Chef profile - Thomas Samworth of No Name, in Sheffield

Chef/owner of the mysteriously-named No Name is Thomas Samworth, who trained at Sheffield College, where, he says: “They saw something in me and entered me into cooking competitions.”
Thomas Samworth head chef at No Name.Thomas Samworth head chef at No Name.
Thomas Samworth head chef at No Name.

He went on to work at Gary Rhodes’ W1, Max Fischer’s Michelin-starred Fischer’s in Baslow and the Schoolrooms in Low Bradfield.

After a string of “underground pop- ups – hence the name” he decided to take the plunge and opened his tiny, stylish bistro in student-centric Crooks in Sheffield in 2017, despite either side of the street being chock-a-block with fast food outlets.

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“I wanted to create a bit of intrigue by not giving the place a regular name – it got people talking, so I think it worked.” It worked so well it wasn’t long before he had to employ a sittings system to cope with the rush of customers, one of whom was an inspector from the Waitrose Good Food Guide, and No Name went in overnight.

No Name in the Crookes area of Sheffield. (Scott Merrylees).No Name in the Crookes area of Sheffield. (Scott Merrylees).
No Name in the Crookes area of Sheffield. (Scott Merrylees).

Samworth cooks with the seasons and with a huge amount of heart and thought. His food sounds simple; crispy pork & black pudding, roast onion, Granny Smith apple, crackling; pan-fried cod, roast broccoli, mature Cheddar sauce.

But there’s always a tongue-in-cheek tweak that lifts his dishes into something extraordinary. He doesn’t monkey around with his ingredients, but he’ll riff with the likes of Henderson’s Relish – it works beautifully as a sort of ketchup with a feather light twice-baked cheese soufflé (velvety, punchy, sat on a tangle of celeriac shoelaces, scattered with toasted hazelnuts, it was my dish of 2017, along with his baked cheesecake cream, white chocolate, blueberry curd and parma violet ice cream).

There’s no shrinking from big flavours, and everything gets equal billing on the plate. What he’s doing here is astonishing, given he’s working in a kitchen the size of three phone boxes and cooking on two rings.

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What was the first thing that you cooked? The earliest memories of cooking are baking with my mum or nan. Things like flapjack, parkin, scones and buns – and the best thing was being able to lick the spoon and bowl.

Who has inspired you? There are so many people who have played a part in inspiring me as a chef, particularly my old college lecturer Mick Burke and Max Fisher who I worked for at Baslow Hall. Mick’s retired now but I have so much admiration for the passion, patience and dedication he showed to teaching future chefs. Max’s enthusiasm for ingredients and how to treat them was infectious. He was a huge influence on the way I cook now. Presently, chefs like Paul Cunningham, Phil Howard, Claude Bosi and Nathan Outlaw – I could go on.

Who would be your dream dinner party guests? No famous folk really. Just being able to sit around a table again with all my family and friends is enough for me. The dream would be for the loved ones who aren’t with us any more to be there too.

What’s your guilty food secret? McDonald’s! A Breakfast Muffin or Big Mac – but my really guilty pleasure is sweets. I’ve got a very sweet tooth and at the moment I’m into Ben & Jerry’s Netflix & Chilll’d ice cream.

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What would be your Desert Island dinner? I had a meal at Claude Bosi’s Hibiscus about 10 years ago and it blew me away. I’d have his foie gras ice cream with warm brioche mousse and sherry vinegar tuile followed by my mum’s meat and potato pie. I have to say that or she’d kill me. No, I really would have that, then her chocolate sponge and custard. I told you I had a sweet tooth!

What’s your indispensable bit of kitchen kit? Probably a Rex speed peeler. It’s not very high-tech but I just can’t stand using rubbish peelers.

What are you doing during lockdown? We had the restaurant revamped during the first lockdown and did take-outs. We reopened at the start of October but regulations and guidelines came into place which severely limited the number of tables we could have. We’re back selling takeaways but we plan to open again as soon as we can and get the No Name buzz and great vibe back.

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