Alchemilla is a plant-focused, fine dining restaurant located in a converted Victorian coach house. Guests experience the buzz of the kitchen as they choose from five, seven and ten course tasting menus primarily focused on plant-based cooking. Head chef and owner Alex made the personal decision to only eat meat if he knows its provenance, therefore increasing the number of meat-free dishes on the menu. “I love the diversity that vegetables offer. There’s much more choice and opportunity to build complexity of flavours,” he says.

Alex has been cooking for over twenty years and has worked at 42 The Calls, Anthony’s, Restaurant Sat Bains, Auberge du Lac, Turners, and The Wild Rabbit, where he worked during the week while running pop-up restaurants in Nottingham to gain support ahead of opening his own restaurant. Alex was given the title ‘Chef to Watch’ in the Waitrose Good Food Guide 2019 and was runner up in the 2018 Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards’ ‘Chef to Watch’ category. