I've never been much into fine dining experiences - I've always tended to obsess with travelling to taste the very best versions of fun casual foods like curries, sandwiches, pizzas, burgers, fried chicken, barbecue, tacos and pies to name a few. 

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My perspectives have been shaped by the areas I’ve lived in and travelled to on culinary holidays. I grew up in Birmingham, England which is a cultural melting pot well known as the 'curry capital of the UK'. My favourite comfort food was a family night out down to our local byob curry house in Stirchley. When you got out of the car you were hit with the beautiful smells of sizzling curry wafting down the road from all of the restaurants lined up alongside each other. Looking through misted windows on a cold wet Friday night you’d see families and couples sat cosily inside laughing away and drinking cold beers after a long week at work whilst tearing from large buttery family naan breads to dip into a luminous red chicken tikka masala - bliss! As you entered the restaurant you were always met with a big smile from the head waiter who’d been working there for 30 odd years and would still recognise you as an adult coming back to visit whilst living away from Birmingham.

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From the age I could lift a fork I was encouraged to cook at home by my Mum. 

I’d say me and my brother used to get quite ‘creative’ in the kitchen as kids. I’m still looking back at some of his dishes that were abit suspect. Remembering his baked beans, tuna, cheese and sweetcorn hot pot..

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When I moved to London to go to university there were no concerns if I would be able to cook for myself. By this point I loved cooking and it became my meditative time along with running. A great way to sooth a hangover after all the student nights out! London really opened-up a whole new food scene for me and it was somewhere you can try cuisine from any region of the world and buy any ingredients. In the places I lived I threw myself into South Asian, Middle Eastern and Caribbean cuisine because I had so many ethnic shops near me where I could buy ingredients. Fresh spices to make and roast homemade garam masala, Turkish meat skewers for making beautiful kebabs on the barbecue and bags of scotch bonnets for making hot jerk marinade etc. I tended to go through phases and dive into different areas to spend time perfecting my favourite versions of dishes from regional Indian curries, to classic Italian ragu, bread making, or even smoked beef barbacoa tacos from Mexico. 

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After getting itchy feet in London I moved to New York in 2017 for a couple of years (although my wife will keep correcting me it was a year and a half..). Arriving at my first flat on Montrose Ave down in Brooklyn feeling abit discombobulated I headed across the road to get some ingredients from the shop – only it was also a deli selling fresh sandwiches – as were a lot of shops. Ordering the chicken wrap I was taken aback my this flavour of creamy herby chicken mix with crunchy apple and celery – sounds gross but it was absolutely delicious and is the inspiration behind The Brooklyn Boy today. My time in New York influenced a lot of my markets menu. I find East Coast Americans get very very nerdy and obsessed about their pizzas and doughs. I spend a lot of time talking to Americans in Reddit and Facebook forums today about dough – they take the long fermentation and quality ingredients very seriously! The Reuben is inspired by Katz Deli whose Instagram reels I’m very much obsessed with watching – such HUGE portions of meat. Like Katz, I smoke the brined beef then steam it for tenderness to make the pastrami in my Reuben Pizza Dough Sandwich

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It’s not only where I’ve lived but the culinary tours I’ve been on. Most of our family holidays are dictated by where we want to try the food! And not just try the food but also make the food there and really feel it. I’ll spend time on AirBnB messaging the host to ask about what kitchen equipment they have and then spend mornings out at local markets/shops buying ingredients to cook regional favourites. Some highlight trips include: Bologna ragu, Texas barbecue, Nashville hot chicken, New England pizzas, Tel Aviv hummus, Chicago deep pan pizzas, Turkish kebabs, Greek souvlaki, French farmers markets, Japanese ramen, Indian street food, Sri Lankan breakfasts, Nashville hot chicken, Jamaican jerk chicken, Spanish tapas, Cornish pasties, Swiss fondue, Bavarian sausage and Korean fried chicken.

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We’ve always been a very sociable household throwing bigger and bigger dinner parties and nothing makes me happier than spending a day cooking for friends to come over and enjoy food and wine together. It’s these experiences that led me to ponder whilst staring into a screen in the office if I should take my passion a step further and turn the act of entertaining into a lifestyle as well.

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And so P.EAT’S DELI was born…The very first iteration was actually ChickPete’s that was going to make flavoured hummuses for my local farmers market stall but I decided to go broader and so the name evolved.

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I started to daydream at work a few years ago in what was a very well comfortable corporate career working for people whose company I enjoyed. Having switched jobs a couple of times thinking I might just need a change I still struggled to regain the same drive I had for the first decade of my career. My family, friends and even I knew I had a cushy lifestyle but something was just missing and so I decided to take the plunge and dive into a passion business leaving the comfort of a full time job in the rear-view mirror

 

Hopefully you can be part of the journey :-D

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