Kevin Chandler
HEAD CHEF AT RICK STEIN, MARLBOROUGH
Having grown up in Wiltshire, Kevin’s love for food began at a young age when he started
working part-time in his local butchers. At the age of 16, he went on to train as an apprentice
at The Bridge Inn, his local pub in West Lavington. Here, he worked hard to learn his trade by
training the kitchen whilst attending college for one day a week.
Kevin’s career kicked off in 2001, when he moved on to The Manor House in Castle Combe. He
worked as Chef de Partie in a Michelin starred restaurant, picking up a breadth of pastry skills as
he went along.
In 2003, Kevin jumped on to the gastro pub trend and worked as a Sous Chef at The Pear Tree
Inn, a 1 AA Rosette country pub in Whitley. At the time, Steven Terry had just come on board as
a consultant, and the team went on to gain another AA Rosette. Working under Steven and
with the help of his contacts, Kevin was pushed to go onto a London establishment.
In 2004 he was offered a role as Senior Chef de Partie at Maze, a Gordon Ramsay restaurant,
working under chef Jason Atherton. Prior to its opening Kevin was sent to work at Pétrus,
another Gordon Ramsay restaurant, where he worked as Senior Chef de Partie under Marcus
Wareing and alongside Paul Ainsworth. Returning to Maze when it opened, Kevin was pushed
to work his very hardest - which paid off when the restaurant won a Michelin star.
Kevin changed things up in 2005, when he went to work at Galvin Bistrot de Luxe, a restaurant
on Baker Street owned by the Galvin brothers. Here he discovered a range of cooking
techniques working as Sous Chef.
After 8 months, Kevin landed a role as Head Chef back at The Pear Tree Inn in Whitley. Here, at
the age of 25, he won National Dining Pub of the Year.
A year later, Kevin began working as Head Chef at The Anchor Inn in Lower Froyle, a 2 AA
Rosette traditional country pub and restaurant. Over the course of 7 years, he worked his way
up through the ranks, moving to Executive Chef, then Chef Director, and then onto Operational
Chef Director. He kept three sites running during his time here and was in charge of the
acquisition and refurbishment of a fourth site.
In 2015, Kevin wanted to move closer to home. He became Head Chef at Three Daggers in
Edington, where he ran the pub and the farm shop for 9 months. Kevin loved the company’s
pub, shop, rooms and micro-brewery, and he also shared their strong vision.
Kevin holds Rick Stein responsible for him becoming a chef, having always loved his ethos of
good quality food and simple cooking. He was extremely eager to apply for the Head Chef
role at Rick Stein in Marlborough.
Kevin spends his spare time in the kitchen at home with his three children, teaching them how
to cook things he wouldn’t normally cook at work. He also enjoys being outside and cycling
too.