Top chef explains the one thing about restaurant menus he wants all customers to know about
A world-class chef who was once the right-hand man of Tom Kerridge has successfully ventured on his own path in the hospitality industry.
Nick Beardshaw is now the chef patron of the Starling in Surrey, having previously worked with the three Michelin star holder for 14 years.
The highly-rated Esher eatery only opened in 2024 and it already has a Michelin star.
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In an interview with Sky News, Beardshaw suggested that restaurant-goers need to keep in mind the VAT when ordering.
"I wish people realised VAT is included in the menu price," he said.
"When you pay £12 for a starter, the restaurant only receives £10 of it, which makes us seem more expensive than we actually are.
"In other countries, and indeed other UK industries, it is added afterwards at the point of receiving the bill, which makes it much more obvious to the customer what the restaurant is receiving."
The biggest problem with today's chefs, he claims, is the need to 'overcomplicate things'.
"The best cooking happens when ingredients are beautifully sourced and cooked simply to allow the natural characteristics to shine," Beardshaw explained.
"My one piece of advice for an aspiring chef is to be thick-skinned. There is a lot of criticism if you work at a high level, and you need to be able to use it to improve. You also need to be able to be self-critical to continue to improve."
On why he decided to leave Kerridge's posh fish and chips behind, Beardshaw said to Restaurant Online: "I was with Tom a long time but there was always this trajectory that I was on.
"I started at The Hand & Flowers with Tom having just won Great British Menu in 2010, and in 2011 we won the second star, which was mental.
"After that the restaurant was super busy, and then in 2013 I went over to The Coach, which opened in 2014.
"It was as early as 2016 that he approached me about London, and we had a few bumps on the way.
"We nearly went into Brown’s Hotel and were all employed by Jumeirah at one point but that fell through.
"We got to Corinthia London in 2018 and then we had a pandemic to get through.
"Then I started doing Great British Menu in 2021 and 2023 so there was always something keeping me in the group.
"But I’d got to the point where now I’ve got a profile of my own.
"The time is perfect to do it, so here I am."
Topics: Food And Drink, Money, Business
Anish Vij