This month’s Featured Chef…

Shaun Hill

Chef/Patron, Walnut Tree

shaun-hill

This month the Staff Canteens featured Chef is Shaun Hill, Shaun has received outstanding success throughout his career gaining Michelin star status at Gidleigh Park Changford, and for 11 years as Chef Patron at the Merchant House in Ludlow. Since closing the Merchant House, Shaun has worked on several journalistic projects, before returning to a favourite and regular dining haunt of The Walnut Tree in Abergavenny, which is where we met with Shaun

Shaun, thank you very much for meeting with us today. Can we start by talking about the Walnut Tree.

OK.

Obviously, you have had a hugely successful career and most people will remember you from Gidleigh Park and also the Merchant House, and then you take on the Walnut Tree. Again, steeped in tradition. Hugely successful and then it fell on troubled times – a well documented “Kitchen Nightmare”.

It was! (Laughter)

And, now, I read somewhere that the locals embraced you with open arms when they heard you were coming to the Walnut Tree. What was your rational behind coming here?

There wasn’t one. I have never worked to a plan. I do what I think seems like a good a idea at the time. I have never had a big plan to do anything, except I tried to retire after I closed the Merchant House. I was going to make money consulting and writing. I took a weekly recipe writing column in the Telegraph magazine; started writing reviews for the Guardian … all of which was quite nice; I had no plans to open a restaurant. I took a small share in a Brasserie that opened in Worcester; they suddenly started pretending that I cooked there, so I withdrew my stake in that. I knew the Walnut Tree was in trouble; it was repossessed by the bank; I looked at it and the roof needed replacing, the floor needed replacing and it had fallen on hard times. I’d enjoyed eating here over about 30 years – not often but regularly, about three times a year. I felt sad that it had gone and after it had been closed for a few months a boy that used to work for me, he has an hotel in Abergavenny, he came to me and asked if I would consider doing it as a 50:50 arrangement and as his contribution he would take care of the admin; payroll – all the bits that get on my nerves!!