Good morning and welcome back to The Vittles Podcast! You can listen to our back catalogue of episodes with the likes of Koya’s Shuko Oda, Super 8’s Songsoo Kim, Chishuru’s Joké Bakare, Ferhat Dirik of Mangal 2, Gemma Bell, the writer Ruby Tandoh, Farsin Rabiee and Ziad Halub from Logma, and more. If you prefer to watch your podcasts, you can now do so on our YouTube channel!
Our third print issue, ‘The Influencers’ officially came out last week. Inside, we name what we think are the country’s 30 most influential restaurants of the last 75 years, from Wagamama to Wetherspoons, via Le Gavroche. One of those restaurants - the most recent on the list - was opened by today’s podcast guest. To read the whole list, you can order your copy here.
Today’s episode of the Vittles podcast is with one of the UK’s most talented and idiosyncratic chefs. If you haven’t heard of Will Gleave, then your favourite chef will have. Through his early cooking at the wine bar P. Franco, and then at the restaurants Bright and Peg, Will has exercised an immense influence over the modern London restaurant industry – its focus on natural wine, borderless cuisine, high-level cooking in relaxed environments, and a type of effortlessness that many aspire to.
In a rare public appearance, Will spends an hour talking to Adam about his early years cooking in London restaurants, setting the small plate-natural wine bar template in the city at P. Franco, looking outside of Europe for inspiration, what he likes to eat himself and why, ultimately, he decided to leave the capital and set up home on the Kent coast with his young family, and cook at Sargasso in Margate.
Will traces his journey from the kitchens of Harvey Nichols, The Square, and Arbutus in London to Tasmania, where he found himself at Garagistes, one of Australia’s most celebrated restaurants. When returned to the UK, he co-founded P. Franco, which was named Eater London’s restaurant of the year in 2017. Bright and Peg followed, before all three abruptly closed in 2022 and 2023 to the shock of the London restaurant industry. This was followed by a year-long residency at Hill & Szrok on Broadway Market - which was our own restaurant of the year in 2024 - where he revived the British steak and chop house with his signature elan.
During the episode, we discuss what it was really like taking over two induction hobs inside a wine shop with no extraction (or licence to trade as a restaurant), the relentless misery of working in London’s most renowned Michelin-starred kitchens, the influence of Australia and Japan on his cooking, the greatness of 40 Maltby Street and its chef Steve Williams, the story behind the closure of Bright and Peg, tradition and innovation, cooking steak, who the best pasta chef in the city is right now, and whether we have really yet to have THE ‘Will Gleave restaurant’.
We hope you enjoy it.
Like our recent podcasts, this episode is free to listen to for all subscribers. You can listen to it here in Substack, on Apple Podcasts or through Spotify. If you’re so inclined, please like, share, rate and comment wherever you get your podcasts. A massive thanks as usual to Lucy Dearlove, our producer and to the whole team at Young Space for hosting our recording sessions.
Like last month’s episode with Logma’s Ziad Halub and Farsin Rabiee, you can also watch this podcast with Will Gleave on YouTube. For that, huge thanks to our videographer Zaineb Abelque and editor Callum Winter.
Thank you for listening, reading, watching and supporting our work.
Next up, Adam will be interviewing the editor and journalist Stephen Buranyi who will be going behind the scenes of his cover story for Issue 3 – a six-month report into the economics, politics and major players shaping the world of restaurant influencers. We’ll see you then.
Credits
The Vittles Podcast is hosted by Vittles Restaurants editor Adam Coghlan.
Will Gleave is head chef at Sargasso – an intimate space perched on Margate’s Harbour Arm, known for its relaxed and restrained coastal dining. Gleave began his culinary career in 2005 after earning an MA from the University of Manchester. His training includes time at Harvey Nichols, The Square, and Arbutus before heading to Australia, where he became head chef at Garagistes, one of the country’s most celebrated restaurants. Returning to the UK, he co-founded P. Franco, Bright, and Peg, followed by a year long residency at Hill & Szrok on Broadway Market, before relocating to Kent with his young family in early 2025.
Lucy Dearlove is an audio producer, sound designer and writer originally from North East England, now based in St Leonards-on-Sea. Her food podcast, Lecker, is a two-time winner of the Fortnum & Mason Podcast of the Year Award.
The full Vittles masthead can be found here.
