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Tags:Michelin-starred recipes, Chef Conference

David Everitt-Matthias

(24 April 2008 17:33)

David Everitt-Matthias is the chef-patron of the 40-seat Le Champignon Sauvage in the Gloucestershire spa town of Cheltenham.

The restaurant is one of just 11 in the UK to hold a two-Michelin-star accolade (which David Everitt-Matthias won before the age of 40) and Le Champignon Sauvage also holds four AA rosettes.

David Everitt-Matthias

Current interests

Le Champignon Sauvage

Essence: Recipes from Le Champignon Sauvage

Supports Young Chef, Young Waiter competition

David Everitt-Matthias is an expert in seasonal, local produce and is renowned for his passion for flavour and unusual, locally-foraged wild ingredients – such as yellow gorse flowers, alexanders (a lovage-like herb) and hairy bittercress.

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Born in Wandsworth in London, the former Ealing college student started cooking in 1978. He spent five years with London’s Inn on the Park (now the Four Seasons) before moving on to Pierre Koffmann’s Michelin-starred La Tante Claire.

He worked at three more restaurants in London before opening Le Champignon Sauvage in 1987 with his wife Helen. Since that time, Everitt-Matthias has not missed a single service.

Pierre Koffmann was a key influence on Everitt-Matthias’ classically-rooted French cooking and he was notably inspired by the French chef’s mixing of luxury ingredients and offal. This served him well during the early days of Le Champignon Sauvage, when he could not afford the pricier items. To this day, he ensures his chefs understand and esteem the cheaper cuts of meat.

Everitt-Matthias scooped his first Michelin star in 1995 within 24 hours of winning the Midlands heat of the National Chef of the Year award (which he won the following year). A second Michelin star followed in 2000.

His first book, Essence: Recipes from Le Champignon Sauvage, was published in late 2006 with a foreword by Gordon Ramsay.

Everitt-Matthias’ dedication to training is underlined by his keen support of the Young Chef, Young Waiter competition.

Awards include:
Catey Chef of the Year 2007
Good Food Guide County Restaurant of the Year 2005
National Chef of the Year 1996 (Craft Guild of Chefs)
Egon Ronay Dessert Chef of the Year 1996
Decanter Restaurant of the Year