Kerth Gumbs named head chef at new restaurant and cocktail bar

Gumbs has worked with Tom Aikens and Jason Atherton and was executive chef at Ormer Mayfair ​​from 2016 when it launched until April this year. He had a successful appearance on the 2020 series of Great British Menu​, will oversee a menu of and small plates using contemporary cooking methods with dishes inspired by his Caribbean island home Anguilla.

Meat and fish will be cooked over charcoal or on a robata grill with dishes to include grilled ox tongue with crispy potatoes and green peppercorns; roasted scallops with carrot and coconut curry sauce; and the crab Johnny cakes served with scotch bonnet mayo and roe that saw him through to the Great British Menu ​finals.

“It has long been a desire to cook, create and serve food in a place that better reflects my personality. Each dish will be fun, vibrant and tasty,” says Gumbs.

“I’m really excited and can’t wait to have everyone experience what Boiler & Co. has to offer.”

Boiler & Co. is being launched by experienced restaurateurs Adam Carr and Cesar Breton with the restaurant and cocktail bar taking its name from their love of caramel-coloured drinks that get their signature depth and body from the boilers they’re produced in, such as beer, whiskey and coffee.

“It has been a life-long dream to open a place such as Boiler & Co. It will be a genuine space for guests to enjoy and a place the whole team can be proud to be a part of,” says Carr.

“After 17 years of working in bars and restaurants, this project reminds me of how truly passionate I am about the hospitality industry.”

“Boiler & Co. is not reinventing the wheel, but it is carrying out proper due diligence of how it operates ethically as a business,” adds Breton.

“This includes the products we source, our employment conditions and the businesses we work with. Living and breathing this ethos is part of our story and is an opportunity to do away with false economies entrenched in the service industry for generations.

We want to appeal to the socially conscious consumer, and we plan on doing that by creating a personal connection that’s meaningful and authentic. We aim to make each Boiler & Co. guest feel understood and accepted without compromising who they are or their ethics. To us, that’s what a sustainable and ethical business is all about.”