I grew up in Herefordshire on the border of Wales. My dad was in the army so we were very outdoorsy and we kept our own chickens, sheep and pigs at home, so I’ve always understood what it was like to be around animals, and the food and farming system. So while I didn’t always want to be a chef, I had the ability to understand food from a young age, including shooting, fishing and then cooking. These early experiences shaped my appreciation for simple, locally sourced, quality ingredients and it came to a point where I just became very passionate about food.

I can always remember going to stay with my granny up in Northumberland. She is half Irish so she would always make fresh white soda bread. It was a five hour drive to get there so we’d always have tea when we arrived along with the fresh white soda bread, slathered with delicious British butter and raspberry jam that she’d made. I’d always be able to eat about six slices.

Before starting my career as a chef I attended Ballymaloe Cookery School. It was there I was able to train and develop my skills to then get my first role at The Dorchester in London.

After The Dorchester, I worked at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, before doing a pop-up for Tom Conran on Westbourne Grove. Then I joined the team launching Santa Cruz Co, with sites in London, New York, and Buenos Aires. In 2017, I joined Elystan Street as sous chef, working under Phil Howard at the one Michelin-starred restaurant, before opening my own restaurant, Straker’s, in 2022.

The butter series started semi-randomly. Even though it’s good for you, [butter] still feels rich and indulgent, and it’s the basis of many of my childhood memories surrounding food. I just started recording videos showing the creative and unique ways you can use butter and it went from there. That series has now been watched one billion times!

It happened organically with people just connecting to my food ethos. Simple, high quality, seasonal – and, where possible, locally sourced – brought together with a bit of creativity. It turns out there’s so much appetite out there to learn about this way of eating.

Now I’m taking my community on another journey with my new Game Eater series on YouTube. We will be travelling around the UK to showcase the bounties of the British isles and showing the process of hunting and then cooking the game. I’ll be sharing my tips, tricks and favourite recipes,and will be joined by guests such as George Digby the 28-time world champion of clay pigeon shooting.

I’ve worked as a chef for a long time and I think I have absorbed lots of different ideas and knowledge from different people, including design and the early-stage development of business. I also just love hospitality, I love the energy a restaurant can create and the enjoyment people can get out of going to eat in a restaurant and I wanted to be responsible for that enjoyment.

My favourite dish to have on the menu at this time of year would be a grouse because it is a lovely British game bird which has such a unique flavour. It’s wild and isn’t around for very long. The meat is really rich and it goes really well with seasonal vegetables available around this time of year – such as sweetcorn and figs with damson jelly – on a nice bit of grilled bread. I also love shooting and the whole art of catching your own game.

I’d like to build a food-focused, food-forward network of businesses that complement each other – and also to be able to support my family, send my kids to a nice school and be able to provide everything I [can] for them.

My favourite restaurant in London is probably The River Cafe in Hammersmith. I just like how sophisticated yet low-key it is. It is expensive but it’s a familial place, it’s somewhere you can go and you know what you’re getting. It’s relaxing, the staff are always super nice and the food is always delicious, the wine is great and I love the relaxing environment it has.

Max Cohen at Dorian is probably one of the best chefs in London – he is incredibly talented and has great flavour combinations and very good techniques and he seems to train his chefs very well. Dorian is doing exceptionally well at the moment which is kudos to him and I’m looking forward to watching where his career goes.

When I have free time I like to spend it with my family and go to the gym, go swimming, running, walk the dog and travel. I had a great summer of travel and I’m looking forward to doing more of that. Ultimately, just scheming on what’s next and what’s going on in the next week I suppose. There isn’t much down time, I’m always on the clock at the moment trying to make sure we are developing the businesses as much as we can.