Meet the Chefs - Angus McCaig | Jackie Kearney | James and Chris Tanner |

Angus McCaig

Head Chef - The Holt, Honiton

The Holt in Honiton is a Pub, Restaurant & Smokehouse run by brothers Joe and Angus McCaig. Head Chef Angus has spent the last five years mastering traditional smoking and curing techniques to add his own aromatic twist to local Devon ingredients including chicken, duck, fish, butter and cheese. Special classes are run at the pub throughout the year for those who like to learn to smoke and cure their own food at home and various items are available to take away including their own DIY bacon curing packs. http://www.theholt-honiton.com/

James and Chris Tanner

Tanners Restaurant

It was a childhood dream of The Tanner Brothers to own and operate their own establishment. This year Tanners celebrates its 12th birthday. In 2008 Tanners was awarded the AA Restaurant of the Year for England. To compliment Tanners, the brothers opened the highly popular Barbican Kitchen brasserie in April 2006, followed by the Kitchen Cafe in 2011, both within the Plymouth Gin Distillery. 

Their backgrounds in the food world are synonymous with great restaurants in London, New York, France and Bath, with the Roux Brothers and Martin Blunos. In 2003 Chris & James filmed their own 15 part series, The Tanner Brothers. 2006 & 2007 also saw the publication of their books on chocolate and ice-cream. These have gone on to be translated for 7 other countries, including France for Larousse. James has been a regular on Ready Steady Cook, Saturday Kitchen & Lorraine. In October 2010 James published his first solo book, Take 5, which has been released throughout Europe and in the USA.  

www.tannersrestaurant.com www.barbicankitchen.com

Darrin Hosegrove

Ashburton Cookery School

After training at Exeter College Darrin began his career at Gidleigh Park Hotel under the guidance of Michelin starred chef Shaun Hill. After spending several years working in fine dining restaurants around the UK he returned to Exeter College teaching catering to an advanced level. Darrin also spent two years developing recipes for Sainsburys before joining the Ashburton Cookery School where he now shares his passion for local produce by overseeing and teaching various courses using an abundance of local suppliers. http://www.ashburtoncookeryschool.co.uk/

James Nathan

Chef & Masterchef Winner 2008

Since winning MasterChef 2008, James Nathan has focused on turning himself from an amateur to a professional chef. He has worked alongside legendary chefs including Michel Roux Jnr, Michael Caines MBE, Richard Corrigan and John Campbell and currently works for Rick Stein.

Before following his true passions – cooking, James took a year out and wrote a mountain biking guide book ‘The Trailrider Guide, Spain’.

James likes straightforward cookery where natural ingredients speak for themselves. Therefore, The Exeter Food Festival is his favorite food show as it is a wholesome and honest celebration of the South West’s superb produce.

Mat Follas

Winner of Masterchef 2009

Mat is passionate about cooking with local, wild ingredients, as well as learning about the fantastic bounty of sea vegetables and hedgerow produce that can be found all around us. His dishes use these naturally delicious ingredients to produce food that is full of flavour and a delight to eat. Mat's dream of having his own Restaurant serving real food with something wild at its heart, has become a reality.

www.thewildgarlic.co.uk

www.thewildgarlicblog.co.uk

Michael Caines MBE

Michael Caines Restaurants & Gidleigh Park

Michael Caines is one of Britain's most acclaimed chefs. AA Chef's Chef of the Year in 2007, and awarded an MBE in 2006 for services to the hospitality industry, Michael is an Operational Partner and Director of ABode Hotels and Michael Caines Restaurants, in overall charge of all food and beverage operations throughout the fast-growing group. He is also Executive Chef at Gidleigh Park, the acclaimed and prestigious country house hotel on the edge of Dartmoor at Chagford, Devon, where he has earned his reputation - as well as two Michelin stars - serving distinctive modern European cuisine utilising the finest local and regional produce and ingredients. Since February 2009, he is also Executive Chef at The Bath Priory, Bath, Gidleigh Park's sister establishment.

Jackie Kearney

The Hungry Gecko & Masterchef Finalist

Jackie Kearney is a top 4 finalist in BBC One's MasterChef 2011. She is now developing her experience and reputation with pop-up dining events, a vegetarian fine dining club and working with a number of highly regarded chefs in the UK.

Her food passion lies with vegetarian dining and Asian street food, inspired by her extensive travels across Asia with her husband and twin children. You can read more about Jackie's adventures with her family on her blog.

Jackie's ambition is to raise the bar in vegetarian and street food dining. She aims to create food that is exciting, delicious and thought provoking.

"I love everything about streetfood. I love the accessibility of it, the array of flavours and spices, the fresh preparation of ingredients and most of all, the opportunities this gives for creating great dishes, regardless of whether it's vegetarian or not. It's simply about producing an amazing plate of food for people to enjoy."

www.thehungrygecko.com