‘I started off washing up and microwaving the veg - but now I’ve got 2 Michelin stars’
... says kitchen ace Niall as he brings his brand of fine dining back home
A CHEF who started as a potwasher in a North Staffordshire pub is now the UK’S youngest to have earned two Michelin stars.
Niall Keating, from Newcastle, began washing up at the Fitzherbert Arms in Swynnerton, when he was 14, but was running the kitchen himself by the time he reached 17.
That was where he realised how much he enjoyed cooking and was advised by his dad that if he wanted to be a good chef he needed to work in a Michelinstarred restaurant.
At just 20, he was promoted to sous chef at the Michelin-starred Bath Priory hotel before going on to work at Michelin-starred restaurants in San Francisco and Denmark, where he was promoted to head chef.
The former Alleyne’s High School pupil is now executive chef at the two Michelin star Whatley Manor Hotel, in Wiltshire, and has just opened his own fine-dining restaurant in Barlaston called Lunar, just 10 minutes from his parents’ home.
The 30-year-old said: “I started at the Fitzherbert Arms, in Swynnerton, as a pot-washer when I was 14. It was my family’s local boozer and I used to go in there and play pool while my dad had a couple of pints.
“I got to the point where I wanted a part-time job and they said I could work there as a pot-washer and someone to microwave the veg. Then I ended up really enjoying the kitchen environment there, so I wanted to be a part of that with the team and the chefs. I never wanted a desk job or anything like that.
“Before I knew it, I was one of the chefs in the pub and I was running the kitchen alone at the age of 17. I’ve got no GCSES or anything like that. I didn’t go to college, I don’t have any qualifications.
“I really enjoyed cooking and I said I wanted to make sure whatever I was doing would be the best I could do it.
“I ended up getting a job at the Michelin star restaurant the Bath Priory hotel as a breakfast chef and the rest is history. It’s been a whirlwind. I was promoted to sous chef at Bath when I was 20 and then I moved to Nottingham to work at the two Michelin star restaurant Sat Bains.
“I spent three years there and then I moved to San Francisco, working in a three Michelin star restaurant, and I was there for two years. I wanted to stay but because of visa issues I couldn’t.
“I moved to Denmark, but I was in between Japan and Korea working in different restaurants. I got head chef position in Denmark before moving back to England to be executive chef at Whatley Manor and I’ve been there for the last five years.”
Niall was named the ‘Champion of Champions’ when he won the popular cookery show Great British Menu last year. He will also be a judge on the next series.
He said: “I won Great British Menu in 2020. I’m also going to be a judge on the next series, which is a step into the other side of it. I haven’t got to cook anymore and I get to enjoy being a judge.”
As well as his Whatley Manor and TV roles, Niall has opened Lunar at the World of Wedgwood in partnership with the Great British Experience Company.
He added: “I’m so excited and proud to be coming back to Staffordshire. For the last couple of years, I have wanted to bring something exciting here.
“It means more to me than opening a restaurant in Singapore or New York. I’ve always wanted to bring something back here.
“It’s 10 minutes from my parents’ house. My mum can’t believe it’s happening. It just feels very special.”