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James SommerinRestaurant James Sommerin

Noted for his innovative, flavourful food, James Sommerin is on course to repeat the Michelin-starred success he had at

The Crown at Whitebrook, this time at his eponymously named restaurant in Wales.

You’d be hard pushed to find a Welshman who isn’t proud of his roots, and none

more so than James Sommerin. The Caerleon-raised chef has remained faithful

to Wales, garnering a reputation that has helped elevate the country’s

gastronomic status. What sets him aside from his region’s peers is his

characteristic cuisine, which he explains, is focused “on more unusual products,

to show there’s more to Wales.”

His modus operandi has certainly evolved since the Saturdays he spent making

bread and corned beef pasties with his gran, whom he credits for giving him an

appreciation of good food and a passion for cooking. As a teenager he earned

his stripes at an Italian restaurant, went on to formal training after school, then

worked at the Cwrt Bleddyn Hotel near Usk before making his way to Scotland.

It was here, at the Farleyer House Hotel in Aberfeldy, where a youthful James

Sommerin learned the pared-back French style of Richard Lyth, a chef who –

whilst not holding the same culinary rank as celebrated mentors such as Pierre

Koffmann – had a profound influence on him:“If it wasn’t for him I probably

wouldn’t be where I am today. He taught me the important things like

seasonality, quality of ingredients, and respect more than anything else,” he

affirms.

Scotland proved fortuitous for the fledging cook – he was shortlisted for Young

Scottish Chef of the Year and met his wife Louise, with whom he has three girls.

In August 2000, after five years at Farleyer, he returned to Wales to work as a

sous chef at The Crown at Whitebrook in Monmouthshire. In late 2003 he

became head chef; in 2007, the recipient of his first Michelin star – something

he is immensely proud of, given his “non-Michelin background”. The Observer

marked him as a Chef to Watch in 2008; potential he realised in 2009 when he

won the Welsh regional final of BBC2’s Great British Menu (he also competed

in 2008, 2010 and 2012). He maintained the coveted star – Wales’s longest-

standing – until The Crown closed in 2013. It has since re-opened as The

Whitebrook, headed up by the Raymond Blanc-trained chef Chris Harrod, who

secured a star in 2015.

In summer 2014 his “baby” – Restaurant James Sommerin – opened on

Penarth’s esplanade, a short drive from Cardiff. The dining room’s minimalist,

vaguely masculine décor is smart and sumptuous; Harden’s reported “excellent“

dishes and service; while the 2015 Michelin Guide highlighted the “panoramic

views over the Severn Estuary” and the food’s “unusual taste and texture

combinations.”

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See all James's Recipes

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Scallops with Ibérico ham andparsley foam

by James Sommerin

Mackerel, white chocolate,horseradish and beetroo...

by James Sommerin

James Sommerin’s contemporary cuisine is inspired by France though keenly

British, loyal to good quality local produce and the seasons, light on the stomach

– and unique: “Smoked eel and pig’s trotter? Langoustines, fennel and white

chocolate? There is clearly a distinctive palate at work here,” wrote Matthew

Norman in The Guardian after visiting The Crown in 2009. Staying true to his

own ingenuity has paid dividends: the Waitrose Good Food Guide 2015

commended “food that excites and satisfies in equal measure” consequently

giving the newly-opened restaurant 7/10 and placing it at a very respectable 30

in its Top 50.

It’s fair to assume that James Sommerin’s hero is the food itself: “I don’t like to

overshadow the ingredients,” he says, deferentially. The key, he feels, lies “with

fantastic produce [and] treating it sympathetically.” Although his approach is

modern he’s chosen not to deconstruct too much or be fancy for fancy’s sake:

“It’s not about having masses of complicated elements on the dish, you want the

main element to really speak for itself. When we serve Scallops with Iberico

ham, it’s literally scallops and Iberico ham. The flavours are really pronounced

and there’s something slightly earthy about it, it really speaks fresh and alive,

that’s what it’s all about.”

At The Crown, the Welshman was known for his exquisite pea ravioli, which

wowed the judges on the Great British Menu. At his new venture, menus

continue the clever flavour combos that brought Sommerin applause.

Sometimes they appear revised; the langoustine dish and white chocolate dish

admired by Matthew Norman now favours turnip and tonka bean over fennel.

Menus are succinctly scribed with just three to five ingredients disclosing each

dish – a bold format that’s perplexing to some, tantalising to others. Jerusalem

Artichoke, Egg, Truffle is one example; Turbot, Carrot, Cockles, Ginger is

another – unexpected flavour medleys that delight diners.

James Sommerin is a local-boy-done-good, a family man whose wife works in

the restaurant and whose daughter helps out in the kitchen, a charitable

member of his community (in winter 2015, he was one of 14 chefs to help at

Chef’s Night Out, to raise money for a local hospice). For as long as his cuisine

brings class and invention to Wales’s fine dining scene, his career will continue

in the ascendant.

RestaurantRestaurant JamesSommerinThe Esplanade, Penarth, CF64 3AU

It would be no exaggeration to call

James Sommerin one of Wales’s

greatest chefs, and his first solo

venture in the bustling seaside town of

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