Andrew Durham has left Porth Beach hotel in Newquay, Cornwall, and joined Trevose Golf & Country Club in nearby Padstow, where he has taken the role of head chef at the venue’s Constantine restaurant.
Durham said: “I am very excited to be taking the helm of the kitchen and bringing a new and exciting cuisine to such a stunning location. It’s a real pleasure to be welcomed into such an amazing team and I am very much looking forward to working together to fulfil the potential of Constantine and Trevose.”
On Instagram, he added his thanks to the team at Porth Beach “for the amazing two years we had and everything we achieved”.
A semi-finalist on BBC Two's 2019 MasterChef: The Professionals and former Royal Navy chef, he opened his own 16-cover restaurant at the 10-bedroom boutique Porth Beach hotel in July 2020 in collaboration with the hotel's owner, Andrea Afrifa.
Durham won the Craft Guild of Chefs Senior Chef of the Year Award in 2015, and was also part of the Combined Services Culinary Arts team selected to compete at the Culinary Olympics in 2016.
The space at Porth Beach hotel that previously housed Durham's restaurant is due to launch as Lazy Susans Bar, Kitchen & Takeaway, a more relaxed, street-food style concept offering deli-led fast-food including grazing boards, fish and seafood tortillas and Korean-inspired chicken, ribs and sliders.
A statement from the hotel said: "We enjoyed an extremely successful season with chef patron, Andrew Durham, but faced difficulties maintaining margins off-season, whilst sustaining a large kitchen team."
The new concept is ready to launch in April following the successful recruitment of "a willing and locally based chef".