Nick Beardshaw departs Tom Kerridge's group to open his debut restaurant

Beardshaw has worked with the now celebrity chef for almost a decade and a half and was most recently head chef at Kerridge’s Bar & Grill, which he opened with Kerridge back in 2018.

He joined Kerridge in 2010 when he worked at the chef’s The Hand & Flowers, and later went on to open nearby gastropub The Coach in Marlow in 2014, helping it win a Michelin star three years later in 2017.

Beardshaw started cooking in his local village pub before moving to The Castle in Taunton in 2007 and then to Daniel Clifford’s two Michelin starred restaurant Midsummer House in 2009.

He is being replaced by Tom Childs, previously sous chef at Kerridge’s Bar & Grill and who has worked at the restaurant for the past five years.

“I’m thrilled that Nick Beardshaw is starting his own restaurant,” says Child. “We’ll greatly miss him and his input, and wish him all the best - he will always be part of our team.”

New menu

Childs will oversee a new menu at Kerridge’s Bar & Grill that will include dishes such as pâté en croüte with assorted condiments served from a trolley; quail’s egg and mushroom tart; lobster thermidor; venison bun; and honey roasted suckling pig ham sliced and served from the trolley; as well as a bread and butter pudding created in honour of the late chef Gary Rhodes.

“Nick’s departure has provided the opportunity for Tom Childs to step into the head chef role, for which he is more than ready,” says Kerridge.

“We have worked on a totally new menu which launches this month. Tom has created a series of exceptional new dishes which both retain the Kerridge’s ‘DNA’ while fully embracing the best of British seasonal ingredients with a nod to classic cookery. I know will be a big hit.”