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Shared Space: A Conversation with Chef Sam Buckley
The unassuming Stockport restaurant based on transparency, resourcefulness and community.
Where The Light Gets In (WTLGI) restaurant interior
Chef Sam Buckley was somewhere between touring as a musician and balancing the hard labours of kitchen life when he decided to open his own restaurant. Where The Light Gets In was his opportunity to take a step back, think, and to do things his way for other people. Transparency sits at the centre of every decision he makes, and the Stockport eatery is now a thriving part of the local community. Bringing together chefs, designers, gardeners and guests, Sam sees everyone involved as an equal, key to the restaurant's existence.
Sitting in the August sunshine on the steps outside his warehouse-turned-kitchen, we talk to Sam about his journey and the philosophies he follows to make his seasonal dishes. As we chat, he is politely interrupted by co-workers and friends on questions to do with composting, or is asked to try a new dish for the evolving menu. Each time it reveals his generous knowledge, intuition and deep care that has manifested into WTGLI. We start at the beginning…
How did ‘Where The Light Gets In’ first come about?
It all started because I was at a bit of a crossroads in my life. I used to play music and I was constantly in and out of working in kitchens, too. I’ve always enjoyed the premise of cooking, but never really enjoyed the stress that came with it. The long hours, being on top of lots of other people; it can feel claustrophobic and after two years, I needed a rest.I knew I wanted to do one thing, and have just the one project to focus on, so I thought it would be worth having a go at opening my own restaurant. I wanted to create an environment that was different to what was out there, I wanted to approach things in a different way and think more ethically. I found a space that was available for two years, so initially I went in thinking it could be a part time pop-up. I was young and more confident back then, and I was adamant it was going to work. So I just did it. It’s been seven years now.
The building you're in was once a coffee warehouse, how did you find the site?
I'm originally from Stockport, I grew up around here, but at that point I hadn't been back to Manchester for fifteen, maybe even twenty years. It was never my intention to come back here, I didn't have any money or backers, but I wanted to make something happen no matter what. I was looking for the right space over everything, so I wasn't so bothered about where that might be.Coincidentally, when I was looking for a space a friend of mine got in touch with me about an old warehouse that the council were looking after. They were looking for chefs who might want to take it on, at the time there were literally no restaurants whatsoever in the area. They showed me round all three floors of the warehouse and it was really in a dire state. There had been a fire previously and you could see right through the floorboards above and out through the roof. But it's strange; that night I went to bed and woke up the next day with this clear idea and picture in my head. At that point I knew it was a thing and had to do it. The owner of the building had said to me it was a lucky place and has always brought him luck. And I agree, there’s something special about it.
You were heavily involved in the restaurant build, how did you go about creating the space?
At the very start it was just me and a friend with a hammer, a chisel, and a brush. I hadn't even signed the lease and I had decided to pull everything out. There were loads of plasterboard stud walls and empty rooms within rooms that had never been used. We removed it all; got it back to brick and completely opened up the space. What we were left with was a big, old empty warehouse with absolutely nothing in it. In the end, I think we ended up doing 72 runs to the tip. I was in there 4 days a week, doing agency cooking on the side to make some money. It was hard work.And what about the environment you wanted to create inside?
As much as I’ve learned and taken away from the industry for all of its good, I have also taken away a huge amount of things that I didn't want to do. This was really my opportunity to run a restaurant the way I wanted to do it. I had this huge empty space and I knew from the start that I didn't want to fill it. I wanted to put in the bare essentials, keeping it stripped back to what we really needed.We put in tables of course, and three plinths for cooking on that all faced inwards into the dining room. There were no horizontal lines, no separations between the guests and the chefs. Total transparency and no borders. For me, this was about workflow, and I wanted the chefs to show everything. Open kitchens back then were only just starting to pop up; traditionally you are taught that guests should never be able to see the chefs shoes. But I wanted the way we acted and interacted with each other to be transparent, and I wanted our cooking to be transparent too. There was nowhere to hide. We couldn't put unnecessary pressure on each other or shout, and you can’t drop things on the floor without being seen. We didn't put in extractor fans so we had no choice but to cook clean and light. It all means that you have to think about things more. We created boundaries and parameters for ourselves and it’s been the best way to be creative.
"I wanted the way we acted and interacted with each other to be transparent, and I wanted our cooking to be transparent too. There was nowhere to hide."
Tell us a little bit about Stockport, the community, and the surrounding area
Stockport is a really big borough with some very nice spots, and there are also towns that are disparate and amongst the poorest in the UK, so there's a big dichotomy. It’s diverse, with a fantastic old market where you can get everything, the best pie and chips. I can remember visiting with my Grandma, it’s got so much character. But for me, the rates were so low which meant I could do exactly what I wanted in terms of a restaurant. I didn’t have to compromise too much. And because of these lower rates there's been a massive burst of creativity. It's more dynamically creative than anywhere else I know in Manchester. People have a chance here, it’s vibrant.
