Karl Martin appointed executive chef consultant of Craft Dining Rooms

Karl Martin, former head chef of Old Downton Lodge in Ludlow, has been appointed executive chef consultant of Craft Dining Rooms in Birmingham.

Based at the International Convention Centre, Craft Dining Rooms is focused on serving food using ingredients from British artisan suppliers.

Martin has enjoyed a 20-year career, spending the past five years at Old Downton Lodge, which achieved four AA rosettes and was shortlisted for the 2019 Cateys Menu of the Year award.

After starting his career as a kitchen porter at the age of 13 in a golf club in Wolverhampton where his father ran the restaurant, he went on to train at Henley College in Coventry. He later worked with Peter Griffiths; Simon Haigh, food and beverage director of the Eden Hotel Collection; and Adam Bateman, group executive chef of the Hotel Collection, taking over at Old Downton in 2017.

Martin said Craft Dining Rooms offers “British country dining with a modem twist, with the emphasis on British seasonal ingredients and the marriage between them. At Craft we will try to tell a story with our food and beverages, it’s a story of produce and tradition."

Emma Morgan, owner and Craft’s director of business services, added: “Having known Karl for some time now we couldn’t think of anyone more perfect to lead Craft’s new culinary offering. We believe that Karl’s food combined with the new innovative approach to the site which is set to see Craft develop into two amazing concepts and offerings, which will make use of the venue’s 120 sq m canal-side terrace and traditional dining room from January.”