Adam Bennett

Title

Chef Director

Style of cooking

Modern British

Currently working at

The Cross Kenilworth

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About the chef

Adam Bennett is beginning to receive the accolades and respect his prodigious talent deserves.

After eight years as Head Chef at the vaunted Simpsons, Edgbaston, Coventry-born Adam Bennett became Chef Director at Kenilworth pub The Cross in 2013 – another venture backed by Simpsons supremo Andreas Antona.

In his earlier days, he completed a spell under Anton Mosimann at The Dorchester, London, and worked in France, at Restaurant Guy Lassausaie in Lyon and Restaurant Marc Meurin in Bethune. Previous accolades include reaching the final of National Chef of the Year UK and winning Midlands Chef of the Year in 2005.

In 2012, Bennett was Britain’s entrant in the prestigious Bocuse d’Or championships (past British nominees include Simon Hulstone), which brings together some of the best chefs from around the world to compete in a live cook off. Bennett saw off some intense competition to reach the final where his meat dish of truffled blue legged chicken with mushrooms and tarragon was marked best in class.

And one story from his exploits in Brussels demonstrates just how particular Adam Bennett is. Clearly not one to compromise on ingredients, Bennett realised while out in Brussels that he had forgotten the baby leeks needed for one of his courses. The answer was to send Simpsons’ Executive chef, Luke Tipping, onto the Eurostar to deliver the vegetable.

At the main event of the Bocuse D’Or, in Lyon, Bennett finished fourth and won the Best Meat Course prize.

While his cuisine could be described as modern British, dishes like braised Irish beef cheek with pickled walnut, smoked anchovy, glazed carrots and mash reveal Bennett’s eclectic streak.

Learn From the Chef

The Professionals

Chef’s Irish Beef Club

The Chefs' Irish Beef Club is a global network, exclusively for chefs who are ambassadors for Irish beef. Through high-profile events, the chefs provide positive support and publicity for premium Irish Beef and are invited to Ireland to see the Irish beef production system for themselves.

John Chantarasak

John Chantarasak draws influences from both his Thai and British heritage to create dishes which marry traditional Thai cooking with British flavours.

Adam Byatt

Raised in Rainham, Essex, Adam Byatt was born into a family of food lovers, with a professionally trained mother and an army cook for a grandfather. Always proud of his working class roots, Adam was instilled with a love of food but also an appreciation for the value of hard work.

Alyn Williams

Born in East Ham, London (and a life-long Hammers supporter as a result), Alyn Williams came from a family that celebrated food. His father had a great passion for gardening, and in his two allotments grew all manner of vegetables – peppers, celeriac, purple kohlrabi, every type of bean – things you didn’t typically see growing up in 1970s East London.

Andy McLeish

Andy McLeish takes the field to fork ethos seriously, hunting his own game to ensure his menus at Chapter One offer the finest ingredients treated with respect.

Luke Tipping

Luke Tipping lived above many restaurants as a child – his father was a chef and his mother was also in the industry. But it wasn’t until his early twenties that he developed a taste for high-end cooking. After what Tipping describes as a ‘misspent youth’, his father arranged a placement in a kitchen for him and he proved to be a quick learner. He enrolled at Halesowen catering college to supplement his placement and began making up for lost time.

Pascal Aussignac

Pascal Aussignac is a chef who – by his own admission – doesn’t do concepts. “I don’t like the word,” he says simply. And he doesn’t “do” ego: “We are just about happiness.” Instead, he is a man of innate pragmatism and tactility who takes the rich, bold and flavourful specialities of Gascony – foie gras, blood sausage, prunes, Armagnac – and reimagines unadorned country cooking into dishes that are interesting and exquisite.

Paul Foster

Paul Foster became interested in food from a young age. His parents were involved in the pub business with his mother running the kitchens, and she would help him to bake cakes which he sold to the pub’s bouncers.

Paul Welburn

Food as a way to bring people together, over the dinner table, was an important part of life for Paul Welburn as he was growing up: ‘Food was always a social time with my family, being around the table, having a good meal – that sociable, enjoyable moment. That’s where my passion for being a chef started. I would cook meals for people (probably not a high standard in any way!), but I enjoyed seeing their reaction.’ Born and raised in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, he says it was here that he learned the value of working with humble ingredients, of getting the best out of what was available, and of ensuring that no part of an ingredient went to waste.

Russell Bateman

Russell Bateman’s interest in cooking was sparked at an early age. Although there were not an excess of quality restaurants in Hayes, the suburb of West London where he grew up, his grandparents were a strong influence. He remembers the fresh crunch of the vegetables his grandfather grew and the smell of fresh bread his grandmother used to make. His grandfather also brewed his own ale and although Russell Bateman never got to try any, the ceremony of him proudly opening a new batch is a fond memory.

Shay Cooper

One of England’s young generation of up-and-coming, ultra-talented chefs with Michelin pedigree, Shay Cooper started cooking as a commis chef in 1997, before he was even out of school. Since then he’s worked at Juniper in Altrincham, Stockcross’s The Vineyard, and was named head chef at the Endsleigh Hotel, gaining three AA rosettes for his efforts there.

Tony Fleming

As a young chef, Fleming was influenced by the French classicists – Nico Ladenis, Pierre Koffmann, Anton Mosimann etc. – and still believes it is of prime importance that a chef’s career is built on a solid technique and a regimented precision. Yet he is not inclined either to take food so seriously as to take the joy out of it completely.

Tom Cenci

Driven by his pure love of food and his affection for the collaborative nature of the kitchen, Tom Cenci has earned a place as one of London’s most prominent chefs. Having worked alongside some of the greatest and most respected chefs in the industry, Tom pushes culinary boundaries with his eclectic and exciting menus, a reflection of his passion for his craft.

Richard Sharples

Throughout his career, Richard has been in charge of looking after the ever-expanding portfolio of top-quality restaurants in the north of England and is currently the Executive Chef of Gary Usher’s Elite Bistros. One of the UKs most admirable restaurant groups, Elite Bistros boasts a portfolio of six superb restaurants amongst its ranks. Richard has been a key part of that expansion having joined in 2016 to take the helm at Hispi, subsequently becoming Gary’s right-hand man and helped open Wreckfish in Liverpool, Pinion in Prescot and most recently Kala in Manchester City Centre.

Anna Haugh

Influenced by her Irish upbringing in Dublin, Anna Haugh has been cooking professionally for 20 years offering Modern European cooking using only the finest Irish produce. Anna’s devotion and determination to championing Irish produce in her food has defined her as a sensational cook throughout her career.

The Grass Fed Standard from Bord Bia

Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board, has introduced a national quality label for grass-fed Irish beef. This so-called Grass Fed Standard provides consumers with reliable information about the origin and living conditions of Irish cattle. The new standard is unique in the world, is strongly based on scientific data and is independently verified.

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