Researchers from Newcastle University’s Translational and Clinical Research Institute including Dr Chris Lamb, Greg Young, Hannah Watson, Lauren Beck, Jen Doyle, and Jem Palmer recently spent time with Ian Waller, head chef at Michelin-starred Restaurant Pine, discussing food, fermentation, microbiology, and how human health and disease can be linked to all three.
The collaboration came about after a conversation between Ian Waller and Chris Lamb at the restaurant. Chris mentioned (after Ian had already explained his basic understanding of microbiological gut health and the benefits of fermentation), that he was leading the team studying this particular strand of research at Newcastle University.
That immediately sparked Ian’s interest, especially as Pine’s team are always looking for new and interesting people to collaborate with. Chris and Ian chatted further, with Ian agreeing to share some insight into what he does as a chef with Chris’s research team.
A visit to the restaurant was then arranged so the research team could pay a visit to Pine’s fermentation rooms and discuss some of the work Ian is doing with ferments, which he uses for a variety of different applications, including koji, miso and shoyu and lacto-ferments such as kimchi and sauerkraut, as well as formats such as kombucha and kefir, which are used as part of Pine’s drinks programme.
When Ian and the Newcastle University team met, they discussed changing global dietary behaviours, including the increased consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and the use of food additives. All of these are thought to impact human gut health and may also be an important factor in alterations in gut microbe communities, and intestinal permeability, and conversely also lead to an increase in inflammatory conditions like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. These are the two principal forms of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), and the main research focus of Chris Lamb’s Lab.
The Lamb Lab investigates the relationship between environmental factors – the “exposome,” of which diet is a key component – and gastrointestinal immune and microbial health. Multi-million-pound, nationwide studies IBD-RESPONSE (funded by the MRC and Helmsley Charitable Trust), and Open-IBD (funded by Open Targets and the Wellcome Sanger Institute), will capture detailed dietary exposure, along with microbiome, human genome, and metabolome data. These will be incorporated into analyses to develop precision medicine solutions for response to IBD therapies and to better understand the mechanisms governing the observed wide variation in disease severity or progression over time.
Chris Lamb said “We thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Ian learning about the blend of art and science in his kitchen. There were so many interesting similarities between Ian’s creation of innovative recipes and how we design new experiments in the laboratory. The concept of food fermentation for preservation dates back thousands of years and is now used by Ian to create the finest-tasting foods! Bringing this all together to debate the relationship of diet, microbes, and the immune system in shaping our gut health was fascinating.”
Restaurant Pine’s head chef Ian Waller said: ‘’Spending time with Chris and his team was eye-opening, the incredible work they are doing leading in their field seems far removed from what we’re doing in our restaurant kitchen in Northumberland.
During my visit to the University, I had the opportunity to take a look around the lab with Chris and his team, where they explained some of their specific roles and the research they are undertaking. I also got to view some of my ferments under the microscope (they’d previously taken some sample slides) and get a much closer look at them under lab conditions at the Translational & Clinical Research Institute.
The more we chatted the more it became clear that there are some significant similarities and parallels in what we are both doing and how we do it, albeit approaching it from two very different start and endpoints.
The whole experience has been inspiring, and hopefully, we can continue to work together to show just how beneficial and healthy gut microbes can be especially when consumed as delicious bites of food.’’
Restaurant Pine gained a Michelin star in February 2022, and in June 2024 ranked 12th in the National Restaurant Awards, securing a place in the top 5 restaurants outside London. The focus at Restaurant Pine is as much on sustainability as it is on curating a delicious tasting menu, which also saw the restaurant collect a Michelin Green Star recognising its use of organic and sustainably foraged produce, much of which is either grown in the restaurant’s micro-farm or sustainably foraged from the surrounding countryside and coastline of Northumberland.