IT’S a match made in culinary heaven: Michelin-starred celebrity chef Richard Phillips and Oddfellows, Cheshire’s most talked about boutique hotel, restaurant and members’ club.

Richard is joining the team that created the stunning £3.25m venue in the landmark 17th Century guild house, formerly Oddfellows Hall in Chester’s Lower Bridge Street as consultant chef.

Starring regularly in numerous television cookery programmes like the BBC’s Ready Steady Cook and ITV’s Daily Chefs, Richard is chef-patron of Thackeray’s Restaurant in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, which gained a coveted Michelin star in its first year and boasts three AA rosettes for outstanding modern French cooking.

He is also a partner in the fine dining Hengist Restaurant in Aylesford near Maidstone and the Plough, an acclaimed gastropub in Amersham.
At the same time the Chapel Down vineyard was beginning a hunt for a world-class chef to work with award-winning vineyard which was seeking to expand its own venture.  Their search led to Richard’s door and ultimately to Richard’s latest dining venture, Richard Phillips at Chapel Down.

Richard Phillips at Oddfellows, which launches in mid-August, will be very much a “hands on” operation for the acclaimed chef – made possible by the latest technology. He will be not only be a regular presence in Chester at the outset, but will also be able to communicate with his team of chefs at Oddfellows via kitchen webcams, allowing frequent changes of the menu under his expert personal direction.

Born in Rainham, Kent, Richard began his illustrious career soon after leaving school under the watchful eyes of legendary Albert and Michel Roux at Le Gavroche in London. As the youngest commis chef at the celebrated three-star restaurant, he worked his way up to chef tournant and was asked by Albert to work at the brothers’ hotel in Courcheval, France.  Later Richard worked for another culinary giant, Marco Pierre White, overseeing his famed kitchens at the Oak Room, The Mirabelle, The Criterion and Les Saveurs.

After serving his apprenticeship launching and setting up restaurants for other chefs, Richard had gained enough experience to go it alone. He returned to Kent in 2001 to purchase Thackeray’s and earned immediate recognition from the toughest inspectors in the business.

Oddfellows, opened just over a year ago by a team led by Ken Roscoe of Lister Carter, the Chester-based interior design company, proved an instant hit with guests and critics alike for the stunning contemporary style of its restaurant, bar and members’ facilities, four bespoke bedrooms  and the quality of its food and service.

The launch of a street-level 40-cover café serving breakfast, lunch, afternoon teas and dinner is planned for September.

Lister Carter has designed some of the most fashionable venues in the UK, including the Print Room and Ink Bar in Bournemouth, The Barn and Cock o’ Barton in Cheshire and Richard Phillips’ Thackeray’s and Hengist restaurants in Kent.

Richard describes his food as: “Modern French cuisine, producing unique dishes with complimenting flavours, textures and colours.

“I believe in adhering to traditional culinary techniques while modernising the execution and sometimes introducing the unexpected,” he said.

“I am thrilled to be opening Richard Phillips at Oddfellows,” he added.  Oddfellows has a fantastic reputation built on the quality of the restaurant and the exquisite design and care which has been taken has established this as one of the North West’s premier venues. I am looking forward to raising the bar even further to make this the ‘must dine at’ venue not only in Chester but the whole of the North.”

Izzy Grey, Oddfellows’ commercial director, said: “We have known Richard for some time and have always been more than impressed with his modern take on British and European cooking.

“He is a very hard working chef as well as being a real up and coming celebrity; we are absolutely delighted to be forming a partnership with him and being able to offer our customers a very special food product. Richard will also be keen to get to know Cheshire’s suppliers and producers and build meaningful relationships with our industry as a whole here in the North West.”

Richard on Ready Steady Cook

Richard Phillips