The two-Michelin-starred Nottingham spot Restaurant Sat Bains turns 25 this year and to celebrate the landmark, the chef has invited some of the country’s biggest names in food for a series of special dinners.
Chefs joining the quarter-century celebrations include Gareth Ward of the two-Michelin-starred Ynyshir in Wales, and Tom Spenceley and Harry Cordon, head chef and sous chef respectively, of the two-Michelin-starred Ledbury in Notting Hill.
As part of the series, Bains and his wife — restaurant co-owner Amanda Bains — will also welcome Michel Roux Jr and the team of the now-closed Le Gavroche in Mayfair in a nod to Bains winning the 1999 Roux Scholarship, which helped launch his prestigious career.
Other chefs slated to be taking part in the dinner series include Nathan Outlaw, Paul Ainsworth, Clare Smyth, James Martin, Daniel Clifford and Claude Bosi.
Bains went on to tease a few additional names on his Instagram, including Angela Hartnett, Neil Borthwick and Tom Kerridge to continue the celebrations over the coming months.
Located next to the A52 flyover outside Nottingham, the success of Restaurant Sat Bains was far from guaranteed. Bains was just 29 years old when he won the prestigious Roux Scholarship, but at the same time, the restaurant at which he was working had closed down, leaving him unemployed.
Later, he and a handful of chefs, including a young Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay, would visit El Bulli in a visit which would prove to be defining. Upon his return, Bains became the head chef at the Hotel des Clos in Nottingham, which in 2002 relaunched under his patronage as Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms. Bains won the restaurant its first coveted Michelin star in 2003, and went on to achieve a second in 2011.
Restaurant Sat Bains continues to develop to this day, employing, as El Bulli did, the latest in cooking techniques and practices, more recently with a view towards sustainability and eliminating food waste.
These efforts were recognised in 2023 with the awarding of a Michelin Green Star which, in the guide’s own words, rewards: “those at the top of their game when it comes to their sustainable practices”.
The events commence on October 10, with Gareth Ward, and continue on October 18, with Michel Roux Jr and the Le Gavroche team, with further dates of the aforementioned chefs to be announced.
