Sarah Hayward is still on cloud nine after her Michelin win

The 32-year-old has come a long way since, the culmination of which was being one of few women to be recognised during the Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland ceremony in March, where she scooped the Young Chef Award for her work as head chef of Tom Kerridge's one-Michelin-star pub the Coach in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

"I had to get pushed towards the stage because I didn't really realise it was me for a good 10 seconds," Hayward says.

"I turned around and my name was all over the screen and chef Tom [Kerridge] and Tommo [Tom De Keyser, head chef at the Hand & Flowers] were pushing me towards the stage. On my way up there, they called Tom onto the stage too and he was like a proud dad. I was so nervous I could barely get my words out, and I've never been more relieved to see him in my entire life."

Hayward took a couple of days off the following week, travelling to the Isle of Wight to show her parents the award and celebrate with family over drinks. A little more than three months later, she says it still hasn't sunk in: "It's just so amazing, I'm still on cloud nine".

A path to the kitchen was always on the cards for Hayward. Her dad and brother are professional chefs and she says her parents "always believed in those true family values of sitting around the table and eating together".

"I've got so many memories of making flapjacks with my gran, or of me and my sister cooking mum and dad dinner for their anniversary. We proper fancied ourselves as little chefs. We would lock the kitchen door so no one could come in and it would be a big surprise for mum and dad, although they knew exactly what we'd been up to."

When she was 15 she joined the busy pub her dad worked in as kitchen porter, despite him initially discouraging her from entering the industry as "he knew how hard it was".

"There are a lot of people who don't enjoy going to work and my dad is not one of them – he's always loved what he does," Hayward says. "I think that as a young person, if you see someone who is that passionate about something, it's quite hard for that not to rub off on you. I think I fell in love with how much he loved it, and now it's my passion, too."

Hayward completed her NVQ Level 2 during her apprenticeship at the Royal hotel in Ventnor before moving to Chester and completing her NVQ level 3 at the Chester Grosvenor. From there, she took a job at Hywel Jones at Lucknam Park, starting off in the brasserie with Hrishikesh Desai and then joining him at the Lucknam Park cookery school.

"Desai's an exceptional chef and I absolutely jumped at the opportunity to work alongside him," Hayward says. "I did that for a year, but it wasn't really for me. I missed the buzz of a kitchen and doing service. I spent a year with him in the cookery school and then I went to work at Restaurant Hywel Jones by Lucknam Park, which was my first Michelin experience."

Hayward's journey with Kerridge began in January 2015 when she took a role as demi chef de partie at his first pub in Marlow, the Hand & Flowers. After two and a half years she was promoted to chef de partie before moving to the Coach as junior sous chef. The game of ‘musical restaurants' continued and saw Hayward move to Manchester as part of the opening team of Kerridge's Bull & Bear as head chef before returning to Marlow to lead the kitchen at the Coach.

Hayward says her rise up the ranks happened a lot quicker than she expected and that Kerridge had pretty much every influence over her cooking in this time.

"From the moment I stepped over the threshold of the Hand & Flowers, Tom saw something in me that I'm not convinced I knew was there. He pushed that and created opportunities for me to grow as a chef and as a person as well."

Kerridge "felt complete joy" at Hayward's win, he told The Caterer, having watched as she put her own mark on the menu at the Coach while keeping the pub's DNA "firmly in place".

He added that her previous role heading up the Bull & Bear had been a learning curve in people management and business structure, while also honing her cooking ability and commitment to great produce.

He says: "Being a head chef is about combining those experiences. Sarah has been with us for a long time and to see her develop from a talented young chef de partie to an outstanding chef working in a Michelin-starred restaurant in her own right is a true testament to her dedication and hard work."

Hayward says that while Michelin has a huge influence over the hospitality industry, it is not something she was focused on until it became her job to retain the Coach's star: "I could not have told you a single time last year Michelin came in. And they obviously came in more than once because I very much doubt that they would have made that decision over one inspection," she muses.

Putting her own mark on the Coach sees her trying to bring some Isle of Wight magic to the menu, which features produce from the island's famed Tomato Stall.

"I think any chef who uses tomatoes this time of year is using Isle of Wight tomatoes, because they are just the best," says Hayward, who has created a light summery tart with whipped feta and Isle of Wight tomatoes: "We've got a roasted tomato aioli that sits alongside it and it just works perfectly. It's light and fresh and delicious."

This might be a nostalgic nod to her Isle of Wight roots, but for now, Hayward says, Marlow feels like a "home away from home".