Ben Murphy to leave the Woodford

17 October 2016 by
Ben Murphy to leave the Woodford

Ben Murphy has announced he will be leaving the Woodford restaurant in South Woodford, north-east London after just 10 months, with the intention to open his own restaurant next year.

Murphy, who won the Young National Chef of the Year competition in 2012, opened the Woodford with help from investors in March 2016. He is due to leave on 1 January 2017.

Discussing the departure, Murphy told The Caterer: "I'm looking to open my own place with some support. Ideally it would involve moving closer into London.


The decision is said to be mutual between Murphy and business partner Stephen Andrews, an Essex restaurateur who invested in the business.

The team, which Murphy recruited from established restaurants such as the Greenhouse in Mayfair, London, Koffmann's in Knightsbridge, London, and Le Bristol, the 8th arrondissement, Paris is expected to follow Murphy to his next venture.

Murphy said: "I hope William [Yarney, restaurant manager] will come with me, but I think most of the team will follow depending on what their direction is. Stephen has supported me a lot; it was a decision made between the both of us."

Murphy, a protégé of Pierre Koffmann, has worked at top restaurants including the Michelin-starred Le Bristol hotel and three-Michelin-starred Epicure restaurant, both located in the 8th arrondissement, Paris, and three-Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York.

It has not been confirmed who will take over as head chef at the Woodford.

Koffmann chef Ben Murphy, 24, to open his own restaurant >>

Caterer and Hotelkeeper interview - Ben Murphy >>

Ben Murphy from Koffmann's takes gold at WorldSkills 2011 >>

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking