Tom Waters didn't have the most linear entry into the world of cookery. Nor does he have a wildly romantic backstory that goes back generations to the scents wafting through his grandmother's kitchen from which his love of cooking stems, he tells me honestly as we catch up a few weeks into his extended – and open-ended – and extremely popular pop-up residency at Cardiff's Ground Bakery (co-owned by his now good friend Tom Simmons and Wales' George North) with his own restaurant concept Gorse.
But what he does have is an interesting journey filled with passion, determination, a chef who took a chance on him – and, naturally, good food. The 31-year-old from Newport explained how his entry into cooking is not a "very traditional" one but one he happened upon whilst in Paris of all places.
"I haven't got any romantic stories about like codding peas at my grandmother's or anything. It wasn't like that – don't get me wrong my mum is a really good cook and she would always cook from scratch every night but I wasn't interested until I got to uni and I had to do it for myself.
