Minute on the clock: Ricki Weston, executive chef of Whatley Manor

The executive chef of Whatley Manor in Wiltshire retained one of the restaurant’s two Michelin stars a month after his promotion. He speaks to Emma Lake about driving forward the hotel’s new culinary ethos

 

Tell me about yourself.

 

I’m 29. I started cooking when I was 18. I stayed on to do A-levels, but then I did work experience in a kitchen, loved it and dropped out two weeks later.

 

I spent five years at South Lodge hotel in Sussex, in both the brasserie and with Matt Gillan at the Pass, which had one Michelin star. I then moved up to Nottingham to work at Restaurant Sat Bains and was there for three years. That was amazing. I learned a lot about myself and about food, which was really valuable. I then moved to the Cotswolds in 2018 and joined Whatley Manor as sous chef before being promoted to head chef. The opportunity came to take the helm and here I am now.

 

How have you found your first few months as executive chef?

 

I’ve been here three-and-a-half years and I know the team and the kitchen, so it’s been quite a natural process. We have a new menu and a new ethos of cuisine and the feedback has been really positive. It’s been a natural transition, it’s very exciting, and I’m very grateful to be given the opportunity in such a wonderful setting.

 

Tell me about your ethos.

 

My focus is traditional British heritage, so we use the best produce we can from the UK. We make sure guests know the provenance and really showcase what the UK has to offer. I use a lot of classical techniques in the base of the recipes, but modernise how it comes together on the plate.

 

Seasonality runs the kitchen. We have an amazing kitchen garden, from which we use a lot of produce, but we can’t use it all in one go, so we use fermentation and preserving techniques.

 

Have you changed the menus across all areas of the hotel?

 

The whole food offering for the hotel changed in one go: private dining, afternoon tea, weddings, the brasserie, the dining room, room service and spa – we changed all the menus.

 

That sounds like a huge job…

 

Getting all the dishes from an idea on paper onto the plate was a bit of a push, but it was exciting because everyone was involved. It’s a good atmosphere.

 

We evolve dishes constantly, looking at how we can make them better and developing them with the seasons.

 

I’m really happy with the menu, I think it’s a good representation of what we’re trying to do here.

 

You retained one of the Dining Room’s two Michelin stars less than a month after the relaunch – how did that feel?

 

It was amazing. We reopened on 4 February and Michelin was announced on 16 February. We had two stars, so a lot of people see it as a deletion down to one, but it was great to retain one. It’s a new menu, it’s a new chef and it’s a new ethos, so to have that encouragement that we’re on the right path is exciting and gives us a good foundation.

 

What are your ambitions?

 

I just want to cook food that makes guests happy. I’m developing myself and my style, as this is my first executive chef position. For me, it’s making sure we have a happy team, happy guests and a busy restaurant. It will be a natural evolution of what we do if additional accolades come.

 

Whatley Manor general manager Sue Williams has done some amazing things around sustainability. Does this influence continue into the kitchen?

 

Absolutely, we look at using every part of an ingredient, whether it’s vegetable, fish or meat. We try to be clever with how we work – waste is poor workmanship in my opinion. I tell the guys to think before anything goes in the bin, “is that something we can use anywhere?”

 

Focusing on traditional British food also cuts down air miles, and we limit produce we can’t get in the UK as much as we can. We always work to reduce plastic from suppliers – it’s at the forefront of what we do, not just in the kitchen, but as a hotel, and it’s great to be on board with that.