How Hywel Griffith’s seaside restaurant keeps thriving

Next year will mark a decade since Hywel Griffith opened his seaside restaurant Beach House, overlooking Oxwich, offering fine dining on the Gower peninsula in south Wales.

It has been a big shift for Hywel himself, having grown up near the foot of Snowdonia in the north of the country to now living by the golden sands on the south coast. And by his own admission, his restaurant is now “completely different” to when it first opened in 2016.

There have been notable highs. Winning a Michelin star in 2020, and retaining it ever since, as well as appearances on Great British Menu have boosted the business.

But given the very nature of dealing with the peaks and troughs of tourist summer season, Hywel has had to be sensible to keep business ticking in these tricky times for hospitality across the UK.

“We're just embarking on our 10th year this year,” Beach House’s chef director told The Staff Canteen.

“It's always tough opening a restaurant in the middle of nowhere. We knew where we opened nine years ago. The restaurant’s doing well, obviously not as well as it was when I came off Great British Menu, won the star and everything all came together six years ago and it kind of ramped us up quite a bit.

“I guess there's a softening in the industry, but also we're finding normal business levels a little bit as well. It’s just gauging that and dealing with the seasonality really.

“June, July and August are going to be crazy for us, like it always is. Gower is just a different animal for those three months really. You go from a handful of cars in the car park to hundreds.

“Obviously not all of them dine here, but a few do. It does help out quite dramatically.

“Because it's a holiday destination, we do have people who come to the area on holiday. They go to different parts of the UK every year, so we do get the one-time guests quite often, especially over summer.

“But our return customer base is brilliant really and it's what keeps the restaurant alive. It’s great to see these people coming back time and time again.”

Best restaurants in Wales

Beach House is one of just seven restaurants in Wales to hold a Michelin star. Gorse in Cardiff, just along the coast, became the capital city’s first ever restaurant to win a Michelin star this year, while Gareth Ward’s Ynyshir leads the way for Wales with two stars.

Asked how he assesses the Welsh dining scene, and if it has changed much since he first opened his restaurant, Hywel said: “Not just Michelin-starred restaurants, I think restaurants across the board in Wales have got a lot better.

“There’s a lot of restaurants in Cardiff that don’t have awards or Michelin stars that are really good. I think we're catching up. I think it’s great.”

Decade of evolution

Prior to Beach House, Hywel gained experience working at the likes of Coleg Menai, The Lanesborough, Chester Grosvenor and Ynyshir.

He grew up in rural Welsh-speaking Bethesda and reflects his heritage with his menus in Swansea written in both English and Welsh.

The seasonal menu includes dishes such as sea trout, beef fillet, fallow deer and souffle bara brith.  

Asked how different his restaurant is now compared to 2016, Hywel said: “Hugely different. One thing I do say is if we'd opened with a menu and a style that we have now, we probably wouldn't be here now.

“I think the fact that we've taken all our guests on a journey is an important thing. We did a really cheap lunch menu and had quite generic, non-challenging dishes on, in comparison to what it is now.

“But what it is now is that people trust me and the brand and the cooking and how we deliver stuff and fast forward to now, when game is on, we do game in a massive way and venison outsells beef. We never would have had that nine years ago.

“We are really doing that local thing justice and trying to bring it through.

“The restaurant is completely different now, which is nice to see that it's still evolving as well.”

Managing Great British Menu spike

Hywel twice won the Wales regional heat on Great British Menu, so knows all too well what is facing this year’s batch of chefs who have recently starred on the BBC hit show.

Read: Great British Menu 2025 champion Amber Francis looking to inspire future generations

Read: Jean Delport aiming for two stars after ‘life-changing’ GBM experience

“It doesn't matter whether you go through to the banquet or you’re just in the regionals, the important thing is how well you come over,” he said.

“I think the important thing to remember first and foremost is it is a TV show and they're there to make entertainment.

“That's where I did really well. I wasn't trying (to stand out), I was just being myself, and I’ve come over really well and especially Welsh people gravitated towards that and they loved it.

“It’s just managing that spike in business. It always kind of fizzles away and you’ve got to find your own rhythm.

“Sat here now you could say ‘we did all this’, but at the time it was a rollercoaster journey and the bookings just kept on going up and up and up.

“And then Covid happened and we shut. Post-Covid, everything came together and we were literally full for 18 months after that, like most restaurants were.

“Everything kind of layered on top of each other and kept on building. Then you get back to normal a little bit.”

As passionate as ever

Hywel knew from the age of 12 he wanted to become a chef. So now into his 40s, what is it that keeps him passionate to keep doing what he does?

“I’m like a service junkie,” he explained.

“I love the restaurant when it's full and we're prepped, we're ready, the food's going out, it's looking good and everything's cooked right. Pastry is on fire, souffles are coming out nicely. I just love it.

“We have quite a high ceiling, so it's a bit like an orchestra in there, when people have had a couple of glasses of wine. They get a bit rowdy and I just love it. I really love it.

“We’re a bit of an open pass, so I can see probably 75 per cent of the restaurant. To be able to see everybody, new and returning guests, and when they try something new or somebody’s bought a table for five and gran isn't really used to dining out, especially in places like this, but she tries something that is a bit kind of alien to her and she loves it. You can't hear what they're saying, but you get the gist and they're talking amongst themselves.

“I just love seeing that and constantly just coming up with stuff that we enjoy cooking. Not trying to cook because something's trendy at the time.

“I have been doing this a while and what you see is things come in and out of trend and it’s great for these restaurants that can hit that, but the thing is, 18 months, two years down the line, they're out of fashion, you know?

“What never goes out of fashion is good, reliable cooking, good atmosphere and looking after people really well. That's what we try and do here.”

He added: “From day one, it was never set in stone that we were going to try for a star, or three or four rosettes.

“It was, we’re going to open a restaurant and we're just going to get a bit better all the time.

“When you try and cook a certain way to win accolades, quite often the food gets a bit techy, a bit cheffy, and it doesn't always work.

“The only thing that matters to me is that the dish is cooked really well and is bloody nice. That's all I care about. How we get there, of course is important from a consistency point of view, but we don't let that define us.

“What defines us is the fact that people love what we do and come back.

“As ‘non trendy’ as that is, that's my belief in the restaurant. The proof is in the pudding - we’re still here we're still doing well.”