Shane Osborn to leave Pied à Terre
Shane Osborn, head chef and co-owner of London's Pied à Terre, is to leave the two Michelin starred restaurant, Caterersearch can reveal.
Osborn, who has been at the helm of the Charlotte Street restaurant for more than 11 years, will leave in the summer to go travelling the world for up to nine months with his wife and two children.
He will be succeeded by his former protégé Marcus Eaves, currently head chef at Pied à Terre's Michelin-starred sister restaurant L'Autre Pied in Marylebone. Eaves will be replaced by sous chef Andy McFadden, who recently joined L'Autre Pied from the three-Michelin-starred Oud Sluis in the Netherlands, having previously worked at Pied à Terre for four years.
Osborn told Caterersearch it had been a tough decision to leave the restaurant and London. "I'm very sad to be walking away after 13 years but the restaurant is in very capable hands and in its best ever financial position," he said.
"The team at Pied à Terre, both front and back of house, is fantastic and there's only one person leaving and that's me. Marcus worked with me for four years; he is the crème de la crème of the young chefs who have worked in my kitchen and he has all the skills to take over from me and carry on Pied à Terre's legacy."
Australian-born Osborn added that after 25 years of working as a chef he felt it was time for a new challenge. "It was never my intention to become a Michelin-starred chef. I look forward to taking this new step and travelling with my family and seeing as much of the world as we can. Who knows where we'll end up afterwards."
Pied à Terre owner David Moore thanked Osborn for his commitment to the restaurant, adding he would be sorely missed. "But this is an exciting new chapter for us and Marcus is the heir to the throne," he said. "Shane leaves Pied à Terre after its best year ever and in a very stable and secure position."
Osborn first joined Pied à Terre as sous chef in 1998 and was promoted to head chef after the departure of Tom Aikens in December 1999. The restaurant lost its second star the following month in January 2000. However, Osborn regained it in 2003 and has retained the accolade ever since. He previously worked with Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing opening L'Oranger and as junior sous chef at The Square.
His successor Eaves has been head chef at L'Autre Pied since its launch in 2007, where he gained a Michelin star in 2009.
Osborn has a severe allergy to fish, which forces him to wear surgical gloves when handling fish. Last month, he became the first British based chef to cook for the European Council in Brussels.
First opened in 1991, Pied à Terre was first awarded a Michelin star in 1993, under Richard Neat, who took the kitchen on to two stars in 1996, but left the restaurant within months of receiving it. Neat's sous chef and successor, Aikens, held the two stars for a further three years.
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