David Everitt-Matthias of Le Champignon Sauvage awarded Chef of the Year in the 2014 Waitrose Good Food Guide
David Everitt-Matthias, who together with his wife Helen has run Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham for more than 25 years, has been named Chef of the Year in the 2014 edition of the Waitrose Good Food Guide.
The publication of the guide, which recently assumed new ownership, also sees Le Champignon Sauvage cement its place in the top 50, this year topped by fellow two-Michelin-starred chef Simon Rogan. Le Champignon Sauvage was placed 11th in the country.
Everitt-Matthias commented: "What a wonderful surprise and honour to have been awarded Waitrose Good Food Guide 2014 Chef of the Year. Le Champignon Sauvage has been our lives for 26 years and Helen and I would not have been happier doing anything else. Receiving an award like this is a great boost for us and our team."
Elizabeth Caterer, consultant editor of the Waitrose Good Food Guide, said: "Le Champignon Sauvage is in a league of its own. For a start, David Everitt-Matthias's cooking has never stood still - he acknowledges the developments in the restaurant world without feeling any undue need to follow them slavishly. And it is one of the mysteries of the cooking world that after 25 years, David continues to turn out dish after dazzling dish. He is such an inspirational chef."
Everitt-Matthias is a long-standing holder of two Michelin stars (awarded in 2000) and was presented with the Catey Chef Award in 2007. He has published three books - Essence: Recipes from Le Champignon Sauvage in 2006, which was named Most Innovative UK Cookbook in the 2006 World Gourmand Cookbook Awards, Dessert, published in 2009, and Beyond Essence, with foreword by Pierre Koffmann, which was released earlier this year.
Le Champignon Sauvage was joined in the South West by 26 new entries in the 2014 guidebook, which is published on 9 September. A total of 174 restaurants, pubs and cafés from across the region are now included in the guide.
Book review: Beyond Essence, David Everitt-Matthias >>