Nathan Cornwell appointed Head Chef of Chiswick's The Silver Birch

Alex South

Editor

Chiswick's neighbourhood restaurant, The Silver Birch, is delighted to announce the appointment of Nathan Cornwell as Head Chef, coinciding with its second birthday in May.

Nathan, who previously served as Head Chef working alongside chef patron Mark Birchall at the award-winning The Barn at Moor Hall, brings his wealth of experience and expertise to the restaurant.

During his four-year tenure at Lancashire’s The Barn at Moor Hall, Nathan helped the restaurant achieve several accolades and awards, cementing its position as one of the UK's top restaurants.

The Barn at Moor Hall opened in 2017 and two years later, Nathan was at the helm working alongside Mark to ensure the menus celebrated ingredients picked from the kitchen garden or produced within the venue’s five-acre estate.

In 2022, The Barn at Moor Hall was awarded a coveted Michelin star.

Prior to his stint at The Barn at Moor Hall, Nathan worked in top-flight kitchens, including roles at Kitchen W8, Copenhagen’s Geranium (3 Michelin Stars), Stockholm’s Kadeau and Oaxen Krog (2 Michelin Stars respectively), and 2 Michelin-starred Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham.

Nathan was successful in reaching the final six at the 2021 Roux Scholarship, following a series of regional heats and beating off competition from across the country.

The Silver Birch, which has become a local favourite since opening its doors two years ago, will continue to offer the same warm and welcoming atmosphere, overseen by General Manager Sunny Kharbanda.

With impressive culinary talent and a love of foraged ingredients as well as highlighting different cooking techniques through the use of pickling and preserving, Nathan will bring a refined and elegant cooking style to The Silver Birch.

Sticking to the restaurant’s ethos of using locally sourced, hyper-seasonal ingredients, Nathan has devised a new menu showcasing the regional ingredients found on the restaurant’s doorstep or from a network of local suppliers.

Highlights from the new menu include snacks such as Coolea cheese sables, Trout and seaweed tarts and Crispy pig’s head, savora mustard, alongside starters of Ex-dairy cow tartare, smoked oyster, kohlrabi sea herbs, herb cracker and Salt-baked organic celeriac, Berkswell cheese hazelnut, celeriac broth.

Mains will come in the form of Herdwick lamb, wild garlic, smoked onion emulsion and new season white asparagus, artichoke pickled pear, while Brown butter chocolate delice, milk sorbet, caramelised white chocolate, and Poached Yorkshire rhubarb, verbena mousse, meringue complete the menu.

Taking The Silver Birch to new heights, 2023 looks set to be a stunning year for the local institution, constantly changing the game for the Chiswick dining scene.

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