Chef's CV - James Rudden

John Rudden's route to the award-winning White Hart comprised spells in the kitchens of numerous pubs and hotels, giving him the perfect grounding to set up his own food operation.

A traditional catering college course in his home town of Skipton, North Yorkshire, led to a first - and unofficial - posting at the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate.

"It was a very unusual sort of apprenticeship, during which I more or less paid my own way. It was something I took on to get some practical experience and I paid my own bus fare from Skipton to Harrogate. Even the pay was a bit odd - I remember they generally just gave me a bottle of red or white house wine," Rudden recalls.

A posting at the Manor House Hotel, Morehampstead, Devon, and temporary spells at various London hotels were followed by invaluable experienced gained at the Grosvenor Hotel, Chester, Cheshire, and its famous Arkle Restaurant.

After four years in Chester he moved back to his native North Yorkshire to work in the kitchens of the Angel at Hetton in 1992. The Angel was then pioneering the gastro-pub concept and Ludden was able to learn much under the watchful eye of chef proprietor, the late Denis Watkins.

"Three years at the Angel proved a highly-significant phase of my career because Denis and his team taught me a great deal. It was the perfect location to train for the job I was eventually going to take on at the White Hart," he said.

Rudden and his wife, Susan, who also works at the White Hart, live locally in Lydgate, but will soon move to a new home just across the fields from the pub, together with their four children.