A group of chefs working within the Brecon Beacons National Park area came together last week to form a Brecon Beacons Chefs Club to promote local produce in the National Park on their restaurant menus.
Coming together at the Gliffaes Hotel near Crickhowell, one of 26 hotels in Wales to achieve a Gold Award from Visit Wales, the new Brecon Beacons Chefs Club introduced 8 locally based chefs to each other allowing them the chance to discuss ideas and stories on ways promote local produce on their respective menus.
Project coordinator Carol Williams, Tourism Growth Officer for the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority part of the Mid Wales Local Food Talks partnership noted, “The aim of establishing a chefs club here in the Brecon Beacons is to encourage local chefs to get to know the food and drink produced in the area and get inspired to source local produce for their menus. Over the coming months the Brecon Beacons Chef’s Club members will visit local producers as well as sample local delicacies and enjoy luncheons, such as today’s, prepared with locally sourced produce.”
The inaugural Brecon Beacon Chef Club members include:
- Robert Bryant from The Coach & Horses Llangynidr
- Carole Paish from the Bride Cafe, Brecon
- Matt Voyle The Bear, Crickhowell
- Louise Gudsell from the Tipple n Tiffin, Brecon
- Craig Wilsden from The Star Inn, Talybont on Usk
- Calvin Barry from Peterstone Court, Brecon
- Ross Bruce from Felin Fach Griffin
- Karl Cheetham from the Gliffaes Country House Hotel who will lead a cooking demonstration using locally sourced produce.
According to James Suter, owner of the Gliffaes hotel who hosted the first meeting and arranged the inaugural locally sourced luncheon, “Gone are the days of having to accept poor food in Wales when you go out; we have become a nation of foodies – you expect good food. Our customers and visitors want to see local produce on the menus and know that what they’re eating and experiencing has provenance and comes from down the road.”
Chef Karl Chetham of the Gliffaes continued, “We are so lucky of our location here right in the middle of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Here we are surrounded by farmland that is not intensively farmed which provides us with especially good local lamb and beef. Moving through the seasons we enjoy the best of game, partridge, pheasant and venison during Autumn and Winter and a few years ago we started growing our own vegetables here at the hotel – all be it on a small scale at present.”
The Brecon Beacons Chefs Club is one of a growing number of clubs established in Wales. According to restaurateur and food critic, Simon Wright, “Chef Clubs are a great way to bring local chefs and producers together, find out more about the range of local produce available in the region, and explore ways to increase a region’s profile as a food destination”.
