Tom De Keyser
After more than 13 years working for Tom Kerridge’s restaurant group, including a stint at his one-star gastropub The Coach and four years at the helm of his two Michelin-starred Marlow flagship The Hand and Flowers, Tom De Keyser has come to the capital to lead the chef’s latest venture. The Chalk takes over the Chelsea site that previously housed the London outpost of Kerridge’s The Butcher’s Tap & Grill and is billed as a sister pub to The Hand and Flowers that will ‘commemorate the beauty of traditional British gastropub dining’.
How did the opportunity to open The Chalk come about?
Tom [Kerridge] approached me about the possibility of taking on something new that I could put my own stamp on. He’s very good at looking after and nurturing staff strengths. I’d been head chef at The Hand and Flowers for four years and ready for the next step; and Sarah [Hayward] was doing really well and ready to step up into another role of responsibility. It was a good time for everyone’s progression and to take on new challenges.
Tell us about The Chalk’s development
The initial plan was written by Tom and I following a preliminary chat, but I was left to write the final menu after we developed the idea further. It’s very much driven by my own personality, but obviously I’ve been cooking with Tom for 14 odd years and some dishes will be familiar to those who have eaten at The Hand and Flowers and The Coach before.
What are the dishes that showcase your personality?
A lot of it is about the processes and the mise en place. There’s the torched fillet of Cornish bream with red fish sauce and summer leaf salsa verde. That’s magic in my eyes and uses the freshest fish we can get that day. There’s also a pork chop schnitzel with smoked bacon, pickled cabbage and a fried duck egg; and the long pepper-spiced beef brisket with pickled beetroot and sauce gribiche. It’s all ingredient and flavour driven, seasonally led and cooked simply.
How does operating in London compare to Marlow?
You’ve always got to look at the price point. Here I’m sitting between The Coach and The Hand and Flowers, it’s got to be affordable and offer value for money. Mains at The Chalk hover around £30, and starters are between £14 and £15. I’ve cooked in London before, but then I was a demi chef de partie, and it’s obviously a completely different experience being a head chef now with all the relationships, understanding and education I’ve received and built up. It’s a great opportunity.
How do you make sure The Chalk works where The Butcher’s Tap & Grill did not?
I see it as going into a new opening. Before The Chalk, whether it was our business or someone else’s, is irrelevant to me. I’m going to make sure it’s right, it’s busy and it does well.
Sarah Hayward
The last few years have been massive for Sarah Hayward. Having started at Kerridge’s group as a commis chef at The Hand and Flowers back in 2013, she was promoted to her first head chef role at The Coach in 2021. Then, in 2023 she won Michelin’s Young Chef Award, marking herself out as rising culinary talent in the industry. This was further underlined last month when it was announced that she would be taking over as head chef at The Hand and Flowers following Tom De Keyser’s move to London.
Congratulations on the new role. What are the changes going from a one star to a two star?
They’re massive, really. Obviously, the pressure of retaining Tom’s two Michelin star pub is a big task. I felt very comfortable at The Coach; it was an environment I was used to and had worked in for a long time. This is an incredible opportunity and the fact that Tom has trusted me to head up his flagship restaurant is huge.
How do you put your stamp on the menu?
At the moment, we’re not making too many changes. The focus is on finding my feet, working out how the business operates and figuring out what the customers are like. At The Coach it was an open kitchen, I had a great relationship with the diners, and it was easy to get reactions directly from the guests. Here you work very closely with the front of house and gauge feedback through that relationship. The key is to work with what the customer wants but keep the food in the style Tom is renowned for. We’re developing ideas of things we want to change, but we also don’t want to mess with the classics. People come to The Hand and Flowers for the smoked haddock omelette and the parfait; you don’t want to change them for the sake of it, you want to do it to make them better.
How do you balance a two Michelin star restaurant experience with The Hand and Flowers’ pub operation?
It’s a very easy going two-star restaurant, because it is a pub. There’s no pretentiousness, white tablecloths and dress codes. It’s a relaxed dining atmosphere. We’re very proud of it being a pub and work hard to create a menu that complements it.
What impact did winning Michelin’s Young Chef Award have on your career?
It was massive and it still is massive. Even though it happened two years ago, it’ll be a tough accolade to beat within my career. I think The Coach being an open kitchen went massively in my favour because I had a great relationship with guests and that was very easy to see. I’ve no idea when Michelin came, but when they did, I would have been able to chat with the inspectors directly.
What are your future ambitions?
The possibilities are endless. I’ve worked with Tom for a long time and have a lot of trust in him. He foresaw a career in me that I didn’t see in myself, and he saw that from the moment I first walked through the door at The Hand and Flowers. I don’t know what’s to come, but I’m sure he’s probably got a plan already.