Michelin starred Bryan Webb will be demonstrating his culinary mastery at a top food festival.

He will be showing off his award-winning skills to food fans at Llangollen Food Festival which will celebrate its 20th anniversary at this year’s event on October 14 and 15.

Along with his wife Susan who runs front-of-house, 57-year-old Bryan took over at Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, in 2002 following a career with some of London’s best-known eateries.

Bryan said: “Cooking has changed a lot over the last 20 years, which is mainly due to the number of food programmes on the TV. More and more people are now looking for things like good, local home produce and craft beers and they all come together at Llangollen Food Festivals.

“For my demonstration I’ll be showing some of the dishes I cook at Tyddyn Llan, and preparing sea bass with a lava bread and butter sauce, a Welsh black beef steak with a peppercorn sauce and a local rack of Welsh lamb accompanied by whatever is freshly available in October.

“I want to show how easy it is to cook a nice piece of fish or steak.

“Cooks at home worry about either having the pan not hot enough or too hot so it will burn the meat, so I want to show them how to overcome these problems.”

Bryan was brought up in Crumlin, Caerphilly, where his father worked as a mines rescue manager.

Experiencing at close hand the harsh realities of mining he decided early on that the job wasn’t for him.

He left school at 16 and started an apprenticeship at The Crown at Whitebrook, the first Michelin-starred restaurant in Wales, training under head chef Sonia Blech.

His next position was at Drangway in Swansea, where he worked under Colin Pressdee.

While at this restaurant, in 1980, he won the William Heptinstall Award, given to young chefs to widen their culinary experience abroad.

The prize was a three-month placement at top French restaurant Mère Poulard in Mont-Saint-Michel.

In 1983 he took a position in Scotland, at the Kirroughtree Hotel near Newton Stewart working under Ken McPhee who was then one of Scotland’s finest culinary practitioners.

After two years he headed for London, taking a head chef role at Café Rouge – no connection to the chain – where the owner was set on establishing a highly rated restaurant.

He was then appointed head chef of Hilaire in London, becoming chef-proprietor after four years.

In 2002, Bryan and his wife Susan embarked on a tasting trip around the world, before returning to Wales to set up Tyddyn Llan.

Phil Davies, a Llangollen Food Festival committee member, said: “We’re delighted that Bryan will be demonstrating at our anniversary event.

“With his fabulous food at Tyddyn Llan, he has done a huge amount to put the area’s culinary credentials on the map.

“This year’s festival promises to be one of the best ever, with a record number of about 120 stallholders.”

n Bryan Webb ready to show off his culinary skills.
To find out more about Llangollen Food Festival go to www.llangollenfoodfestival.com