Rhodes' chef in pub deal
A chef who gained a Michelin star working for Gary Rhodes has taken on a Northamptonshire pub.
Adam Gray has bought half the lease of Charles Wells pub the Red Lion in East Haddon with existing managers Nick Bonner and Ren Averio.
Gray has appointed Anthony Horn as head chef at the 100-cover pub. Horn worked with Gray for five years at Rhodes Twenty Four in the City of London.
The menus at the Red Lion are devised by both chefs.
Starters include pumpkin soup with melting Oxford blue cheese (£4.50).
Mains include organic salmon steak with buttered curly kale, brown shrimp and nut butter dressing (£15).
A new kitchen has been installed at a cost of £50,000 and refurbishment of the pub's six bedrooms has also got underway.
A barn in the pub's grounds will be converted in January for around £100,000 to house the Shires Cookery School, which will move to the site.
Work is due to be completed by the end of January, with courses starting soon afterwards.
They will include baking, butchery, Italian cookery, healthy eating and sausage making. Three-hour courses start from £35 and day courses from £95.
Bonner added: "Adam is planning to bring in celebrity chefs. He and I will be involved with the school."
Gray met Rhodes in 2001 and has worked with him ever since, first as head chef at City Rhodes, where he maintained a Michelin star, and then Rhodes Twenty Four, where he won a Michelin star.
