MasterChef semi-finalist Andrew Durham to open Cornwall restaurant

Andrew Durham, a semi-finalist on BBC Two’s MasterChef: The Professionals in 2019 and former Royal Navy chef, is opening his own restaurant at the Porth Beach hotel in Newquay, Cornwall.

The restaurant, ‘Chef Andrew Durham at Porth Beach hotel’, will open at the 10-bedroom boutique hotel on 17 July with a maximum of 16 covers while social distancing restrictions are in place.

The concept is a collaboration between the chef and the hotel’s owner, Andrea Afrifa, who founded restaurant app TopTable (now OpenTable). Durham recently moved to the area with his wife and young family and was looking to launch his own restaurant when the Covid-19 outbreak scuppered his plans. However, he met Afrifa through his lockdown takeaway service.

Dishes will include Newquay spider crab tortellini, tom yam and Thai basil; and spiced Terras duck breast, puy lentils with confit leg, cured yolk, sour blackberries, beetroot and duck sauce. Four-, six- and eight-course tasting menus will be available from £45 per person.

Afrifa said: “As soon as I tried my first mouthful of Andrew’s food I knew we had to work together.”

Durham previously worked as a personal chef with the Royal Navy, 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.