After more than 25 years in catering, Anthony Williams has w

What makes a village pub special?

Is it the ambience and atmosphere, the quality of the food, the choice of cask ales, or the welcome offered by the host and staff?

Visit the Williams Arms in Wrafton, North Devon, and it only takes a couple of minutes to realise this pub has all of those attributes plus one other.

Head chef Anthony Williams has recently been awarded the title of Pub Chef of the Year by the British Meat Association.

The 16th-century pub is a gem with cosy bars, beamed ceilings, tastefully decorated restaurant and a bar for locals.

It's always been a busy pub renowned for its food, but following recent exposure on TV, radio, and in print, licensees Jonathan and Donna Squire are expecting even more visitors.

Jonathan has watched the pub grow since he was a teenager, having moved in with his parents back in 1976, when he was just 14.

It had been a small, two-bar pub, the restaurant was a third of its present size and the car park had been an orchard with stables.

The premises are now treble the size, with a restaurant for 120, several bars on different levels, and a lounge bar with a public entertainment licence for 220.

Most of the custom is repeat business, but, during the summer, many a tourist will seek it out.

Yet, as Jonathan remarks: "I've been in the trade so long, I know that it only takes one visit to go wrong and people will take offence and stay away."

He was taught to look after those who help him and that's a motto he has adopted at the pub.

All meat, fish and vegetables are bought from local suppliers, most of whom return the compliment and dine at the pub restaurant.

"They don't get any special favours but I always make sure we are up to speed with our service.

I don't believe people should have to wait for their meal for a lengthy period.

That would be unacceptable to me and, I believe, unacceptable to others."

Even though the staff at the pub have managed to prepare, cook and serve more than 800 meals in one day and, on an average Sunday, can dish up 280 meals over a three-hour period, Jonathan says complaints are rare.

The pub is one of only a handful of free houses in the area and the Squires have been careful in planning and watching the business evolve.

"The only time we thought we might have made a mistake was when we introduced the carvery in 1989.

Many of our customers enjoyed our table service and, when we launched the carvery, a handful chose to stay away.

But within months, we realised we were on to a winner as the customers flocked to enjoy the choice of three roast meats and veg," Jonathan remarks.

The pub is open from 11am until 11pm and food is restricted to lunchtime and evenings during the winter, but is available all day during the busy summer months, with OAPs enjoying a special price of £5.75 at lunchtimes on Mondays to Saturdays.

The Squires are delighted their long-serving and hard-working head chef has finally had his culinary skills acknowledged as the best in the country.

Says Jonathan: "Anthony has worked here since 1980, and although he's usually busy preparing and cooking pub food, he has the talent to produce some remarkable dishes and he's proved it."

Williams' flamboyant style and approach to cooking made him popular with regulars and last year he was persuaded to enter the British Meat Steak Pie of the Year competition.

He was runner-up with his steak and venison pie.

It was a suggestion by the BBC that it was impossible for people to enjoy good pub food for under £9.99 that inspired him to enter the Pub Chef of the Year competition.

He created his own dish, using all local ingredients, and his Devonshire-style wet roasted black-pudding-stuffed belly pork impressed the judges so much that they awarded him the prestigious title.

Richard Fagan of British Meat recalls: "His use of belly pork was innovative and creative and his enthusiasm and passion was particularly apparent."

Williams admits he gets his inspiration from some of the great names in catering ­ including Rick Stein and Gary Rhodes.

"You don't need to copy their recipes but they give you food for thought.

They are a great inspiration, not only to housewives but chefs as well," he says.

Williams admits he never knows when his mind will turn to creating the next gourmet meal.

"I can be walking, shopping or relaxing in bed.

An idea will come to me and I'll write it down and experiment with it in the kitchen before putting the idea to Jonathan and hopefully including it on the pub's specials board.

"The only thing I insist is that I use local produce, including meats and fish.

You get to know your suppliers and they know exactly what you want.

That way I get the very best ingredients and my customers enjoy the very best meals."

The pub provides a variety of bar snacks as well as an á la carte menu for the restaurant, supplemented by a collection of tasty specials of the day.

Needless to say, locals and visitors are now queuing up to taste Williams' award-winning dish.

It's a chef's life Anthony Williams, 42, spent his early years helping his mother and father run their bed and breakfast business in Woolacombe, North Devon.

He gained a three-year apprenticeship in catering with Trusthouse Forte, trained at the Imperial Hotel, Barnstaple, then moved to the Fleece in Cirencester on the edge of the Cotswolds.

He quickly made a name for himself, becoming Trusthouse Forte's top apprentice in the south west.

But instead of seeking the high life in big cities, Williams chose to remain in North Devon and took a job as head chef at the Williams Arms ­ a challenge bearing in mind he was still only 19.

He laid down the law straight away, saying he wanted to develop his own style of catering by moving away from packet soups and sauces.

No one has ever regretted that decision!