Pub chef wins Tatler Restaurant Award
The award for best young chef at the 2009 Tatler Louis Roederer Restaurant Awards has gone to a pub chef.
Dominic Chapman, of the Royal Oak in Paley Street, Berkshire, received the award at the eighth annual awards, held at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London on Monday.
The 35-year-old previously worked at Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck in Bray, Berksire and was also head chef of his Hinds Head pub.
He said: "It's amazing, probably one of the greatest achievements so far. The people we were up against are very well respected restaurants so for us to win was amazing. It was completely out of the blue."
He added: "Our food has very, very strong British routes, I am very interested in the seasons and what's available at that time of year. We are using sprats, hare and partridge, mallard and things like that at the moment and that's what my cooking is all about, as well as making sure the ingredients are very, very good and treated with love and respect, look good on the plate and taste good. Flavour is what I am all about. I want my dishes to pack a punch with the flavour."
