Welcome to a brand new feature to the Slate House blog! Every month we will be introducing you to some of Wales’ top chefs and their restaurants, and bring you their signature dish to try for yourselves at home.
To kick things off, meet Bryan Webb, the owner of Tyddyn Llan, a Michelin star restaurant that can be found in Llandrillo, nestled in the beautiful North Wales countryside.
A Career Spanning 40 Years…
Bryan Webb’s incredible career spans over 40 years and all began in the mining valleys of Wales, in a village called Crumlin, Caerphilly. Having being introduced to good food at a young age, as soon as his O levels were finished Bryan was heading for the restaurant trade.
Bryan’s first job was as a kitchen apprentice for three years at The Crown in Whitebrook, which was run by French chef, Sonia Blech and her husband Neville. The Crown was the first and only Michelin starred restaurant in Wales at the time- a great starting block for a young, aspiring chef to learn the basics of cooking and gain a new respect for food.
Bryan went on to work under Colin Pressdee at The Dranway in Swansea, and it was this time spent with Sonia and Colin that gave him his love of the business and a true passion for seafood.
In 1980, at the young age of 21, Bryan won the William Heptinstall award, an annual award for young chefs in the UK, and won the chance to travel through France, working and eating.
Four years on, Bryan was asked to head up a kitchen in London, and within just 3 months the restaurant was rated excellent in the Good Food Guide, before being head hunted to take over the stoves at Hilaire. It was here where he found his direction and style of food that he still serves today. Bryan cooks with sophisticated simplicity that embraces the best and most carefully sourced produce with consistent excellence.
After 14 years at Hiliare, 11 of them as the chef/owner together with his wife Susan, they sold up, took a year off to travel the world and before finally returning to Wales. This time, Bryan settled in the North of the country at an elegant Georgian house called Tyddyn Llan.
During the 14 years Bryan and Susan have been at Tyddyn Llan, they have earned the Welsh Restaurant of the Year title 3 times in the Good Food Guide, were awarded a Michelin star in 2010, which they still hold today, and is highly rated by most other food guides too.
To find out more about Tyddyn Llan and to book your visit, head to http://www.tyddynllan.co.uk/
Bryan Webb’s Signature Dish
“Bass and Laverbread has been a favourite of mine since my early days of cooking at the Drangway restaurant in Swansea, back in the early eighties when we would go though loads of bass caught just off the coast, they would all be all line caught and stiff as a board, that we would have to leave them a day to be able to fillet them, and also no more than 90p a pound (that’s showing my age!) Bass is the one thing Wales has in common with the south of France, we have the best bass swimming around our shores and these days farmed bass is readily available for the home cook and restaurants that choose to serve a one portion fish. The wild type is always my first choice but I run a restaurant where you expect only the best. Fresh line-caught bass have a ravishingly beautiful-bright silver belly which darkens to a pale blue grey on its sides. It’s a great sporting fish and thrives in rough weather.
Laverbread grows on the rocks and beaches of the Gower coast near Swansea. It has a dark and smooth appearance which makes it distinctive. Traditionally it is boiled for hours to render it to a thick puree; it is sold in the markets and fishmongers in South Wales and it’s a part of Welsh culture and heritage and is as famous as our lamb.
The combination of fresh wild bass and a light Laverbread butter is a simple combination but it is a light dish and speaks volumes about Welsh food.”
Roast Wild Bass with Laverbread Butter Sauce
4 150g pieces of wild bass, skin on and all pin bones removed
4 finely chopped shallots
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
1 175 dry white wine, Muscadet if possible
250g unsalted butter
Salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper
Juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoon of Laverbread
2 tablespoon of double cream
300g raw picked spinach
50g extra butter
- Put the white wine, vinegar and shallots into a saucepan and slowly reduce to a syrup
- On a light heat slowly add the butter a little at a time until it forms a slightly thick sauce, season with salt and cayenne pepper, add the juice of the half lemon.
- Strain the sauce into a clean saucepan, in a separate saucepan add two tablespoons of Laverbread with 2 tablespoons of cream, bring to the boil and add half the beurre blanc.
- Season the fish and coat lightly with olive oil place onto a hot griddle skin side down, until the skin is crisp, place onto an oiled tray and bake in a hot oven 200c for five minutes.
- While the fish is cooking, in a large pan melt the extra butter and cook the spinach until wilted.
- Serve the bass on a bed of spinach and pour the lavabread sauce around one side and the remaining beurre blanc around the other side.
