Chefs 2012

Will Holland - Chef Patron

Will worked for over a decade in Michelin - starred establishments before taking on the challenge of opening La Bécasse. He began his career at Homewood Park Hotel, Bath, where he was employed by renowned Chef, Gary Jones (now Raymond Blanc’s Executive Chef at Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons.) Gary and Andy Hamer inspired Will to develop his talent and focus on excellence from a young age. After three years at Homewood Park, Will spent over three years at Gravetye Manor Hotel, West Sussex, under Chef de Cuisine, Mark Raffan. Here, Will was taught, along with many other things, the importance of using produce from your doorstep. In 2004, Will met Alan Murchison and went to work at L’ortolan Restaurant, Berkshire. Will was one of the original team that opened L’ortolan under Alan Murchison as the business proprietor. He has worked for Alan for over 8 (happy!) years now. In early 2007, Alan Murchison bought Hibiscus Restaurant in Ludlow, the foodie Capital of Great Britain and re-opened the restaurant as La Bécasse in July 2007.

This presented Will with the opportunity of Chef – Patron and to firmly establish himself behind the stoves and really stamp his mark. La Bécasse Restaurant was soon recognized as one of the best restaurants in the country with a string of accolades and awards including - 3 Rosettes from The AA Restaurant guide, 1 Michelin Star from The Michelin Guide (2009 - 2011), 6 out of 10 from The Good Food Guide, as well as being in their “Top 50 UK restaurants” list, the highest rating from the respected Hardens UK Restaurant Guide, 34th place in The National Restaurant Award’s “Top 100 Restaurants in the UK”, 19th best restaurant in Great Britain in “The Sunday Times Top 100 Restaurants” list and “Best Fine Dining Restaurant” from Metro.

Chef Will Holland puts the success of La Bécasse down to his loyal and dedicated staff. Along the way, Will has picked up a few personal awards including a coveted Acorn Award which are awarded to the industry’s highest achievers under the age of 30. He was also named in The Good Food Guide’s list of their predicted “ten most influential chefs of the next decade”.

Will has appeared on a few national foodie television programmes including being a regular guest chef on James Martin’s Saturday Kitchen, beating the Hairy Bikers when they visited La Bécasse on their “Food Tour of Britain” and was the central region champion on BBC’s Great British Menu.

http://www.labecasse.co.uk/The_Chef

MSK Development Chef : Vicky Endersen

Vicky is the development chef at the specialist ingredient company MSK.

She is originally from Ireland and prior to her role at MSK spent many years working in restaurant kitchens for acclaimed chefs such as John Burton Race, Alan Murchison and Tom Aiken.

Vicky is a pastry chef by trade and has used her knowledge of the kitchen environment to help her to demonstrate new and innovative products to chefs eager for fresh concepts and methods.

Molecular Gastronomy is a fascinating subject and is as practical as it is innovative. Vicky has development methods and techniques that can be used by all.

www.msk-ingredients.com

Lisa Allen, Head Chef, Northcote

Not only was Lisa Allen the first female chef to win the regional heats but also to win a course in the history of Great British Menu. In 2010, Lisa cooked her, 'Levens Hall Wild Rabbit & Leek Turnover, Piccalilli' for Prince Charles at the Banquet in celebration of the National Trust.

Born in Lancashire in 1981, Lisa very quickly realised that food was her passion in life as she excelled at Home Economics in school. In her pursuit of excellence Lisa attended Lancaster and Morecombe College to study catering and upon graduation she secured her first position in an established kitchen; she joined the Michelin starred Holbeck Ghyll in the Lake District as a Commis Chef in 2000. Lisa recalls of her first experiences in the real world:

“I think at that age it is quite daunting coming out of college because you don’t understand all the ins and outs of the kitchen. But it gave me a good understanding of what to expect in the real world, as well as a good grafting, and made me realise what kind of catering I wanted to go into.”



Over the next two years Lisa honed her culinary skills as she moved onto the remarkable two Michelin starred Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham to learn from David Everitt-Matthias and his team, again as a Commis Chef. Lisa’s ambition to be the best at what she does continued and it was here that she realised that in order to succeed in the industry she would have to go above and beyond her male counterparts.

“It’s a little harder for a woman to succeed in this industry, but you’ve got to get out there and prove yourself, and once you’ve gone and done that you’ve just got to keep on going.”

Wanting to return to her roots and having developed a strong working relationship with Nigel Haworth, of the famous Northcote, through her part-time job for his outside catering company during her college years, it felt right for Lisa to take up a position at his Michelin starred restaurant as a Demi Chef de Partie. Under the pupilage of Chef Patron Nigel, Lisa, after only four years and at the tender age of 23, was promoted to Head Chef becoming one of the youngest females to hold this position at such a high calibre restaurant, and in doing so joined a very small club of female chefs at the helm of a Michelin starred restaurants. Northcote has successfully retained the star ever since.

Lisa and Northcote’s passion for local produce and regional cooking has led her to win such as accolades as Best Chef Of The Year at the 2008 Northern Hospitality Awards, a title that she modestly accepted as “fortunate”. She has reiterated this philosophy by arranging stages for her team and through her own impressive showings in major competitions, such as Young Chef Young Waiter and the Roux Scholarship. Not content with all of this, she has got involved in her community by assisting in cookery demonstrations at local schools in a bid to encourage young, talented individuals to enter the industry.

With Northcote’s eyes firmly set on a second Michelin star and with Lisa having reached the finals of the hugely coveted BBC2’s Great British Menu for 2010, Lisa Allen is well and truly on the path to becoming one of the most respected chefs currently plying her trade.

http://www.northcote.com/

Greenaway’s creative cooking immediately places him in
Edinburgh’s premier league’
Square Meal

‘Head Chef Mark Greenaway has been noted as something of a rising star in the chef stakes and his modern Scottish cuisine is confident and as-sured; superb local produce and intriguing menus await you’.
Food Review Scotland

Mark Greenaway’s food is a knock-out, and the place manages to be simultaneously easy to be in, yet plush and a little bit sexy.
Food rating 10/10 – Joanna Blythman,
Sunday Herald

Award-winning Head Chef, Mark Greenaway, has received the coveted three AA Rosettes following the opening of his first signature restaurant; No.12 Picardy Place in 2011. He has appeared on The Great British Menu and will be on the forthcoming series, has received fantastic reviews across the board and been featured in some of the industry’s top publications and newspapers.

With confident and assured cooking, using superb local produce, Mark’s menus are intriguing and his presentation is clean, modern and as pleasing to the eye as it is to the palate.

Starting in Scotland in 1992, Mark has had a successful career in both the UK and Australia, working his way up through the ranks he distinguished himself in, and the restaurants he worked at, gaining plaudits in every appointment.

For five years (1999 – 2004) Mark developed his style, ethos and journey as a Chef in Sydney Australia, and whilst working in a variety of top establishments, he added a whole new range of techniques and trends to his repertoire.

Returning to Scotland, Mark set about creating his high standards in Glasgow and reached top awards in Room Restaurant at One Devonshire Gardens, Kilcamb Lodge Hotel in Strontian and The Dryburgh Abbey Hotel in the Scottish Borders where Mark was previously their award winning Head Chef.

When Mark launched at No 12 Picardy Place he joined the fine dining restaurants of Scotland’s culinary capital. Mark continues to push the boundaries in modern cuisine, adding innovative creative dishes to his menu.

http://www.markgreenaway.com/