A TV cook has gone from Masterchef to Mastershed after opening her first restaurant – in her garden SHED.
Kathryn Minchew, 32, who reached the semi-finals of the hit BBC show, is launching the unique dining experience in a small wooden hut at the foot of her garden.
The Studio seats just six people on reindeer hide covered benches and guests dine from wooden plates and drink from handmade cups.
But if the rustic setting does not appeal the chef is also opening a second restaurant – in her dining room.
Her business venture was inspired by a recent trip to Barcelona, where she visited Tast-Ller, located in an apartment.
The unassuming front door gives no clue to chef Mikel Rivas Nuria Peinador’s tasting menu, and sparked Kathryn’s idea for her new venue.
“Tast-Ller was fantastic,” Kathryn said. “The secrecy of it made it exciting and actually not having to make a decision on the food or wine was incredibly refreshing.
“You get what he’s cooking and I loved that.
“I already had a Kota hut, which originate in Finland, in the garden and I was looking at that and thinking I had a ready-made restaurant there.”
The mum is keeping the exact location of The Studio under wraps to add to the anticipation, but revealed it was about a mile from Gloucester Quays shopping centre.
Kathryn made it to the penultimate round of Masterchef in 2008 but said she never had a desire to work “in someone else’s restaurant”.
The Studio, an octagonal hut, sees diners sit around a crackling fire and Kathryn has promised at least one element of the meal will be cooked in front of their eyes.
“I’m a copywriter for a living and I’ve been running workshops in the hut but what I found was people were here all day and wanting some food,” said Kathryn, who has two stepchildren and a son with her husband.
“I spoke to the council and met all the regulations to be catering here so I already had all of that in place to make it more of a real restaurant.”
A sample three-course menu, set at #35 per person, will feature a mug of mead to start, followed by butternut squash and Chinese mushroom soup with aubergine crisps.
The main course will be a beef bourguignon served with fire-baked potatoes and petits pois a la Francaise.
A dessert of brandied fruits of the forest with brown sugar ice cream is followed by coffee.
Her dining room features five-courses, with a glass of champagne, cheese gougeres and a selection of cheeses with homemade crackers adding to the menu.
The Studio launches on November 28 and will open on alternate Friday nights.
Kathryn wowed MasterChef judges Greg Wallace and John Tirode with poached haddock with saffron rice and roasted cherry tomatoes followed by a margarita syllabub with salty cookie, dishes which will also feature on The Studio’s menu.
Her culinary journey has involved training in the likes of Turkey, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia.
She has also taught cookery classes and done the occasional catering job.
