2 Michelin star chefs: Lewis Barker, Terre
Lewis Barker is executive chef at Terre, the two-Michelin-starred restaurant at Castlemartyr Resort in County Cork, Ireland.
He took over the kitchen on October 1, 2025, succeeding Vincent Crepel, who had led Terre since it opened in September 2022.
Terre won its first Michelin star within six months of opening, then added a second the following year, making it one of only a handful of two-Michelin-starred restaurants in Ireland.
Lewis presented his first menu on November 20, 2025, and went on to retain both stars at his first Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland ceremony as executive chef, held in Dublin in February 2026.
Early career and background
Lewis is originally from Leeds, West Yorkshire.
He started working in kitchens at 15, taking a weekend job at the fine dining restaurant Anthony's while still at school, learning the fundamentals of seasoning and flavour under chef Anthony Flynn.
He has said his interest in cooking began in front of the television, citing Saturday Kitchen and Great British Menu as early influences.
Lewis studied professional cookery at Leeds City College, then spent several years working at home before heading to Australia, where he worked at Vue de Monde in Melbourne, under Shannon Bennett, and Quay in Sydney, under Peter Gilmore. Both hold three hats under Australia’s Good Food Guide, the country’s rough equivalent of three Michelin stars.
A year working in Barcelona followed before Lewis moved to Singapore in 2016, where he would spend close to a decade.
There, he worked under Irish chef Andrew Walsh, taking a sous chef role at the Michelin-starred Bacchanalia, and at Vianney Massot, where he was part of the team that won a Michelin star within six months of opening.
In early 2021, at 27, Lewis opened his own restaurant, Sommer, and won a Michelin star within six months, becoming the youngest chef in Singapore to hold one. Sommer ran until it closed in October 2024.
Joining Terre
Lewis was announced in the summer of 2025 as the successor to Vincent Crepel, who had led Terre’s kitchen since it opened and departed after four years in the role.
He took up the post of executive chef on October 1, 2025, relocating from Singapore to East Cork with his wife and young son, and presented his first menu at Terre on November 20, 2025.
Lewis Barker’s cooking style
Lewis has described his food as contemporary French cooking, modernised through the flavours and techniques he picked up over his years in Asia, from koji and dashi to ponzu and chilli.
His focus at Terre is on Ireland’s larder: he works closely with local fishermen, foragers and farmers.
Lewis said: “My philosophy is rooted in a desire to work more closely with the land and those who nurture it. It’s about letting the landscape and its people guide the direction of each dish.”
Michelin stars at Terre
Terre opened at Castlemartyr Resort in September 2022, under founding chef Vincent Crepel, and won its first Michelin star within six months, before being upgraded to two stars the following year.
Michelin credited Vincent and his team with “original, modern dishes with well-judged contrasts that allow the supreme quality of the ingredients to shine.”
Lewis was in his first year in the role when Terre’s two stars were reconfirmed at the Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland awards in Dublin in February 2026.
The Guide’s latest entry for Terre points to “a procession of original and elaborate snacks” ahead of “striking and sophisticated dishes,” with the kitchen’s international outlook, shaped by Lewis’s years in Asia, coming through in dishes finished tableside in the dining room.
Lewis told the Irish Times: “I’m ambitious and I think there’s always more to strive for.
“I want to retain them, but I don’t want to get carried away yet.”
With two Michelin stars already in place when he arrived, Lewis’s task at Terre is less about winning fresh recognition than building his own identity into a kitchen already operating at the top of Ireland’s fine dining scene, one rooted ever more firmly in the produce of East Cork.
Other Michelin Star Chefs
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