, Restaurant Studio, you see why. For starters, he does look young. Very young. Secondly, he is wearing a standard shirt rather than a chef’s jacket, a garment he says he has despised for years. In many ways, he looks more like a guest in an empty restaurant rather than the successful head chef he is. But he is forgetting one important thing. He does not only look young. The unorthodox chef with the steely cut gaze and experience beyond his years is indeed still young. Especially for someone with his level of experience.

Alan Bates, A three-star resumé

The Fat Duck, El Celler de Can Roca and Henne Kirkeby Kro are amongst the stars that light up the culinary past of 31-year old British-born Alan Bates, who as his most recent achievement dropped a bomb on the Copenhagen fine dining scene: From one day to the other, the young Brit turned Michelin-starred Restaurant Studio from New Nordic to Rock ‘n’ Roll Fusion when he took over in 2019. A ballsy move that may have cost the restaurant it’s Michelin star. Not because the new culinary approach was bad, but more likely because it was so radically different from the style introduced by former head chef Torsten Vildgaard.

“I realize there was probably some confusion for the first couple of months. Especially when people expecting New Nordic ingredients were served turbot with kaffir lime leaves and coconut foam,” says the young chef who is not shy to admit that losing the star hurt. A lot. But then again, he rationalizes, he was very much in the process of finding his style as a head chef at the time. Something he clearly believes is done by making things up as you go and learning from experience. So, while it hurt at the time, a year or so and a global pandemic down the line, we are meeting with a new, wiser and much more determined Alan. A young man who, somewhere along the line, seems keen on recapturing the fallen star.

How, then, is this new culinary style on which stardom is hopefully built? Well… Ask the man himself, and he will, in quite a simplified way, refer to his style as French. The old religion, as he calls it. Truth be told, things are a little more complex. His cooking may be French at its core, but it is much more of a French meets world cuisine vibe than anything else. Imagine a style where Caviar meets Sriracha chili sauce in a snack serving and Ras el Hanout seems a perfect accompaniment for chocolate in desserts. All resting on a depth and intensity of flavor that can only be achieved through classic culinary techniques. It is the cuisine of someone who is classically schooled but has had the world as his playground.

It is also the cuisine of someone who has spent considerable time traveling the world while spending large parts of his disposable income on dining experiences along his way. A way which has led him from village life in Britain over Spain to the Far East and now to Copenhagen. Dining at Alan’s table is a journey that will take you through all the aromas, flavors and other sources of inspiration Alan has encountered on his journey through life. And it is quite frankly a mind-blowing experience.

But has he found and perfected his style throughout this journey? “Eeeeeh, well, no,” he replies when asked if he believes his style is at the level he wants it to be after a year of constant experimentation and evolution. “I honestly think we’ll never be ‘good enough’,” he is quick to add. “Once you start thinking you’re good enough, is when you come to a halt.” And standing still was never in the cards for the young man on a journey. He pushes on - to explore and to innovate - to hopefully recapture that star. It is the only way he knows as the classically schooled workhorse that he is.

What drives such a young man to push on and relentlessly rethink in the way he has recently done with Restaurant Studio? It seems a simple matter of inspiration and culinary upbringing. Ask Alan and he is quick to tell you that his biggest role model is not found amongst the two- or three-starred chefs he has met on his journey, it is the man who first taught him to reach for the stars and work his ass off in the process: “Oh, Tom, no doubt! He’s not the best chef I’ve ever worked with, but he’s the hardest worker. He’s outworked everybody I’ve ever met. By a mile. And he instilled in me this spirit that if I work hard, I get what I want. Maybe not when I want it, but I will get it.”

For Alan, the incredible work ethics of which he speaks, may indeed have been the greatest gift of all throughout his career, and to some extent also a challenge. It has shone through in his work as chef and sous chef in many of the greatest culinary hotspots around the world, but certainly also in his time as head chef of Restaurant Studio. Here, he has worked relentlessly to evolve and perfect his signature style. “I think the longest time we’ve had a particular dish on the menu is one month. But that is the way it should be,” he muses, “the constant change, innovation and experimentation is what keeps me going and keeps us constantly performing our very best.”

It seems an incredible diligence for someone who was not in his own mind ready for a position as head chef when he was approached with the opportunity. In his own mind he was set for another few years as sous chef, but was coaxed by the most important woman in any man’s life - his mother - to accept the position as offered. And has since skyrocketed outside of his comfort zone through hard work and dedication bordering on the extreme at times.

Passion, heart and lack of sleep

Indeed, finding a work/life balance is something he admits has been difficult, but crucial, for someone like him who thinks about food 24/7 and genuinely loves being at his restaurant. There was a time, he recalls, when for the sake of getting the right quality of seafood, he would twice a week take seafood deliveries from his trusted supplier at 4 in the morning. After closing the restaurant the night before, mind you. He would finish at midnight or 1 in the morning. Jump on his bike. Get home. Sleep for three hours. Get a call, and then have to be at the restaurant 30 minutes later to accept deliveries. This is the sort of spirit that builds restaurants, but also with time may break people.

“As I’ve gotten older, I realize that other things are important as well. Meeting my girlfriend has probably helped. I now realize that I can’t think and talk about food 24/7. I’ve learned the value of exercise and clearing the mind. I’ve also realized that there is absolutely no shame in sleeping 6-7-8 hours per night,” says the chef who may have found time to unwind, but still spends large parts of his free time eating out, cooking for family and friends, reading cookbooks and finding inspiration in everything he experiences in life.

Work/life balance seems essential to Alan now, and it seems essential for him to offer it to his team as well. For Alan, this involves everybody working together at the top of their game - with the head chef in front - when they are on the clock, but also offering his dedicated team more time off than is the norm in the business.

“I’m sat here talking to you,” he says, pointing at the open kitchen across the room, “but normally I’d be right in there with Sam and Ollie, getting ready for service,” adds the chef who has already several times proven his dedication to his team by interrupting the interview to answer calls from suppliers or to receive goods. Not to seem impolite in any way, but because his team and operations depend on it. “I prefer a small team made up of the right people who work well together. Sam, Ollie and Jesper. They’ve all been here from the start. What other restaurant can honestly say they have kept the same team going on for two years?”

The answer, should anyone be wondering, is “not many at all” and it seems the perfect note on which to let the chef who despises titles and chef jackets out of the spotlight and back into his proper element, the kitchen, with his team, to continue his quest for the lost star.

Connection - What does the future hold for Alan Bates?

Things do not always go quite according to plan. Not even for the hardest of workers. When this interview was conducted in late November 2020, little did anyone know that only a few weeks later, the industry would be hit with a second crippling lockdown. The four-month forced hiatus drove many people out of their job, including Alan Bates who had his final and emotional shift at Restaurant Studio, cooking their New Year's takeaway menu on the last day of the year.

It was, he admits, a shock and a bundle of conflicting emotions for the young chef. But not a breaking point. On the contrary. While others struggled to stay afloat, he set out to do more than just staying afloat. He set out to create his own dining experience at very own restaurant, independent of other owners and investors.

His new 10-seat intimate venture, Connection by Alan Bates, opened on May 5th 202. The aim is to continue to improve as a chef, restaurateur and business man all while creating an entirely new dining experience. An experience that aims to put the experience of the diner center stage and - as the name suggests - rekindle the connection between diners, staff and local, passionate producers.