Jamie Keeble on swapping Mýse for 20,000 acres at Swinton Estate

Fresh off the back of his success on Great British Menu and playing a key role in running the kitchen of a Michelin-starred restaurant for three years, Jamie Keeble feels it is the “perfect time” for the next chapter in his career.

In the coming weeks, Jamie is set to leave his role as head chef at Mýse in Hovingham, ahead of launching Chef’s Table at the Swinton Estate at the start of October, having been headhunted for the position following the departure of Josh Barnes.

Set in Ripon, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, Swinton Estate boasts multiple food offerings as well as 20,000 acres of countryside and woodland, providing huge creative opportunities for a chef like Jamie.

"I go over constantly with a camera and just document everything, and try to build up in my head where everything is, where everything is living,” Jamie said.

"The walled garden is amazing. Woodlands alone for preservation is amazing. The estate itself has its own flour mill. It has dairies. It has pigs, cows and sheep.

“I think there's over a thousand wild deer on the estate. There's your usual grouse, pheasant, wild ducks and partridge.

"And then there's a lot we're working on with the gardeners. They've got the old Victorian underground basement spaces, to store food over winters.

“There's a game larder that's the length of three or four walk-in fridges, and it has four or five deer hanging, or 400 grouse.

"It's just endless.”

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The space itself is a far cry away from the “old pub space” setting at Mýse, which Jamie joined when it opened back in 2023, under Josh Overington, winning a star just months later and retaining it ever since, turning it into a dining destination.

Jamie’s CV also includes working at Gareth Ward’s two-Michelin-starred Ynyshir, Lords of the Manor and The Wild Rabbit and he was looking to take a job in Hong Kong, before Josh got in contact about Mýse.

"The first seven months, when we won the star, they were intense,” Jamie recalled.

“No-one there previously had any star experience. I just fell in love with the space, and me and Josh, probably from a week or two in, just instantly clicked.

"It's never been just working together. We'll go watch a film at the cinema or we'll go out for dinner. There's a really good friendship outside of everything. We work really well together.

“It's no easy feat winning a star, and doing it in seven months as well. I’m massively proud of everything that's been achieved - the accolades, the guests that have returned five or six times and the team that we built.

"It's probably the most important part of my career, really setting the tone for the next thing."

Impressing on Great British Menu

During the past year, whilst running a Michelin-starred kitchen, Jamie also spent time preparing for and competing on BBC’s Great British Menu 2026.

And he performed well, winning the regional North East heat and going through to finals week, where he narrowly missed out on cooking the main course at the banquet, on a tie-break. It was all the more agonising as the chef he lost out to was Pine’s Cal Byerley, who came back as a wildcard, having lost to Jamie during the weekly regional round.

"I wanted to do it because it's something I'd always watched as a kid,” Jamie said, discussing his time on Great British Menu.

“I'd always seen these chefs on there, big chefs, chefs now that are still massive. And I just wanted to do it for exposure, if I'm being honest, that's obviously a major part of it.

"In my eyes it's one of the best competitions for cooking around. It's a great thing to be a part of.

“When you're actually there, it's such a family environment and it's such a great experience.

"But it was a really busy time. Running Mýse and then practising four dishes and a canapé and a pre-dessert. It was going in on Mondays and Tuesdays without a kitchen porter and just weighing every dish, cooking every dish, washing up every dish, over and over and over again, for what felt like months. It was a lot of me just stood in an empty, quiet Mýse, just eating my duck main course every week, trying to get the timings right.

"But I loved it. Getting through the regional week was a big thing for me because I was up against Cal, and it was his third time.

“We all knew there was a wildcard coming. We were all trying to spot if any certain ingredients had come in, to work out what the protein was for the main course.

“Looking back on it, it was amazing. At the time you can be a little bit stressed, or think you wanted a different outcome. But I absolutely loved it. The finals week was amazing. Me and seven other like-minded people just having fun, cooking."

Asked if he would like to go back onto the show one day, Jamie said: “One million per cent.

“I think the kind of person I am, I'm extremely competitive in a positive way. I want to go back on it eventually and try and win a course. Maybe a year or two down the line once I've settled in (at Swinton).”

What is Jamie Keeble planning for Swinton Estate?

For now, all focus is on creating something special at Swinton.

“Food and cooking and hospitality is like an obsession for me, and it has been for the best part of 12 or 13 years now,” Jamie explained.

“I've worked at starred places all over the country, and different variations as well.

“I've tried to get a good grounding over those years.

"I just think it's the perfect time now. It's three years in at Mýse. I'm really happy with what we've achieved there and moving over to Swinton, it just feels natural.

“I want to utilise the estate, and be able to tell that story about the produce and the land and stuff like that.

"It's a really intimate space, which I'm going to be able to build on, and hopefully make something really special."

Working with Steve Darou

Jamie will work alongside new executive head chef Steve Darou at Swinton Estate, who arrives from St John restaurant in London.

Outlining how he sees the pair’s responsibilities and partnership, Jamie said: “Steve is mainly looking after the restaurants in the main house – a brasserie and health food space.

“He’s also quite linked up with a local agricultural university.

“From the off, I was pretty much told, within reason, you can make the Chef’s Table space special, make it your own, do something within the surrounding of the estate. He basically just said, I'll leave you to it, it's your thing.

"I've sat and chatted with him probably even or eight times. He seems like a lovely, lovely guy. He seems really calm and collected."

How to make the most of a 12-seat dining space

Asked what challenges and opportunities a 12-seat space offers, Jamie said: “I'll be able to take advantage of it.

“I kind of see it as a blessing, because it means that with such a concentrated amount of people, I can really focus on the offering.

“I’m hoping rather than just warming sauces back up for service, which there is nothing wrong with, I can do a lot more finishing things at the last minute, a lot more of a show, a lot more for the guests to talk about. Carving and filleting and setting things on fire. Just more of an experience.”

He added: “I just love this idea of taking a lot less out of delivery crates and instead going for a walk. That's really important to me.

“Teaching the guys where it all comes from and how you break down a deer, and the processes of making charcuterie from whatever's on the estate. Or actually just spending an hour in the woods picking things and utilising all that space.

“I've kind of missed it over the past couple of years, fully actually just doing it rather than it coming out of crates."

Michelin-star ambitions

Unsurprisingly, Jamie has his eyes set on big accolades, like he achieved at Mýse.

"I'd be lying if I said the goal wasn't at least the star,” he admitted.

“The end goal is endless. I don't really know where and how far it can actually go. I think right now it is as far as I want to push it.

“I definitely want to win a star, and I believe that the space is special enough, and the stories that are going to be told with the produce.

"With Steve going in and looking after the main house space and trying to level up the quality in there, I'm going to put together a real special little team and just do something that's undeniably special.

“I just want to create a space that is talked about and is the meal of the year for people, and that long lasting experience for guests is my aim.

"As the saying goes, perfection is a lot of little things done well. It's just making sure everything's as special as it can be at all times.

"I would love, after everywhere I've worked and the experiences, to continue with this Michelin goal."