New venture for award-winning chef

Proposals to convert the Five Bells, Woodspeen, into a 70-seater restaurant with adjoining pub and cookery school have been approved by planners.
The man behind the venture is John Campbell, who won two Michelin stars for The Vineyard, Stockcross, during his time there.
The main building was purpose-built as a pub in 1827.
Mr Campbell said: “Back in the early 1900s, a butcher lived here. The building opposite was his abbatoir and he sold his wares from the front of the building. It was also a pub at the same time – it’s always been a pub – and we want to retain as much of the original building as we can.”
The Five Bells was falling into disrepair after closing last year and is currently undergoing major refurbishment.
WSH and JC Restaurants Ltd, of which Mr Campbell is a director, intend to create a “high quality pub and restaurant that combines the accessibility and warmth of a traditional pub with the provision of very high quality food in a purpose-designed restaurant and kitchen.”
Speaking on the site, where work is in progress, Mr Campbell said: “The main thrust of the project is accessibility. You could spend £200 on a meal if you really wanted to, but you could also eat very well for £20.
“We aim to brew a couple of our own beers and possibly have one or two from the West Berkshire Brewery.”
As well as a pub and restaurant, a main feature of the enterprise will be the cookery school, which will not just be for professional chefs, but also for keen amateurs.
Mr Campbell said: “It’s a community project and it will be for everyone. Professional chefs might attend a special, high-level course but otherwise we’ll be teaching how to cook for dinner parties, how to cook the perfect Christmas meal, how to butcher an animal and how to forage for food, such as wild mushrooms.
“Schools will be involved and it will be an ideal corporate team-building exercise. I want to make it world class, but accessible to everyone. Mixing cooking and teaching is my perfect dream.”
For the first 10 months at least, Mr Campbell will be hands-on at the cookery school, which will cater for 12 students at a time.
He said the Five Bells was in the perfect location.
“I had been looking everywhere along the Thames Valley corridor for eight months when my wife suggested this place. It’s just right – and I’ve already got a reputation in the area.”
There will also be a vegetable plot with polytunnels and raised beds providing for the restaurant and school.
John Campbell moved to The Vineyard in 2002 as executive head chef and, during his subsequent eight-year tenure, he secured a global reputation for the restaurant’s cuisine.
He also ran a successful academy for young chefs from all over the world and is known to be dedicated to the training and development of young chefs.
Mr Campbell is hoping that The Five Bells will open in September this year.