*About Bryan*

I was trained to become a professional chef by a remarkably ebullient
Frenchman called *Jean Marchal *who was head chef at the French Embassy in
London for many years before buying a restaurant on the banks of the Mere
at Ellesmere, Shropshire. 
He moved on to manage a large country hotel near
Bangor-on-Dee, Denbighshire. This is where our paths first crossed. I was
straight out of school and keen to learn, having been passionate about food
for many years. Fortunately, Jean was keen to teach and was happy to find
someone with the same ethos.

It was mid Seventies and my introduction to commercial kitchens was bang at
the start of the longest heatwave in living memory. If you can survive
that, you can survive anything. 
I picked up many influences along the way,
working with many different chefs, including one trained at the Michelin
starred Sharrow Bay Hotel but my main influence has always been those early
years at The Cross Lanes.

That is why you will see things like Prawn Cocktail, Duck in Orange, Steak
Diane and Black Forest Gateau on my menu at some point.

*Passé?.....* Nonsense, just good tasty food that doesn’t go out of fashion.

I was also formally trained at Aston and Deeside colleges to City & Guilds
standard but I don’t place the same importance on this because it will
never prepare you for the cut and thrust and the “buzz” that you get from
working in a busy kitchen.

*You have to enjoy catering to be able to do it well.*