Top chefs join to open new restaurant in Harrogate

AWARD winning chef Tom van Zeller has returned to his Yorkshire roots to open his own Harrogate restaurant with the backing of Michelin starred restaurateur and culinary expert David Moore.

The six-figure investment by Mr Van Zeller, London-based Mr Moore and a number of other private individuals to launch Van Zeller has created eight new jobs in the town.

Mr Moore, who is a former employer of Mr Van Zeller, is one of the two inspectors in Raymond Blanc’s popular BBC2 programme ‘The Restaurant’ and the founder of London’s highly acclaimed Pied a Terre restaurant.

Mr Van Zeller, who hails from Harrogate and already holds two AA rosettes, said that the venture was an opportunity to create a truly top class “even unique” restaurant.

“The personal touch is paramount and that is why I have chosen to become chef patron, and I have pulled together a fantastic team of former colleagues,” he said.

“Harrogate has more than its fair share of people who continue to enjoy eating out, and also a significant tourist and conference trade.”

He added: “I have a deep knowledge of the local market and we know we are offering something very different that has a place in the market regardless of the current economic climate.”

Mr Van Zeller was previously the head chef at the Hotel du Vin in Harrogate and Malmaison Brasserie in Leeds.

His career in catering began in the kitchens at Betty’s tea rooms after leaving school.

At the age of 18 he became an apprentice at Rudding House restaurant and since then he has been working for and with the restaurant industry’s elite, including Raymond Blanc, Tom Aitkens, Pierre Koffman, Eric Chavot, and closer to home Simon Gueller at the Michelin-starred Box Tree in Ilkley.

International experience has come from working in the kitchens of renowned restaurants Papillion in New York’s Greenwich Village and the Café-Sydney restaurant on Sydney Harbour.