For a young man that relies so much on his mental and physical dexterity for his dazzling dishes, it is surprising Charlie Searl’s introduction to working in restaurant kitchens came about through a moment of clumsiness.
The then 15-year-old was working in the evenings, after his student day at Manningtree High School was over, as a waiter at La Cascada, in Fox Street, Ardleigh.
Let him take up the story...
“The restaurant was really busy and I was weaving in between tables with glasses of rioja on a tray. I tipped the whole lot all over one poor lady.”
The moment persuaded the Cascada management that maybe Charlie’s talents were better out of range of the guests and he was put on kitchen duties – cleaning and washing up.
It was not glamorous work, but it got Charlie close to the heat and verve of the kitchen and he loved it.
La Cascada is now closed down, but at the time it was a popular, busy restaurant. During one evening rush, Charlie asked if head chef Pablo Lopez needed some help.
He was tasked with preparing the desserts – tiramisu and crème Catalana – and did them with such skill he was soon moved on to tapas, learning to make dishes such as tortillas, meatballs and prawns in garlic.
“I picked things up quickly,” says Charlie.
The seeds had been sown for a prodigal career that would in just five years see him become the youngest head chef in Essex, running the kitchen at the Treble Tile, in West Bergholt.
Popular - the Treble Tile, West Bergholt
He showed an aptitude from the start and anyone who has been lucky enough to taste from his summer menu at the Treble Tile will know his dishes have a playfulness and sophistication that belie his years, but Charlie is keen to namecheck those that honed his talents along the way.
They begin with his mother and father.
“My parents always gave us good dinners,” he says. “They didn’t do anything out of this world, but it was always made from scratch.
“They would do their own version of a Thai green curry, for example, and my dad would bring back some fresh fish, like skate and make something from that.”
Such personal reworkings of classic dishes inform Charlie’s work now and from a young age he was encouraged to get involved in meal preparations at home.
“I would help dad out prepping veg. I’ve always enjoyed food. I would eat any vegetables, any cuisine that my parents made.
"I guess I was building my palate.
“When I started doing some cooking at La Cascada I had just turned 16 and I started cooking tapas at home as well. I invited all of my family around to try it out.”
Pablo at La Cascada had started Charlie on a journey, but just before his 17th birthday the restaurant closed down and Charlie took work at Restaurant 43 in Great Bentley, where he met another key mentor in head chef Simon Humm, who had worked in London for 10 years with Roux fine dining.
“He opened my eyes up to what cooking could be,” says Charlie.
“He is a very clever man. It was my first experience of fine dining.
“He showed me cooking can be exciting and that you can have fun and be creative.
"He would add these crazy props to his food. Like he had a peanut butter and chocolate mousse with five different elements to it. In the middle, in a little urn, was this banana milkshake.”
At home - Charlie is a dab hand in the kitchen
Charlie started off baking the breads to accompany the dishes, but his talent and eagerness, “I was always talking to Simon, asking to do more,” saw him promoted to chef de partie, taking charge of desserts.
It was a high pressure environment, but Charlie thrived in it.
There is a pressure in the kitchens,” he says. “Some people hate having orders screamed at them all the time, but I loved it. It’s sink or swim in that environment.
"There is no buzz like working in a busy kitchen.”
When Restaurant 43’s sous chef moved on, Charlie, despite still only being 18 years old was selected to take over and, once again, thrived on the extra responsibility.
“I became Simon’s right hand man,” says Charlie. “I was often left in charge to make sure everything was cooked to perfection.
“I have to thank Simon for putting his trust in me – just a teenager cooking to 100 people on a Saturday night.
"I had been put in a position that for most chefs takes years and I was succeeding. People were enjoying the food. Nothing was being sent back. It was very motivational.”
Such success only fuelled his ambitions further and, as Charlie admits, he “gets bored very easily”.
When he was offered the chance to be the head chef at the relaunched Treble Tile a dream that had slowly taken shape in the kitchens of Essex was there in full in front of him.
“It was something new and exciting,” says Charlie. “This was a huge opportunity to make everything I wanted to be happen - to be a head chef at 21. I would be coming up with the menus I wanted.”
Mark Killick, a chef with more than 20 years’ experience and who has had previous success in West Bergholt, turning the White Hart in the village into a thriving traditional pub, wanted the Treble Tile pub to be a restaurant first with the young, idea-packed Charlie, and front of house manager Jenna Harris, as its public face.
Dream team - Lisa Craig, Charlie Searl and Jenna Harris
“Mark took a big risk with me,” says Charlie.
“He showed a lot of trust. He asked me to write a menu for the restaurant to judge my ideas. I wrote three. He took a look at them and said ‘There’s nothing on there I don’t like’ and that was it.”
Charlie adds: “There’s so much to learn, but I’m loving having control. I’ve visited ever one of our suppliers. You need to know your seasons.
"We get all our veg from Anglia Produce, in Ardleigh, and our fish from Direct Seafoods, in Colchester. Everything is caught that morning.”
The Treble Tile reopened in March after a six-month closure and those classic dished served up by Charlie’s parents have been recreated and reimagined through the artful filter the young chef has picked up from his mentors and shot through with his own playfulness, inventiveness and sheer love of cooking.
“I’m taking classical cooking and giving it a modern kick,” says Charlie. “I like to surprise people, worry them and play with their emotions.
“I’ve been working on a deconstructed tiramisu.
“When it’s put down in front of you you’d never know it was a tiramisu, but when you eat it the memories of that classical dish come back to you.”
The tiramisu is not available on the Treble Tile summer menu that so impressed owner Mark, but such is Charlie’s puppyish fervour the autumn menu, starting in September is, “all ready to go” and it features on that.
Anyone who checks out the Treble Tile’s Facebook account will see the amount of experimentation and preparation that goes into the dishes Charlie serves up.
Food has made an indelible impression in shaping the productivity of Charlie’s young life and it is an effect he want to pass on to customers.
“At Treble Tile you’re coming for a dining experience. I want to leave an imprint on people.”
- For more information on the Treble Tile, in Colchester Road, West Bergholt, or to book a table, call 01206 241712.
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