I'm a chef and food researcher with a particular interest in microbes and fermentation.

My first cooking job, in 2004, was as a commis chef for Angela Hartnett at the Connaught Hotel, followed by Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea in 2005.

I enrolled at Camberwell College of Art in 2005, and completed a BA Hons degree in Photography, making work in experimental Polaroid portraiture.

In 2009, I co-founded Blanch & Shock, a food design and research company which made diverse projects in UK and Europe, cooking bespoke menus by commission. We designed work for V&A, Wellcome Collection, Somerset House, The Royal Academy and delivered projects for clients including Warner Brothers, The Future Laboratory, The Danish Film Institute, Secret Cinema and Bowmore Distillery.

After spending some time working at Nordic Food Lab in Copenhagen in 2013 I became deeply interested in fermentation and built an incubator to grow koji to use as a transformational ingredient, both for flavour exploration and waste reduction.

More recently I have worked at Silo and Cub Restaurants in London, Auberge de Chassignolles in Auvergne, France, and as a primary school Head Chef for Chefs in Schools.

I have a fermentation project in Shoreditch, testing and making novel products alongside the composting and food waste strategies of City Soil Lab

For enquiries, projects and collaborations, email:
joshuapollen@gmail.com