The Castle at Taunton names new Head Chef

With the imminent departure of Chef Richard Guest, on November 1st command of the stoves at Taunton’s Castle Hotel passes to 27 year old Jamie Raftery, son of the Irish poet, John Malachy Raftery.

In just ten years, Jamie Raftery has harvested an enviable body of experience in preparation for his first full-time post as the top man.

For several years, he worked with Michael Caines at Gidleigh Park and assisted in the openings of the Caines-led Abode Hotels in Glasgow, Manchester and Exeter.

In 2007, Raftery won the Gordon Ramsay Scholarship. As part of his prize, he spent 2008 working in Ramsay’s restaurants in London, Paris and New York.

In 2009, he moved to California for a year where he worked for Thomas Keller’s French Laundry in the Napa Valley. “Jamie’s energy and demeanor are valuable assets,” writes Keller. “He is attentive to detail and cooks with precision.”

Raftery’s CV also boasts work experience in the kitchens of  Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road, Angela Hartnet at The Connaught, Marcus Wareing at Petrus and, more recently, with Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck in Bray.

I am thrilled! Jamie will be the fifth Head Chef in 25 years to embrace my “English Project”… although, this time, we may see an Irish accent in The Castle’s cooking. 

Kit Chapman, proprietor of The Castle at Taunton and author of My Archipelago