Adam Simmonds to guest chef at Bath Priory hotel
Adam Simmonds, former head chef at Danesfield House hotel and spa, is to take up a three-month guest chef position at the five-AA-star, 33-bedroom Bath Priory hotel.
He will fill the position in Bath vacated by former executive head chef Sam Moody, who has left the hotel after seven years to move to Ireland as head chef at the 20-bedroom Ballyfin hotel in County Laois. Andrew Brownsword Hotels, owner of the Bath Priory, will use the three-month period to appoint a new executive chef.
Since leaving Danesfield House in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, in October 2013, Simmonds has worked as a consultant chef and set up the Pavilion restaurant in London.
Original plans to open his own restaurant, called Simmonds, have been delayed after parting company with two former business partners and scaling back the cost of the venture from £1.1m to £650,000. He has already raised around £320,000 via the Seed Enterprise Investment Schem, but has yet to find a site.
“I’m looking for a space of around 1,500 sq ft, ideally in Soho or definitely in central London,” said Simmonds.
Meanwhile, he is looking forward to the temporary position at the Bath Priory. “It is a great Relais & Châteaux hotel with lots of history – I’m looking forward to the experience.”
Simmonds, who won Chef of the Year (fewer than 250 covers) at the Hotel Cateys in 2011, was a finalist at the banquet for D-Day veterans in St Paul’s Cathedral on the BBC’s Great British Menu in 2014. His career experience has included working for Marco Pierre White, Paul Heathcote and Raymond Blanc.