Flash-grilled: Matt Weedon
What was your first job?
Washing up in a hotel kitchen.
What is your guiltiest food pleasure?
Bacon.
What’s the best restaurant meal you’ve ever had?
The French Laundry in California.
What industry figure do you most admire, and why?
Raymond Blanc - his enthusiasm for food is infectious and the list of great chefs coming from his kitchen is endless.
If you weren’t in kitchens, what would you do?
Pro pool player.
What is your biggest regret?
No regrets, life’s too short.
What’s your pet hate in the kitchen?
Instant coffee.
What’s the oddest thing a customer has said to you?
Excuse me?! This has to be a typo on the menu - cod with braised beef?
What’s the dish you wish you’d thought of?
Beef Wellington.
Describe your cooking style in three words
Big bold flavours.
What’s the most overrated food?
Lobster.
You’re restaurant dictator for a day – what would you ban?
Allergies.
What’s the worst review you’ve ever had?
I don’t recall any.
If you could cook for anyone in the world, who would you pick, and why?
My grandad.
What advice would you give someone starting out in the industry?
Buckle up, it’s a bumpy ride but it’s well worth it. There is no better job.
Which single item of kitchen equipment could you not live without?
Pacojet.
What do you cook at home on your days off?
Simple but tasty food for the family.
What’s your earliest food memory?
My nan’s sandwiches. They had really thick Stork margarine spread in them. That and sweet tea.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Find a top small kitchen, you learn more quickly one to one with the chef.
What’s the closest you’ve ever come to death?
Haven’t been there yet luckily.
Where do you go when you want to let your hair down?
I don’t have any hair!
What’s your tipple of choice?
A long slow comfortable screw against the wall. With hibiscus syrup. It’s a great drink.
What would you choose to eat for your last meal?
As part of a 20-course meal cooked by Thomas Keller, Paul Bocuse, Keith Floyd and Raymond Blanc. It would have to involve Côte de boeuf , fries, bearnaise and a lemon tart with raspberries.
Matt Weedon is head chef at Cotswolds' The Feathered Nest. He previously worked at Glenapp Castle, where he won his first Michelin star, was awarded three AA rosettes and was at the helm when it was named Scotland Restaurant of the Year by The Good Food Guide. He has also worked at Lords of the Manor in the Cotswolds.
