You built your career cooking in top restaurants all over England, as well as one of the best in Spain. What was it that drew you to rural Lancashire when it came to running a place of your own?
Well, I’m born and bred in Lancashire, so I wanted to be here. It was mainly that, but also the land and the produce. When we found Moor Hall, there was space here for all the produce we wanted to grow, and being able to grow your own makes all the difference. In a place like this, a big old manor house, growing food is part and parcel of the history. It was how they used to live. They would have had fruit trees, they would have had vegetables growing in the garden, so we’re following them. Having a kitchen garden means you can take complete control of your menu. When we have peas on the menu, it’s because they’re in the garden that week. Everything’s hyperseasonal, and that’s how I want it to be.
Has growing your own produce helped make you a better chef?
Definitely. It gives you so much respect for the produce, because you can see the hard work it takes to make things grow well, especially in the north of England – you’re not always getting the best climate here! We’re lucky to be surrounded by fantastic growers, and I’ve got so much respect for them all. The growers in the area are just incredible. We buy a lot of organics. We’ve got a fantastic strawberry grower, fantastic tomato growers, lots of different farms producing everything from carrots to turnips to tomatoes. Some do all sorts of different things and some really specialise.
Do you enjoy working with the rhythms of the year?
I love it. At this time of year, the gardens are absolutely booming – it’s one of my favourite times. The place is full of fruit and vegetables, herbs and flowers. It’s just glorious, having that right outside the window. The freshness is like nothing else. You make the most of it, because from the first frost right through until about March, it’s pretty brown out there. There will be some things in the ground, like purple sprouting broccoli, beetroots, a few roots, but not much. It’s the nature of the beast, isn’t it? In the winter month, you have to get a little more creative. The changeover on the menu might be a little slower. You’re into roots and game and shellfish. The whole property feels different – as soon as you enter the reception, the fire’s lit. It’s a nice feeling, but very different to the summer.
2025 has been a big year for you, getting a third Michelin star. How did you feel when you found out?
It’s incredible, in just our eighth year. It’s some achievement. Pretty mind-blowing really. Everyone here is super proud. But it’s tough. These things don’t come easy. The work involved was incredibly difficult, especially when 2020 hit and everything got a little bit uncertain with the pandemic. We rode that wave, and to then achieve what we’ve achieved – we got a second star in the second year of being open, and six years later we got a third – it’s hard to put into words how tremendous that was.
Along with L’Enclume, Moor Hall is one of only two three-star restaurants in the UK to also have a green Michelin star. What does that mean?
It’s for sustainability. For us, it’s just part of what we do. It’s about taking responsibility for the environment we live in and seeing that through in all of our working practices. It’s not just about using local produce, it’s about making sure everything is produced in the right way. Our own farming methods are ecological and biodynamic, and we only buy from producers who share our way of thinking.
You’ve recently installed a Big Green Egg in the kitchen garden to cook one of the dishes for your menu. Tell us about that.
We cook a snack as the guests come round the garden at the start of their meal. It’s basically just peas with chorizo – sweet peas with just a little smokiness from the chorizo. We make the chorizo in our little charcuterie room and the peas have been harvested straight off the pea plant right next to the barbecue. It’s a cool thing to do. Before the guests even get to their table, they’ve had such a great experience. The peas you grow are a heritage variety called ‘alderman’. What’s special about them? They’re quite unique in how tall they grow. The peas have a lovely sweet flavour and they’re very juicy. We barely need to cook them, just give them a little bit of heat from the barbecue, a little bit of smokiness. We only have them for a few weeks, but it all depends on the weather. If it gets too hot, the plants stress and they don’t like it. It’s why you don’t really see peas in hot countries. After that, we’ll move onto runner beans. We’ll chop them up and toss them through the chorizo – slightly different but it works just as well. With the runner beans we’ll give them a good grilling, so they get that real barbecue flavour.
You also have a MiniMax Big Green Egg at home. What is it that particularly appeals to you about the EGG?
It’s the diversity that makes it so good. You can keep the coals really low and use it for a slow cook with gentle smoke, or you can get it absolutely raging and make a sourdough or pizza. You can do literally everything on it, so not just grilling. You can roast, you can use the stone if you want to bake, or you can just pop some beetroots straight into the coals and let them slowly cook overnight. They end up all charred on the outside, and on the inside just beautifully soft, smoky and sweet. That diversity is amazing.
What’s your favourite dish to cook on it at home?
Well, I’m not going to say burgers and sausages, am I! I really like doing grilled leeks. Big leeks, cooked quite heavily on the barbecue. Let them cool down a little bit, then split them up and dress them in a lovely dressing. They’re really nice – just good, simple stuff. As a chef cooking at home, all you want is a simple life. I might do a little roast chicken cooked on the barbecue with traditional garnishes like roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese, that sort of thing. But grilled leeks on there with a romesco sauce – you can’t beat it.
