Dunmow’s Flitch of Bacon owner wins national chef of the year title

Chef Daniel Clifford, owner of the Flitch of Bacon in Great Dunmow, which is expected to reopen next month, has been named as the AA’s Chef’s Chef for 2015.

Sponsored by Caterer.com, the award is much coveted as it is voted for by all the AA Rosetted chefs picking out the creme de la creme. It is a chef’s recognition from their peers.

Daniel, who also owns the two Michelin-starred Midsummer House restaurant in Cambridge, collected his award at last night’s AA Hospitality Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London where a Who’s Who of the hospitality world was in attendance.

The AA Hospitality Awards are considered to be the industry’s own Oscars recognising the achievements of the nations’ best hoteliers, restaurateurs and publicans.

Daniel said: “I am honoured to receive this award and knowing that I was nominated by my fellow chefs just makes it that little bit more special. It’s been a great year for me with even greater things to come.”

He was praised for turning Midsummer House into one of the country’s finest restaurants, providing service excellence and for being an inspiration to all his fellow chefs.

Guests at the event, hosted by BBC broadcaster, Fiona Bruce, were treated to a gastronomic menu created by last year’s AA Chef’s Chef, Nathan Outlaw.

Daniel spent the first 12 years of his career training under great names such as Jean Bardet, Simon Gueller and Marco Pierre White.

In 1998, Daniel took over a Victorian villa on common land by the river in Cambridge to create Midsummer House.