In February this year, Jamie Keeble was named Rising Star in the chef category, sponsored by Le Cordon Bleu, at the second National Restaurant Awards Rising Star event. Keeble began his hospitality career at 18 at Lord of the Manor and is now head chef at Joshua and Victoria Overington’s Michelin-starred Hovingham restaurant Mýse.
Tell us about your career to date
I started at Lords of the Manor in the Cotswolds at 18 and spent about four years there, mostly in pastry, and worked my way up. Then I moved to The Wild Rabbit with Tim Allen - a fast-paced Michelin-starred pub doing around 60 covers - before spending some time in Cambridge. After that I went to Ynyshir in Wales with Gareth Ward, which was completely different with its 33-course tasting menu. Between leaving there and opening Mýse, I spent seven months travelling around Asia, mostly eating my way through restaurants. We opened here in 2024 and won a star after seven months.
What does your current role involve?
Everything, really. I always joke I’ve got a knife in one hand and a screwdriver in the other. It’s a small team - usually two or three of us in the kitchen and two front of house - doing around 16–20 covers a night, with 24 at the absolute maximum. We bring in the best produce we can find locally, forage where possible, and serve it as a 16-17 course tasting menu. Because the team’s so small, I do a bit of everything - one minute I’m breaking down a saddle of venison, the next fixing a lock or an oven rail, and then I’m back in the kitchen making a quince cake for dessert.
What is your favourite thing about your job?
I enjoy all of it - I’m a bit obsessed with what I do, and it doesn’t stop when I leave the kitchen. We’ve got a great small team, including a couple of young chefs who are eager to learn, which makes it really rewarding. The produce is a big part of it too – we try to source the best scallops, beef and duck, and we work with Castle Howard just up the road where we can forage fresh leaves, salad and flowers, and soon we’ll be tapping the birch trees for birch water. That’s the exciting part.
What is the hardest thing about your job?
The hardest part is probably juggling everything at once. What guests don’t see when they’re sitting down to a 17-course tasting menu is the work behind it - from 8am to service, we’re constantly running around, fixing problems, chasing ingredients, and keeping everything moving.
Who has been your biggest industry inspiration/role model?
I’d probably go back to my time at Lord of the Manor. When I was younger, Richard Edwards, my first head chef, was a big influence - he was very stern and straightforward with his advice about how to get where I wanted to be and how to apply myself. As a fresh-faced 18-year-old learning to cook, that guidance really stuck with me.
Tell us about your career aspirations - where do you want to be in 10 years?
I’ve always just gone with it rather than planning too far ahead. I was meant to move to Hong Kong before taking the job here - we were even signing visa documents - but then Joshua asked me to come and have a look. Within a week everything changed, and I took the role instead.
Would you like to open your own place someday?
One day I’d like my own place - a real destination restaurant. Michelin stars are great, but the bigger goal for me is building somewhere people travel for and talk about around the world.
What advice would you give to young people that are just starting out in hospitality?
I’ve got an old-school mentality – I’d say prioritise learning over salary or hours. I’ve never worried about pay or shifts, just what I could learn and how I could improve my craft. Richard told me when I left Lord of the Manor: you can chase money anywhere, but go somewhere good and focus on bettering yourself.