DARTMOUTH CELEBRITY CHEFS A brief history
Dartmouth seems to have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to notable and well-renowned chefs. Attracted by the beauty of the town, its river, and the richness of the
ingredients available in South Devon, chefs flock here, and food-lovers follow, gratefully, to their well-regarded establishments. Below is a short history of some of the town’s most notable - and sometimes notorious – ‘celebrity’ chefs. By Phil Scoble
Joyce Molyneux Restaurants were bleak places for anyone
wanting to try intriguing and original dishes before the 1970s. Unless you were lucky enough to go to the ‘Hole in the Wall’ in Bath – owned by George Perry Smith – that is. The Lancastrian restaurateur used influences from across Europe to infuse his menus with beautiful dishes people flocked to try.
Into his kitchen one day walked a ‘domestic science’ student called Joyce, who wanted to be his cook. It quickly became clear that she had a talent and temperament that the friendly man wanted to nurture. She showed herself to have consummate skill, and yet was still immensely humble, and when Perry Smith came to Dartmouth with her in 1973 to look at a mock-Tudor building on the South Embankment, he knew she was ready to run a fantastic and highly-regarded restaurant on her own. The Carved Angel opened in 1974, and quickly became
John Burton Race John Burton Race, Michelin Starred chef,
appeared in Dartmouth in the summer of 2004 following the purchase of the Carved Angel - which was renamed the New Angel – with a reputation. Before his fame, Burton Race was a great, award-winning chef, and a hard task master. He was consultant chef on the Lenny Henry series Chef! In which the comedian played an irascible chef at a well regarded restaurant, rather similar to Burton Race himself. He then, in 2004, went to France with his wife Kim and their many children to recharge his batteries and find new food inspiration. The year away was documented in the TV series French Leave, and highlighted his fiery temperament and tendency to make snap, and sometimes unwise, decisions. His return from this self-imposed exile was to take on the previously renowned Carved Angel and reshape it in his own image, incorporating new ideas brought about by his time away. This again was documented in a television programme, called Return of the Chef. In the show he again showed his difficult and mercurial nature – being called ‘Satan’ in all the trailers by Kim was a particular example of this – and continued to impress with his cooking. The business seemed to be well-placed and gained a Michelin star in 2005. The town seemed to benefit from his presence and the
regarded as the finest restaurant anywhere in the country. Chefs from London and beyond came down the long A38 to taste the food created by a woman who claimed she never wrote a single recipe, but was a ‘magpie’, taking the best bits of other people’s ideas. She demanded a friendly and happy kitchen, with staff all working in the kitchen and serving food too. She is often described as humble and kind – which seems amazing now considering how many ‘celebrity’ chefs recently have been described as ‘irascible’ and even ‘bullying’. The Carved Angel was sold in 2004, but Joyce had already ‘carved’ out a new career, gaining fame as a judge on the original Masterchef series – which also left the slightly less-happy legacy of Lloyd Grossman as a ‘foodie’. She has now settled into a happy retirement, still regarded as one of professional catering’s best regarded and most loved characters.
continual TV exposure he brought, with 2005 and 2006 being particularly good summers for the tourism industry thanks, said some, to the ‘Burton Race effect’.
But trouble was just around the corner – the business wasn’t doing well and neither was Burton Race’s marriage. He was revealed to have had a child with another woman and split from his wife. He then seemed to get a lifeline thanks to a spot on ‘I’m A Celebrity….Get Me Out of Here!’ at the end of 2007. But while he was in the jungle, eating bits of a crocodile NO ONE would think to make food out of, his estranged wife was closing the New Angel restaurant they jointly owned. She posted a
sign on the door, helpfully including her ex’s mobile number for the gagging national press. On his return, Burton Race was instructed to liquidate all his assets for the divorce and it seemed his short tenure in Dartmouth was over. However, thanks to the intervention of his friend Clive Jacobs – a dot com millionaire and former shareholder of
lastminute.com – he returned to the New Angel in 2008. He continued to work on a number of TV shows, and danced Michael Jackson’s Thriller for Comic Relief. It seemed he was looking beyond Dartmouth, and in early 2010 he left the New Angel to ‘concentrate on TV consultancy’. Whatever he does next, it is clear that he will be in the spotlight when he does it.
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