Welsh chef’s restaurant named best in London
SECOND BEST IN UK JUST A YEAR AFTER OPENING
ACHEF from Anglesey is celebrating after his restaurant was named the second best in the UK and the best in London just a year after its opening.
Brat in trendy Shoreditch burst onto the London restaurant scene last Spring and almost immediately it became the toast of London, garnering rave reviews in national newspapers.
Very soon afterwards its chef and owner Tomos Parry, at the age of only 32, found himself as the cover star of the prestigious Observer Food Monthly proclaiming him as “London’s hottest chef”.
It was quite a moment for the former Ysgol David Hughes pupil because as a schoolboy he used to devour the publication.
His cooking career started when he worked as a kitchen boy at the Ye Olde Bulls Head, in Beaumaris.
Now Brat has beennamed the second best restaurant in the UK in the National Restaurant Awards by William Reed – the group behind the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards.
One hundred of the UK’s best restaurants feature in the list, and in a very impressive ninth
place is Ynyshir in Machynlleth.
Ynyshir is a Michelinstarred Restaurant with Rooms with Gareth Ward as Chef Patron.
Neither Gordon Ramsay nor Alain Ducasse, highprofile international chefs feature in the list. The best restaurant in the UK was named Moor Hall Restaurant in Lancashire.
Brat now attracts numerous A-listers – regulars includes the actor Keira Knightly who turned up with Chelsea Clinton on New Year’s Eve, also the band Coldplay, and the guitarist The Edge from U2, who just happens to be Tomos’s guitar hero.
Speaking about winning his award, Tomos said: “I’m pretty exhausted after last night to be honest. It was held at quite a swanky venue, and all of the 100 best restaurants were invited and they did a countdown starting from 100.
“So when it came to the top 10 I was pretty excited as we hadn’t been called out yet, and then to be number two was amazing, to have done it in just a little bit over a year is pretty incredible.”
He continued: “I think it’s because we have an amazing team, and the restaurant itself is very informal and not at all sterile so people can come and have a nice time and see the cooking being done in the open kitchen.
“I based it on familyrun, fire-friendly restaurants of the port town of Getaria in northern Spain.”
“Keira Knightly does come with her husband fairly often, and she and her husband are lovely, and we have common ground as we have children the same age.
“We also have a lot of people that come from Wales, I can hear Welsh being spoken quite often which is nice.”
When asked what keeps Tomos grounded, he said: “My son! We had a few drinks last night to celebrate Brat doing so well, but he’s not bothered about awards and stuff and he was up as usual at 7am this morning.
“He stays with my parents quite often in Anglesey, if I have to go away now and again.
He added: “I want him to learn about Welsh culture and the place where I grew up.”