Isaac McHale

Patron-chef at Clove Club in Shoreditch, London, Isaac McHale was born on the island of Orkney in Scotland. His career began very early, first working for a fishmonger, then, during high school, in a restaurant where he learnt the ropes. Once he graduated, he decided to leave home and go to London. Usually, when people leave their village they always announce it as a “new beginning”. In fact it was immediately clear Isaac’s intention was that of broadening the boundaries of the Orkney islands where he was born.

After acquiring experience in Sydney, working at Mark Best’s Marque, he arrived in London and started to work in the kitchen with Tom Aikens. The young Scottish chef then showed off his skills during the six years spent at Ledbury, under the direction of Australian Brett Graham. He became the chief researcher of that perfectionist kitchen. It was an important time in which, together with technique, Isaac understood of what elements his cooking was made, with the roots deep in Scotland and his mind going around the world.

A short stay at Noma, where he learnt the importance of being in contact with nature, helped him perfect this research for the purity of his traditions. So in 2011 McHale, together with friends Ben Greeno and James Lowe, created the Young Turks collective, founding a series of pop up restaurants that redefined the concept of restaurant in London in the first decade of the millennium, creating an avantgarde based on a projection of English tradition towards a lighter expression.

In 2013, with the opening of Clove Club, together with his friends Daniel and Johnny, he confirmed he’s one of the best chefs in London and beyond. In the 2016 edition of the Guida di Identità Golose he won the Best International Chef prize, confirming the progression of his cooking both in the palate and in terms of evocative power.