Meet The Yorkshire Chef Keeping it Local at The Gamekeeper's Inn
Hearty food done well is what it's all about at The Gamekeeper's Inn
From steak nights and tapas to classic Yorkshire dishes done well, The Gamekeeper’s Inn knows a thing or two about keeping guests happy. New to the team for 2024 is head chef and local lad Chris Griffiths, who is dedicated to keeping the community spirit alive with great food.
Chris began his culinary career at the age of just 14 as a kitchen porter at the Michelin-starred The Angel at Hetton, before spending time in kitchens throughout Yorkshire and further afield as his career blossomed. After spending time working in the Lake District, Chris found himself longing for God’s Own Country once again and joined the team at The Gamekeeper’s Inn in November of last year as the executive sous chef, before taking up his current position as head chef in February this year.
‘It’s only a stone’s throw away from my original starting point of The Angel at Hetton,’ Chris says. ‘I visited the place a lot as a kid and it felt like a good bit of string to add to the spool and a good bit of history to bring this back around full circle.’
Chris has wasted no time in making his mark at The Gamekeeper’s Inn, creating a wide range of menus using the very best local produce. ‘It’s been absolutely fantastic. I obviously try and curate the style of cooking and dishes we produce to match the venue,’ he says. ‘I like to make sure that the menus we’ve got now are running on a traditional Yorkshire basis of the fare and food that we all know and love from Yorkshire, but with a modern twist that I’ve taken and learned from other kitchens.
‘For me I base traditional Yorkshire food on a meal that you’d see when you sit down at the table at grandma’s house and she brings her cottage pie or a nice roast chicken out of the oven. It’s just a well-cooked classic dish with the right flavours and something you can sit down and enjoy with company.’
With The Gamekeeper’s Inn offering such a variety of menus on top of its traditional Yorkshire staples (including afternoon tea, tapas Mondays, Thursday steak nights and weekly fake-aways), does Chris have a favourite? ‘I do have a classic dish that does follow me everywhere I go and has rave reviews from customers in every place I’ve produced it. It’s a garlic and herb marinated chicken breast with a mini chicken pie served on a bed of mash with garlic and herb carrots and a Madeira sauce,’ he says. ‘It’s a good visual dish as well as tasting really nice.’
A cornerstone of hearty Yorkshire food for many years, Chris says it’s the local community that makes The Gamekeeper’s Inn so special. ‘I think the inn itself feels like a staple part of Yorkshire and is a meeting place for the local community – it’s not just a place to come and have a pint and a meal, it’s a place where you can come and have a catch up with old friends and make new friends in the process.’
For Chris, much of his time is spent planning ahead to make sure The Gamekeeper’s Inn always offers the very best for its customers and this includes already looking at revamping the menus for the coming wedding season, as well as tackling the mammoth task of the Christmas menu. ‘Over the next two years, I want to turn what is already a fantastic community and a fantastic environment into somewhere that brings more people in and creates a bigger community, encompassing a bigger area of North Yorkshire.’
Tell us a top tip for making the best Yorkshire puddings.
A little bit of salt, and mix it anti-clockwise.
What’s your favourite ingredient to work with?
I love all food, there’s no favourite here.
Tell us a hidden gem in Yorkshire.
Saltaire, it’s a fantastic little place.
