Once home to Lord Beaverbrook, the vast Surrey Hills estate now known as Beaverbrook has become one of England’s most renowned country house hotels. Less than two hours outside of London, Beaverbrook is known for its expansive spa, tasteful guest rooms and high-end Japanese restaurant. It’s an unexpected culinary experience in the middle of the English countryside, especially since most similar hotels in the area feature the requisite British-inspired dining. But The Dining Room, open to hotel guests, members of the Beaverbrook golf club and day visitors alike, serves up some of the best Japanese dishes outside of London, thanks to head chef Wojciech Popow.
Popow, who hails from Poland, has helped to develop an innovative menu that celebrates Japanese techniques and styles in a way that is also inspired by Beaverbook’s surroundings in Surrey. He’s interested in evolving dishes and flavors, and continually tries new ways of expressing himself in the kitchen. The Dining Room—formerly Lord Beaverbrook’s actual dining room—is almost entirely gluten-free, for example, even though it took Popow nearly two years to find the right blend for tempura flour.
“I like understanding why things happen and why they became as they are,” Popow tells Observer. “One of my culinary idols is Heston Blumenthal, and he said, ‘Question everything.’ That is what I’ve always been trying to do. To question every technique and] everything we do. Why things become like this when we cook them or when we don’t cook them. I think this opens the mind a bit and lets you juggle with the ingredients much better.”
Popow recently added donburi bowls as a more affordable lunch option, and in the summer, the restaurant serves a set menu to diners at tethered hot air balloons lined up on the estate’s lawn. Popow recently spoke with Observer about why a Japanese restaurant exists in the English countryside, how he changes the dishes and what success means to him.
Observer: What was the inspiration to bring a Japanese restaurant into an English country house hotel?
Wojciech Popow: A lot of people come to play golf at Beaverbrook; they’re the same customers who go to Zuma or Roka [in London], but there’s nothing like that in England where you have a golf course with a Japanese restaurant. It’s pretty mad, actually. Usually, you have English restaurants [at country house hotels] because it feels safe. But it felt like it would be a good idea because we already had an English restaurant on the estate. And there is no great Japanese restaurant outside of London. So the idea was, “Let’s try. Maybe we can be the first.”
How did you develop the menu?
I developed it for a very long time and I still am, I think. I’m still testing and coming up with different ideas and different concepts. I never wanted to do authentic Japanese, because I like changes and I like innovation. I don’t see it as a fusion because I don’t try to mix different cuisines, but what we’re actually trying to do is use Japanese techniques and Japanese ingredients with a bit of Nordic philosophy of using foraged, seasonal ingredients. Trying to bring [the food] into the place and time we are because we are not in Japan—we are in the middle of the forest.
I like to try to create new things. The places I take inspiration from, like Noma or The Fat Duck, try to create something completely new. We obviously have dishes like black cod on the menu, which are classic, because we are part of an estate and part of a bigger concept, so we want to be open for everyone, not just people who are looking for adventure. We try to have both. So we have the black cod, made my way, and then we have red bream nigiri with Cornish ants, for example. We foraged young pine shoots we put on the rice. I try to ferment a lot, and we try to incorporate those things. It’s all to give new twists [on the dishes] with the techniques, not with the mixing of cuisines.
How often do you change the menu?
We used to change the menu with the season, so we would take off half the menu and make it completely new. But I found that doesn’t really work for us. It’s difficult to create so many dishes and execute them perfectly all at the same time, with one day to change the whole concept. Now we just work on one new dish, and we change that, and then we take on another one. It’s just dish by dish, not everything at the same time. When I focus on one dish, I can be more creative. And it’s not standardized—it’s just when the ideas come.
What initially got you into Japanese cuisine, especially being from Poland?
I started my career as a bartender, and I never saw myself [becoming] a chef. But when I was younger, I always enjoyed cooking. I used to make a chocolate cake almost every day, because sweets were expensive, and being in secondary school, I didn’t have much money. But we had all the ingredients to make a cake, and it was pretty simple. But I never liked fish because all I knew was cooked fish, and I was not a fan. One day, my sister made sushi at home and I tried the raw fish, and it was very mind-opening. I decided to learn [how to make it]. I taught myself sushi at home with whatever ingredients I had and then I decided I needed to actually learn at a restaurant. I started to really enjoy cooking and decided to go to culinary school. I moved to London [after] thinking I would only come for six months, but after six months, there was still so much to learn and to explore, and so many great restaurants that I stayed.
You’ve worked in a lot of notable restaurants since then, including Roka, Dinings SW3 and Noma.
I like change. I don’t like monotony, and I don’t want to do the same thing all the time. I’ve come to every one of these restaurants with the purpose of learning, not just to be there or for the salary. I was trying to gain as much as I can in the time I was there. And when I felt I took all the knowledge I could, then I looked for a new journey. I’ve always wanted to see many places so I can see different styles and different ways of doing things. I never wanted to think there was only one way. My idea was to meet as many masters and great chefs as I could and learn their ways, so I could take all these techniques and combine them into one that suits me.
Do you feel like you’ve developed your own style now?
Kind of. I’m still looking. I like to learn. I like to develop new things, and I always want to find the unknown. So probably in a year or two or three, my style could change. I’m always exploring and testing new ways of fermentation and more advanced techniques so the dishes can be more unique and rich. I feel I have my style, but I’m not trying to close myself up with it. I’m open to change.
What’s something interesting you learned recently?
Last year I went to The Fat Duck for the second time, and before that, I had been trying to ferment cherry tomatoes in a way that made them fizzy. I wanted to make them sour, fizzy and refreshing. I had so many trials and I was getting the flavor, but the fizziness was not right. But when I was [at The Fat Duck], I saw a technique that was genius and it solved all my problems. They were doing a similar thing with the grapes for the pre-dessert with blue cheese. They were pickled, and then they made them fizzy. Their technique was very eye-opening. Now, when I cannot find the solution, I realize there may be a completely different way to achieve what I want.
Did you end up serving the fizzy tomatoes?
We don’t yet, but they will be in a new salad we are putting on the menu. It’s very much a summer thing. In a salad, it’s perfect, because it’s something you don’t expect when you have a bite.
There’s a lot of external noise around being a chef, but what does success mean for you?
There are not many chefs I know who don’t like the awards. It’s an appreciation from something bigger. But I don’t cook to get rewarded. If I do one day, I will be happy, but it’s not what I cook for. For me, there is no end line. Success is being able to be creative and having time to create things. Every time I create a new dish I’m happy with, that is success for me. And if the people who come to the restaurant think the same way about the dish I created, then I can say it really was a success. So there is no success, per se. Every day can be a success as long as I finish work happy that I created something new and I love it.
What was the last great meal you had?
I do a lot of cooking at home, to be honest. I don’t go to restaurants much because I live in the countryside, and I have a family with two children. But I’ve been exploring yakitori for a long time now, and it’s been a passion of mine this year. I like what I cook, and I like to surprise myself.
