You’re very young to be a head chef working at this sort of level…
Yep, there’s no arguing with that. The decision was largely based on the popularity of my residencies at South Lodge and Lainston House (the latter was originally supposed to run for three months but was extended to five). I never expected to get my own restaurant so early on in my career. I had been thinking about spending a bit more time working under other chefs but not many 25-year-olds get offered the chance to be a head chef, so I just went for it.
Did you get to choose your own kitchen team?
No. It’s the same team as at the previous iteration of The Avenue. That was a worry initially, but it’s worked out well. They’re a great bunch and all have the same passion for the job as me; they just want to see the place grow. In some cases, I am managing people that are older than me, but this hasn’t caused any issues. The Avenue was being run by Lainston House’s executive chef Phil Yeomans (who remains in that role).
Your arrival coincided with a redesign of the space…
We had a six-week refurb late last year. The room looks fantastic. It’s still quite formal but it’s more modern now. Russell Sage Studio (the design studio) did a great job. The design blends contemporary elements with the hotel’s existing feature and references the property’s mile-long avenue of lime trees (from which the restaurant takes its name).
Tell us about the menu
We’ve gone from a 5:5:5 traditional a la carte menu to an £125 eight course menu that is - I suppose - a hybrid between a tasting menu and an a la carte menu. There are three courses in which guests choose between two different dishes (vegetarian and pescatarian menus are also available). It’s a nice way of doing it because you can give the customer a choice without overwhelming them with decisions. It also cuts down on wastage. We’re open five services a week, Wednesday to Sunday evenings, which was an issue when the restaurant was offering a la carte. My cooking style is contemporary British. The menu includes pigeon on toast with parsley, celeriac, medjool date and madeira sauce; Portland crab with beignets, curried carrot, fennel and crab bisque; turbot with Romanesco cauliflower, leek and Ridgeview sauce; and whipped cheesecake tart with pear, fig leaf, blackberry and pastis sorbet.
Do you serve any of the dishes you created for MasterChef: The Professionals?
No. I focused on that for the residencies but Exclusive Hotels (Hamblet’s employer and the owner of Lainston House, South Lodge and a number of other upmarket hotels) and I decided it was time for a fresh start. The only time I cook those dishes is at our on-site cookery school, but they’re tweaked versions designed for home cooks.
Like you, both your parents have worked for Exclusive Hotels for a long time…
Yes. My dad (Lewis) has been the executive chef at South Lodge for over 25 years and my mum (Haley) is a pastry chef there. I dabbled in cooking while I was at secondary school and worked for my dad at South Lodge on a Saturday, but it wasn’t until I was 17, I decided to pursue a career as a chef. I became an apprentice chef there working across all the restaurants including The Pass under both Matt Gillan and Ian Swainson and at Camellia under Steven Edwards (who also won Masterchef: The Professionals). I didn’t have that much interaction with my dad, it’s a big kitchen and there were nearly 40 chefs when I was there. He was a bit harder on me than some of the other chefs but only because he wanted me to do well. He didn’t let me muck around. After all that I worked for Jean Delport at Interlude for a few years before working under Matt Worswick at Pennyhill Park.
Is it true that you have never lost a cooking competition?
Early on in my career I competed The Rotary Club Chef of the Year and FutureChef and won both, so I had some experience of cooking competitions before Masterchef: The Professionals. But doing that one was very different because it was spread over three months with two to three days of filming each week. The highlight of the filming was cooking at Alchemist in Copenhagen. Each meal runs to 50 courses. I got to eat there afterwards and took my dad and Danny (Pecorelli, Exclusive Hotels owner and managing director). It’s very difficult to get a table there so I was very popular that night.
Do you have an appetite for being a celebrity chef?
If it happens it happens but it’s not something I’m pushing for. I have quite a few followers on social media thanks to the TV stuff, but I don’t post nearly as much as I should. My key goal is to get a Michelin star. I don’t mind whether it’s a few years down the line or 10 but it’s definitely something I want to achieve.