You spent time travelling in India. How has that influenced your cooking?
Being in India taught me about resourcefulness. The people there get what they need to do, done. I remember watching a man wheel a trolley down the road with just a big bowl and a gas canister, and he knocked out about 400 portions of pakora for the night. You sit down at places that you think are a restaurant, and you slowly realise it’s all just been unpacked out of carboots and set up for the night. The tables, the kitchens, they even had little posies of flowers for the table that they would bring with them.In the west things have become so commoditised and we can get really caught up over the need for lots of things. But freeing yourself from this idea can make you so much more creative. You can learn to replace specific ingredients from recipes with what's actually available or in your fridge. It’s a philosophy of making-do, and I’ve stretched that as far as I can.
You studied art, toured with bands and completed a journalism degree prior to opening the restaurant. Can you share any insights into cooking as a form of creative expression?
All of these things feed into cooking, yes, particularly music. The hospitality that you experience touring, and living so closely with one another teaches you so much. You have to be gracious to receive hospitality when you're on the move, and it can almost be harder to receive it, than to give it. The community that musicians live and work in is a lot about sharing, it’s about giving to others and learning to communicate on many different levels. The environments can obviously be competitive, but in general, they are gentle and come with a lot of understanding.Being a chef and cooking is such a creative role. Chefs work really hard to create something and quite often it gets eaten behind a closed door; the chef doesn't get enough credit. Giving someone a plate of food to enjoy is a really special thing, and chefs miss that, it can actually be quite damning. Having an open kitchen means the chefs are involved; you can see the movement and that creates a sense of excitement. We are all together in the same room sharing, exactly like you would be when you are at home cooking dinner for someone you know.
Tell us about the kitchen garden - why is growing your own produce important to you? How does it affect your approach to cooking?
The garden is built on the roof of a carpark block nearby, and it’s actually just become a CIC; a Community Interest Charity. People can volunteer to help on Fridays, but it’s an open garden so anyone can visit at any time. Some of the produce we use in our kitchen comes from the garden, but actually the garden is much more about learning and teaching.We do a lot of classes and groups with children, and not just about gardening. There are classes about crafting and traditional skills. We just ran a class about felting, learning about the importance of British wool, its heritage and its history. The garden began with growing our own food, but it’s now so much more than that. It’s about giving and educating, and showing the potential of urban gardening. We are learning to grow produce and food in our cities, and as a concept I think this is going to be really important in the near future.
“We are learning to grow produce and food in our cities, and as a concept I think this is going to be really important in the near future.”
How do you approach each dish you make? Are there a set of values you always have in mind when you cook?
At the moment, the team works together to make a really collaborative menu. It's taken a long time to get it to this point and work like this, and often there's things I might not do myself. I guide it a little bit here and there, and we try not to waste, but working in this way really boosts creative aspects and sparks so much interest. There's a ceramic studio here at the back of the warehouse, and there's one potter I know who tries to create clay pots by making as little moves as possible. I get so excited about this idea, and you can apply it to cooking. It’s resource, restraint, using what you’ve got; it’s way more challenging.What is your favourite time of the year in terms of what's in season?
Each season is so different with what it brings, but I love the hunger gap and the times of the year when there is less food around. Right now it’s a time of abundance, and harvest is coming up, so we are desperately trying to pickle things and get them in jars, fermenting and preserving as much as we can.There’s a sheep's milk that we use a lot here – it's beautiful and fresh and comes from pastures in Wales, it has the most incredible flavour. We use this fresh on the menu in yoghurts and ice creams. But we also salt it every week with brine and over about three months it turns into a salted ricotta. So this will come into play in December and January when things are starting to thin. There's a richness in trying to cook things when there’s less around, you’ve got to be fast on your toes ahead of time.
“There's a richness in trying to cook things when there’s less around, you’ve got to be fast on your toes ahead of time."
Having a restaurant is a lot about bringing people together. How does this contribute to the experience at WTLGI? What does togetherness mean to you?
Funnily enough, the name of the restaurant has a lot to do with this. I’ve been so surprised at how many people I've met here who have chipped in. Lighting designers, photographers, and then of course you have all of the farmers and fishermen. Where The Light Gets In is everybody's stage. The people that grow the food. The people who make the plates we eat off. The chefs that cook the food. The guests that eat it! People get to express themselves as freely as possible and with as much integrity as they like.We’re not a neighbourhood restaurant by any stretch, you don't just pop in here for a bite to eat. But restaurants can be a focal point of a community. It’s been so interesting to see how many people this place has brought together. You step out of the door and you are never that far from anyone that has integrated with this place in some way. The community that surrounds us is massive, and we’ve made a hub where we are all connected.
"Restaurants can be a focal point of a community. It’s been so interesting to see how many people this place has brought together... We’ve made a hub where we are all connected."