Jack Godik never expected to become a chef – even though he was immersed in restaurant culture from an early age. His father, Zeev Godik, was the founder of the Gaucho chain, but Jack studied engineering with a view to becoming physicist (or a Formula One driver, he says with a smile). Finding his vocation as a chef was ‘more a matter of realization than inspiration’ he now says. Not yet 30, he has worked across South America, in kitchens such as Mostrador in Uruguay and Orilla in Buenos Aires. Returning to London in 2021 he worked as head chef for Jason Atherton at Little Social and the Social Eating House and then joined Fernando Trocca – under whose guidance he had worked in South America – at Sucre. Here, in the liveliest part of Soho (there is another branch in Dubai), Godik cooks only over fire, a medium which ‘imparts a totally different flavour,’ he says. He particularly enjoys working with the Josper, a charcoal grill and oven which can deliver intense heat. ‘When I first started working on it for Jason Atherton, I would build my entire morning around the process of lighting the fire, getting it to the right temperature, doing what I need to do to get it all ready.’
What inspired you to become a chef?
My father opened a tiny restaurant in Amsterdam. He expanded over the years and eventually came to London, to Sloane Avenue in Chelsea – that was the first [of the Argentinian chain] Gaucho in London. Then he opened in Swallow Street in Piccadilly, which became the flagship. So I was exposed to Argentina from childhood, and even though I'm not Argentinian at all, I feel I have an Argentinian soul. I certainly wasn’t pushed into restaurants, but I sort of had to be in it to recognize it, if you know what I mean. It wasn't a matter of inspiration, more a matter of realization.
What would you be doing now if you weren’t in the restaurant business?
Good question. I studied physics at university – I wasn’t interested in restaurants at that stage – so I might have been a physicist. Or possibly an F1 driver.
Whom do you most admire of the great culinary professionals – writers, cooks, restaurateurs – of the past and present?
Jason Atherton [of Maze, Pollen St Social and many other renowned restaurants] had a huge impact on me. I worked for him for a long time, so he helped me a lot. There are chefs that I like: Phil Howard [of The Square and Elystan Street] and Francis Mallman [celebrated Argentinian chef who cooks only over fire], Jackson Boxer [of Breed]… My Instagram is full of chefs I follow and admire.
What are the three most important things a top chef should remember?
The first thing is to taste everything. It's easy in any job to go through the motions, so you need to remind yourself that everything you're doing is eventually going to be eaten by a guest; to make sure that all is how it should be, you must taste absolutely everything.
The second is organisation. The job is all about managing your time. You've got a million things going on at the same time, that take different amounts of time and require different amounts of your attention. It's about putting those in the right order and not getting caught out. Because in every kitchen before service there’s a feeling of going into war. It's about being as prepared as possible, because things always go wrong. But the more prepared you are, then the less that's a problem.
And the third: keeping a high level of self-respect in terms of making sure you look smart, that you feel comfortable and confident. If you feel serious and smart, that will translate into what you do, and you will impart it to your staff.
