68 | squaremeal.co.uk

tables, and it can be wholesome and honest,

but also re˜ned and precise."

Kerridge was born in Salisbury in 1973

and started out in restaurants when he was

18, working as a kitchen porter. He became

hooked immediately. "I bought into it straight

away. It wasn't a love of food but the kitchen

environment that I loved. Most other

18-year-olds wanted to be out on a Friday

and Saturday night, but I liked the idea of

being slightly removed from society, with

people who are good fun and hard working."

Career opportunities

It was a similarly alternative outlook on

life - and a similar sense of self-belief - that

attracted him to Beth, who is a sculptor.

The Hand and Flowers opened in 2005 and

the next three years were, Kerridge admits,

di¢cult for the marriage. Not only were he

and Beth living and working together, but she

had put her art on hold to run the business

and take care of front of house. Then ˜ve

years ago Beth broke her leg and, after eight

weeks away from the pub recovering, she

stopped working there full time, although

she still monitors the cash £ow.

Kerridge says it was always the aim for

Beth to return to sculpture full time. "We

didn't open The Hand and Flowers to win

two Michelin stars or to be on television.

We did it so we could have a business that

allowed Beth to make uncompromised

art that was a free-£ow form of what she

wanted to express, instead of making

commissioned art. Her career is as important

to me as my own. The art scene is a

LOSE 12 STONE THE

KERRIDGE WAY"I work in an industry full of people

who work hard and play hard. I built

a reputation of always being the last

man standing at any awards do and

I thought, you know what, I'm nearly

40 - what am I doing here?

Knocking beer on the head made

the biggest di‚erence. I've been

completely teetotal for 18 months

now. I've also knocked carbs on the

head and I swim every day.

The ˜rst three months of no booze

are quite di¢cult, but not drinking is

more socially acceptable now. And it

means you can drive home."

Previous page,

clockwise from bottom

left: fried whitebait;

Nick Beardshaw, Tom

and Aaron Mulliss; sea

bream; The Hand and

Flowers dining room

completely di‚erent world. I'm not the person

that I am in the food world, I'm the husband

of this amazing person, and it's nice to be able

to take a back seat and watch something that

is going so well."

The success of The Hand and Flowers - it

won its ˜rst Michelin star in 2006 within a year

of opening, and its second in 2012 - has

opened up opportunities in other ways.

A second Marlow pub, The Coach, opened

last December, and Kerridge's increased

commitments have meant a greater role for

Aaron Mulliss, head chef at The Hand and

Flowers, and Nick Beardshaw, head chef at

The Coach. "I'm 42 this year. These guys are

in their early thirties, so they're the same age

as I was when I opened The Hand. Because

of the structure and the hard work that Beth

and I have put in, they have a wonderful

opportunity and a support system to drive

things forward and be their own people."

Keeping it local

Kerridge says the fact he only does "one or

two services a week at The Hand" means

that Mulliss can ensure the level of day-today

consistency that is vital when Saturday

night diners have booked 12 months in

advance and arrive with 12 months' worth

of expectations. Meanwhile the idea for The

Coach came about because those waits for

a table meant that many locals had given up

on trying to get in to The Hand and Flowers,

which is not a problem at the no-bookings

Coach. "We're about 60 to 80 per cent local

customers at The Coach," Kerridge says.

The aim of The Coach was to create "a

modern-day local pub" that re£ected the PHOTOS: LAURIE FLETCHER, REX FEATURES