Less Is More: A Conversation with Head Chef Will Bee, Rosina
Will Bee has spent more than half his life in professional kitchens. Starting work at just 13, the South Derbyshire-born chef went on to study Culinary Arts Management before joining Paul Ainsworth at No.6 in Padstow, progressing from prep chef and later moving to London, where he helped lead the kitchen at Michelin starred Lita.
Now Head Chef at Rosina, Adam Byatt’s Italian neighbourhood restaurant on Wandsworth Common, Bee is embracing a different kind of challenge: restraint. The Knife caught up with him about starting from the bottom, learning how to lead, respecting Italian tradition and why stripping a dish back can sometimes be harder than building one up.
You’ve been working in kitchens since you were 13. Do you remember the moment when you realised cooking could actually become your career?
It unknowingly happened in my second job. Working in an open kitchen, you get to see the impact you have on guests and receive that feedback first-hand. But more than that, I was working in an environment where I was being taught by someone with a genuine passion and enthusiasm for their craft. Being around that kind of energy sparks something inside you.
You studied Culinary Arts Management as well as learning on the job. Did university change the way you thought about being a chef, or was the real education still happening in kitchens?
At the time of doing the course, I felt like it was never going to be useful, but it quickly helped me move forward in my career. To become a manager and a leader, you need to have a good understanding of the business side of a restaurant.
I’m glad I started working in kitchens before going to university, because it gave me that practical foundation. But university gave me another perspective and ultimately progressed me faster than I expected.
You joined Paul Ainsworth at No.6 as a prep chef. What do you remember about being at the very bottom of that kitchen and trying to prove yourself?
It was tough, I can’t lie. I started working 8–5, five days a week, and it was so hard to go home at 5pm and leave everyone else to do evening service. Not to mention the stick I used to get!
I cared so much about what I did there every day. I wanted to improve my skills and my understanding of the products as much as possible, so I was constantly watching and asking questions.
I then had the opportunity to start working on a section, and from there I just continued to grow with the team around me. Having that journey is really special. Proving yourself from the bottom up is incredibly rewarding.
Working alongside Paul Ainsworth, John Walton and Chris McClurg must have been quite an education. What lesson from that period has stuck with you most?
Humility, and remembering where you came from. Paul always used to tell me he admired the level of humility I had in his kitchen, alongside my ability to learn quickly.
Paul’s story within his restaurant is also very much linked to his family and his past career. That was something I learnt from working alongside him: no matter how far you go, never forget who you truly are and where you came from.
You later found yourself running the kitchen at Lita as Interim Head Chef. Did being thrown into that responsibility change you as a chef?
I had a really daunting time trying to find a job in London. I had this strange feeling that because I hadn’t worked in London yet, I had to start all over again. I did a lot of trials and didn’t enjoy them, until I came across Lita. It just felt right.
Looking after a brigade of that size and having to step up to the plate felt surprisingly natural. I took everything I had learnt and seen from previous jobs and applied it. I kept asking myself, "What did I appreciate and respect as a junior looking up to my seniors? What really made me want to work harder and become better?" The answers were inspiration, passion, responsibility and standards. When I saw a positive reaction from the team to implementing those things, I knew I was on the right track.
I had 20-plus chefs that I had to win over and lead. I had the opportunity to run the kitchen my way and express myself probably for the first time, and that was completely reciprocated by the team. It allowed them to express themselves too, while I never forgot who I was.
Rosina is your first head chef role of this kind. When Adam Byatt offered you the job, what made you feel it was the right next step?
It was the difference between being a head chef of a restaurant owned by a businessman and being a head chef in a restaurant owned by a chef – not to mention one of the most respected chefs in the UK.
I had done the hard bit at Lita, and I felt there wasn’t much more I could take from it. With Rosina, I had the opportunity to start something new, be there from the beginning and create a team full of strong chefs who genuinely love what they do.
Rosina is very much an Italian neighbourhood restaurant rather than a formal fine-dining space. What does that freedom allow you to do differently in the kitchen?
It’s a blank canvas for us. We can use the most premium products or the most humble products, and it can still be just as approachable for everyone.
With the food itself, we try to keep things in their most natural form rather than over-engineering dishes. In doing that, it has actually created its own beauty and style through the quality of the ingredients and the discipline behind them.
There are dishes on the menu as simple as cacio e pepe alongside more considered plates like risotto and salt-baked bream. Is simplicity actually harder to get right?
In the beginning, it was all we spoke about – how audacious it was to show that much restraint on a dish. It was also really difficult to come to terms with being so simple.
The majority of my career has been about trying to create brand-new dishes, flavour pairings and plating techniques, always pushing things forward. This feels almost like the same pursuit, but in reverse – stripping things back rather than adding to them. And in many ways, that restraint is harder to achieve.
Adam has said he wants his head chefs to bring their own relevance and personality. Where can diners already see your personality on the Rosina menu?
My personality comes through most in the balance between simplicity and detail. Italian food has such a strong sense of identity that I don’t feel the need to overcomplicate it, but I do want every element to have a reason for being there.
You can see that in dishes like the cacio e pepe, where there’s nowhere to hide, alongside dishes like the turbot, where we can be a little more considered. That balance is very representative of how I like to cook – food that feels comforting and familiar, but with enough detail and precision to keep you interested.
For me, the aim is to make food that feels instinctive and natural, but where you can still see the thought, technique and personality behind it.
Italian cooking can be fiercely traditional. How do you approach respecting those traditions while still allowing yourself to cook instinctively?
You have to understand the tradition before you can really make it your own. Italian cooking is built around some very strong principles, and I have a huge amount of respect for that. I’m not interested in changing something just for the sake of being different.
For me, it’s more about understanding why a dish works and then asking myself what I can bring to it. Sometimes that might be very little, just the quality of an ingredient, the way something is cooked, or a small adjustment that makes the dish feel more personal.
I still want the food to feel recognisably Italian and rooted in tradition, but I also want it to feel like it has been cooked by me. Instinct comes from knowing the rules well enough that you can make decisions naturally, rather than constantly thinking about whether you’re following them.
You grew up in South Derbyshire. What did food look like at home when you were growing up, and has any of that stayed with you?
Food at home was always home-cooked meals from all different cuisines. My mother loves to cook and we all loved to eat. It was very much vegetable-led and generally a nutritious approach to cooking.
That has definitely stayed with me in my home cooking, but when I’m working in a restaurant, I’ve always seen that as a separate entity. I didn’t learn how to cook at home – I learnt how to eat and my manners.
You’ve gone from starting as a prep chef in Padstow to leading your own kitchen in London. What would the 13-year-old version of you make of where you are now?
The 13-year-old version of me would probably be pretty amazed, to be honest. At that age, I definitely didn’t have a clear idea of where I was going to end up, and I certainly wouldn’t have imagined leading my own kitchen in London.
Starting as a prep chef in Padstow feels like a completely different world from where I am now, but looking back, those early years gave me the foundation for everything that came after. There’s been a lot of hard work, a lot of mistakes and a lot of learning along the way.
He’d be proud more than anything. Not because I’ve made it to London or because I’m running my own kitchen, but because I took something I loved at 13 and never really stopped chasing it. I think that’s probably the part he’d recognise most.
