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a top chef has defended his Michelin-Star Welsh Dining room after Give one star hygiene rating by health inspectors.
Gareth Ward insists he is ‘not embarrassed’ exceed assessment Ynyshir Restaurant and Rooms, near Machynlleth in Ceredigion, charges nearly £500 per person for dinner.
WalesFollowing an inspection by food safety officials last November, the restaurant, which has only two Michelin stars, received a rating of one out of five, meaning “significant improvement is required”.
But Mr. Ward is the restaurant’s head chef; MasterChef: Professionalstold the BBC that Inishil was working “to the highest standards in the world” and believed it was just doing “different things” in its approach to raw materials and technology.
The Michelin Guide describes this restaurant as a “truly unique experience”.
But the test results are announced Food Standards Agency The FSA announced that Inishil’s food safety management required “significant improvements”, while the cleanliness and condition of the facilities and buildings also needed to be improved. Food handling hygiene was rated “generally satisfactory”.
Mr Ward claimed inspectors raised questions about the restaurant’s use of raw and aged ingredients among their questions.
But he told the BBC: “We buy the best ingredients from around the world and a lot of them are raw.
“I buy sashimi-grade fish from Japan and they’ll ask, ‘Well, we don’t know the water, so how do we know it’s sashimi-grade?'” Well, it’s sashimi-grade, and this stuff is eaten raw all over the world, and just because our rules don’t meet their rules, they’re questioning it. “
He added: “I have a salt chamber for aging fish, but they apparently don’t like the aged stuff.”
However, the chef insists he remains confident.
He told the broadcaster: “I’m not embarrassed by it and I’m not upset by it.
“The people in life who work the hardest, think outside the box and do something different are always going to have to deal with this kind of stuff.
“My standards are never less than 100 percent.
“I’m not ashamed at all, but I’m disappointed. I’m not going to sit here and think, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m embarrassed, I did something wrong,’ because we didn’t. What we did was different things.”
Ceredigion County Council, which led the inspection, said: “The council adheres to the professional judgment of our staff in the application of British food hygiene standards and will not be commenting further.”
The UK Food Safety Authority says if a rating is low, urgent or major improvements to hygiene standards must be made.
independent Inihill has been contacted for further comment.