Chef Dan Moon has been announced as Head Chef of The Gainsborough Bath Spa. Hailing from Exmouth, Devon, Dan is proud to be a Westcountry chef bringing the best of British produce into a 5-star hotel kitchen and serving up an impressive and innovative international menu to his diners.
Dan is a huge supporter of local farmers and produce and sources all of his fresh ingredients locally, making the most of the South West’s verdant pastures. Taking inspiration from the desire to constantly innovate, many of his dishes feature micro-cresses, blossoms and flowers that serve as extraordinary taste bites as well as making his dishes look almost too pretty to eat. Examples include apple blossom, bean blossoms, blue borage flowers, and oyster leaves, each accenting elements within each dish. Chef Dan says,
“At the moment I am using a wide variety of flowers, blossoms and cresses on a lot of my dishes to enhance the depth of flavour plus elevate their presentation. Although diners may think they only there to look pretty, they play an integral part of the final taste of the dish. We spend a long time on dish development tasting every aspect of each plate to make sure every element works together, right down to the final garnish.
For example, I am doing a chicken liver parfait dish with rhubarb, almond granola and sorrel cress; the sorrel’s flavour akin to raw rhubarb adds an extra degree of depth. Our poussin with broad bean puree uses bean blossom and pea shoots, both tasting like succulent, fresh young peas and beans, again adding an extra burst of flavour.”
Dan has been in the kitchen since the age of 14, where he started peeling vegetables in a local kitchen in Exmouth. He quickly moved up the ranks and became Head Chef of Hunstrete House, near Bath in 2002, and then Homewood Park Hotel (then a Von Essen Hotel) in 2006. In 2008, he beat 28 other group chefs to become the first ever ‘Von Essen Chef of the Year’, a title he kept for two years, along with the Bath Life Award for Restaurant of the Year in 2009. His proudest accolade was his 3rd AA Rosette that he won in 2010 at Homewood Park Hotel. From 2012 – 2015 Dan was Head Chef at Ston Easton Park.
In his new position at The Restaurant at The Gainsborough, Chef Moon will be pushing culinary boundaries and looking forward to surprising hotels guests and local diners with his unlikely culinary combinations, putting the restaurant on the map as one of Britain’s future iconic restaurants.
