We sat down with Rich Cullen, potter, restaurateur, and the creative force behind Kiln in Ouseburn, to talk about the marriage of ceramics and cooking, and the growing movement to reconnect craft with food.

From childhood meals shaped by his grandad’s allotment, to studying ceramics and discovering the joy of long, shared dinners at art college, Rich has spent his career weaving together food, craft and community. Alongside his ceramics business, Cullen Works, he co-founded Kiln in Newcastle, a space built on handmade tableware, open kitchens and warm, generous hospitality.

Growing up in Northumberland with your grandad’s allotment, what’s a specific food memory that still influences how you think about food today?

</Tomatoes. My grandad used to sit in the greenhouse at the bottom of the allotment, which he had fashioned together himself. He’d sit directly in the middle in the back, and on either side of him were tomato vines. There is a very specific smell of a warm tomato vine in a greenhouse, it’s completely distinct. Even in Northumberland, you can grow an amazing tomato at certain times of the year. Zesty, sweet, firm on the outside and explosive when you bite through the skin. It’s a very special experience. I always want to replicate this excitement in the food I cook.

What drew you specifically to ceramics as your medium, and how did that shape your creative identity? 

I’m the son of a builder. What always draws me to being creative is having an outlet with my hands. The parallels between cooking and making ceramics in this regard are obvious. Ceramics is something that requires design, artistic application and practical problem solving.

There’s a call, and there’s a response as the material reacts to how you play with it. Clay is a highly addictive and difficult material because while it’s soft, there are no limits to what can be made, but when you try to turn it into a solid fired object, you have to employ structural engineering, maths and architectural intuition, or you will find your work will not survive the kiln.

At what point did food shift from being a passion to something you wanted to build a space around?

I was making plates for restaurants, and eventually, I think it was the obvious next step to start putting food on the plates I was making. Every opportunity I have ever received comes from sitting in cafes and meeting strangers. Food is a vehicle of conversation and creativity; I love eating food, I love going to restaurants at every level. It is incredibly human and fun to want to be around others, and in restaurants, this is the perfect place.

Do you see parallels between crafting ceramics and cooking? 

Cooks and chefs alike decide how they’d like to present their food. Your mum and dad even make choices about what ceramics are in the house. Some ceramics are reserved for special occasions, while nearly everyone has a Le Creuset pot that occasionally arrives at the table full of stew. Taking something from the soil to cook it, or taking the soil itself as clay and cooking it. The process is the same, and the gap between the raw material or ingredient and cooking is only your imagination. Both are extremely primal and intuitive.

What was the original vision for Kiln, and how has it changed since opening?

Kiln is doing exactly what I set out to achieve. We make ceramics and food from scratch in a place where all are welcome. There is an endless excitement to see what comes next, but I am proud to say that for 9 years, we have done the same thing day in and day out with passion.
Do you think there’s a growing movement reconnecting craft and food in the UK?
This isn’t specifically about craft and food, but it’s the current antithesis to the infinite scroll. Craft opposes immediate results. Craft is patience and decision-making. Finding some connection back to ourselves requires deliberate acts of rebellion against the digital noise that overwhelms us. We are trying to reconnect with what makes us human, rather than looking for a trend or a fad. I can’t say if this is a movement, but I can say that a lot of people I meet are looking for a reconnection back to themselves. 
What challenges do independent, craft-led hospitality spaces face today?
Unsympathetic energy suppliers, landlords and governments. All the success you find will be of your own making through ingenuity and luck. You face myriad complex challenges that require a high degree of resilience, but that is a hospitality or craftsperson’s weapon of choice! So don’t be afraid. Go for it.
For more information on Kiln, see here 
4 Hume St, Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 1LN