Barry Kumar
OUR GOODMAN FAMILY
Meet Barry, our Group Senior Pastry Chef
There are many people who have left a mark on Goodman. There is only one whose legacy will, forever, be the Goodman cheesecake…
There are things you just don’t mess with. As Barry discovered once, some time ago, that includes the Goodman Cheesecake. “I once put lemon tart on instead of the cheesecake,” he says. What happened next wasn’t quite a dessert-related riot but it left Barry in no doubt not to do that again. “The people spoke,” he says with a grin.
Barry came to Goodman after six years at Chapter One, Andy McLeish’s Michelin-acclaimed restaurant in Kent, which is where he first tested that cheesecake recipe. “That was 21 years ago,” he explains. “And I’m not bored with it” (which, frankly, given the above, is probably just as well).
When not at Goodman, you can probably find Barry playing sport. In the winter, that’s indoor volleyball but in the summer, it’s Barry’s biggest love: cricket. “I’m a bowler. I’m the opener for my team (and bat lower in the order) and I love it.” When not playing cricket, Barry can often be found watching it, particularly if India are playing. His all-time favourite player may come as a surprise, however. “It’s Joe Root. I’ve met him six, seven times, I have pictures with him. He’s one of the best Test players of all time and he’s still young. In my opinion, he will surpass Tendulkar. I think he’ll be the number one all-time great.”
“The cheesecake has to stay. Once, we took the cheesecake off and put a lemon tart on instead… but not for long. People kept asking for it to come back.”
Barry grew up in Northern India, surrounded by cooking – “I used to watch my mum, my grandmother, and my dad is a very good cook as well” – but it was at college he truly fell in love with it.
So what brought Barry to London? “It was my dream,” he explains. “I always wanted to go and work in London. I had nobody I knew here, no friends and family, I just worked for this dream.
“I always say work hard and believe in yourself and you can achieve what you want.”
They’re wise words, which Barry has passed onto his children. “I have twins, one boy, one girl, who are just turning 14.” As for what keeps Barry motivated… “I'm still learning. Every time I enter kitchen, I learn something new.”
When eating at Goodman, Barry used to opt for Prawn Tempura “but nowadays it's scallop. And for main, I will have a chicken, the side of mac and cheese, and a little bit of salad.” And, for the record, he does still eat the cheesecake although you’d forgive him if he didn’t. “It’s 24 portions per tray, and we make it three or four trays at a time, typically twice a week in each restaurant” which, after 15 years with Goodman, equals a LOT of cheesecake. You’ll be relieved to know that run isn’t ending any time soon. “I’m still happy here,” explains Barry. “That’s why I'm at Goodman.”
Credits
Interview by Neil Davey
Photography by Tom Bowles
