Cornwall has made its mark in the much respected GQ Food & Drink Awards – winning the best chef and best pub categories.
The judges in the magazine’s annual culinary awards picked Tom Brown, who owns and runs Cornerstone in Hackney Wick, London, as Britain’s best chef.
The tattooed Arctic Monkeys fan (he named the restaurant after one of their songs) was raised in Redruth and trained with Paul Ripley at Rick Stein’s Restaurant and the St Kew Inn.
In 2012 he was appointed as chef de partie at the St Enodoc Hotel, near Wadebridge, and in 2016 became a protégée of acclaimed chef Nathan Outlaw where he held the position as head chef at Outlaw’s restaurant.
A finalist in the 2018 series of Great British Menu, Tom is now at the helm at one of the UK’s most talked-about restaurants.
GQ said of him: “Cornwall has a habit of producing high-calibre seafood chefs and Tom Brown is no exception.
“After working alongside the likes of Nathan Outlaw and Rick Stein, and with a Great British Menu win under his belt, Brown decided to go solo, opening his debut restaurant, Cornerstone, in 2018. Today, Cornerstone continues to stretch the limits of traditional seafood cookery, with innovative dishes such as monkfish pastrami and a crab-topped crumpet.
“It was high praise all round from our judges, including Melissa Hemsley, who congratulated Brown’s ‘innovative talent’ and ability to create ‘consistently exceptional dishes’. For now, it seems, Brown is a big fish – and London is his pond.”
Responding on Instagram, the Cornish chef said: “This is MENTAL and easily the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me. Genuinely mind blowing, and so grateful and humbled to receive something so prestigious.”
Tom wasn’t the only Cornish winner on the night. The Mariners in Rock was named best British pub.
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Sponsored by Veuve Cliquot and announced on October 1, the GQ awards celebrate “the innovation and talent that continues to set Britis hospitality apart globally”.
The awards are aimed to “shine a light on all the restaurants, bars, chefs, hotels and all-round food heroes who contribute more than 120 billion pounds to the UK economy and this year, more than ever, they need our support”.
