Chef and restaurateur Tom Sellers is to step back from his culinary consultancy role at Restaurant Ours, the London restaurant he opened in April 2016, at the end of this month. Sellers will instead take on a more general position on the board of the business, while negotiating on an as-yet unnamed new project in Asia.
Frederick Forster, former Roux Scholar 2000 and National Chef of the Year 2011, has been appointed executive head chef at The Don in the City of London. He joins from a similar role at D&D London's Le Pont de la Tour, where he oversaw the launch of a new menu and dining room in 2015. Forster has already created a new a la carte menu for The Don.
Steve Drake has announced a series of new appointments at his upcoming restaurant Sorrel, set to launch in Dorking in September. Richard Giles, former senior sous chef at Steve's former restaurant Drake's, has taken on the role as head chef, while Winnie Eckardt is also moving across as restaurant manager. Hilary Perryman, ex-executive assistant at Marriot, has joined as reservations manager, while Sazan Alijija - who has worked at Michelin-starred La Trotra and Uliassi - is head sommelier.
Will Holland has announced he will leave Coast, the two-AA-rosette restaurant he opened in Pembrokeshire three years ago, for a role as executive head chef at The Atlantic Hotel in Jersey later this year. The hotel's current head chef Mark Jordan will continue on until the close of the summer season in October. Holland will work with The Atlantic on its mission to 'help put Jersey on the map' as a gourmet destination.
Frances Atkins, the first female chef in the UK to win a Michelin star, is to embark on a 'new challenge' following the sale of her Michelin-starred restaurant The Yorke Arms. Atkins placed her Ramsgill property on the market for £1.75m earlier this month after 21 years at the helm. Though tight-lipped on her next move, the chef says she aims to stay within the restaurant industry and her project will be outside the local area.
Tate Catering - which runs restaurants and cafes at the four Tate galleries in London, Liverpool and St Ives - has announced a trio of new appointments. Chris Dines (left), who cuts his teeth at Claridge's and was most recently senior head chef of events at Tate, is the new executive head chef for the group. Hamish Anderson (centre), who has worked as head sommelier and wine buyer for Tate over 18 years, has been appointed CEO of the catering division, while Fraser Bruce (right) will head up the cafe at Tate St Ives this summer. Bruce spent 10 years working in France and Spain and since returning to the UK has cooked at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, and Racine in Knightsbridge.
Former Chester Grosvenor alumnus Gareth Webster is the new head chef at The George and Dragon in Clifton, Cumbria. The restaurant won the 'Dining Pub Award' in the 2017 Good Pub Guide, and cooks with fresh produce from the kitchen garden at its sister property Askham Hall. Webster has held several head chef positions across the Lake District, including at The Wheatsheaf in Brigsteer.
Paul Leonard has been appointed head chef at the three-AA-rosette Burlington Restaurant at the Devonshire Arms Hotel & Spa. He joins from the Michelin-starred Scottish hotel Isle of Eriska, where he was head chef for two years, and has also cooked at two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles. It comes after The Burlington switched to a four-day working week earlier this year to improve work/life balance for staff. The restaurant has increased its brigade from 11 to 15 chefs, who work a reduced 48 hours a week for the same rate of pay.
Former Three Chimneys chef Chris McPhee is to head up the new Terrace restaurant at the £8m country club and spa development at the Swinton Estate in North Yorkshire. The Terrace will serve produce from the estate's four-acre walled garden when it launches this summer. Also joining the property is Restaurant Gordon Ramsay chef Mehdi Amiri, who is taking over as head chef at the three-AA-rosette Samuel's restaurant at the Swinton Park castle hotel. Amiri will use venison, rabbit, trout and game from the grounds to create dishes for the menu.
The recent government reshuffle has seen John Glen, MP for Salisbury and South Wiltshire, take over from Tracey Crouch as Minister for Tourism. Glen, whose brief also includes culture, heritage and museums, previously worked as a parliamentary private secretary to Eric Pickles and Sajid Javid.