Suits You, Sir

- Andy Lynes 0

IF THE words ‘consultant chef’ conjure up an image of a man in a suit standing in front of a PowerPoint presentation in a boardroom, then Shaun Hill, consultant to Fortnum & Mason in London and the Montagu Arms Hotel in the New Forest, has got news for you.

Shaun Hill"I don’t own a suit. If you look at me in Fortnum’s, it’s like Worzel Gummidge doing the rounds," he said.

"And I don’t like corporate speak – I don’t like ‘issues’ and ‘challenges’ and ‘moving forward’. All that stuff just doesn’t do it for me.”

So with the business world holding little attraction, what lured one of the UK’s most feted chefs from the one-man kitchen of his Michelin starred Merchant House restaurant in Ludlow (which reached the giddy heights of 14 in Restaurant magazine's 50 Best Restaurants in the World in 2003) to his new role overseeing a portfolio of ventures?
“After 11 years I was starting to think that I’d done everything I possibly could within that [one restaurant] format,” said Hill.

“I had vague notions of taking it a bit easy, God help us. It hasn’t quite worked out like that.”

If anything, Hill has been even busier. Within months of closing the Merchant House in February 2005 he was helping to launch The Glasshouse brasserie in Worcester. Hill has a 25 per cent share of the restaurant rather than being paid on a consultancy basis.

“I haven’t seen any return from it thus far but restaurants are very rarely great cash machines,” said Hill.

“The problem at the Glasshouse at the moment is that the majority partner thinks that the way forward might be to do BOGOF or a free glass of wine but I’m not convinced by schemes and wheezes.

"I think keeping your nerves with the food and watching the margins so you’re not ripping people off is the right answer in the long run.”

Since autumn 2006 Hill has also been commuting to London in his role as development chef for Fortnum & Mason, where he has overseen the launch of five food outlets.

“At Fortnum’s they do a thousand covers a day. Setting that up, hiring the crew and making the menus was an interesting, enjoyable and intellectual exercise as well as a practical one.” His contract there is open-ended with him visiting a morning a week and charging a daily rate.

Although well paid, Hill admits that consultancy work can have a downside. Hill’s reputation took a hit in February 2006 when the Montagu Arms Hotel in Beaulieu, where he holds the title of “Director of Cooking”, was badly reviewed by the Independent on Sunday’s restaurant critic Terry Durack.

Hill said: “The Montagu was so anxious to get the benefit of [Hill’s] association as well as the advice that there was a bit of premature ejaculation on the publicity front.

"Two or three months after the review the food started to get really good.”

Hill’s latest project is the revival of legendary Walnut Tree Inn in Abergavenny, which he re-opened last month following a major refurbishment.

Hill has a 50/50 partnership in the restaurant with William Griffiths, manager of the nearby Angel Hotel

The Walnut Tree Inn“William’s dad bought the thing and it’s his building company that’s put it together. He’ll look for his investment to be returned within five years.

I’ve guaranteed my 50% share and I haven’t taken out limited liability so I’m exposed, but what else would you do? It’s too late to become an astronaut.”

Dividing his time between projects in London, the New Forest and Wales means that Hill can’t be behind the stove permanently at The Walnut Tree.

“My view is that places can then slip away into something a little less wonderful quite easily so I’ll be here an awful lot until I’m happy with the food and it’s a well oiled machine.”

Hill claims that transforming himself from chef proprietor of one, seven-table restaurant to consultant chef with a portfolio of interests is not primarily a money-making scheme.

“At this stage it’s deeply not lucrative. I take no wage from the Walnut Tree for example, but what I enjoy doing is getting quite close up to the food and I like restaurants.”

Hill says that he’ll continue to consult as long as people want him to, but admits that his message is not always a popular one.

“They’d like me to say that it’s all easy really, stick my name on the restaurant and you’ll get a gong in the guides, but it’s not like that. It’s always harder to do things better, you have to constantly be on the case.”

At 60, Hill has no plans to retire. “I’ve never thought about the future, ever. I hope for the best really. I see what comes along, it’s worked so far.”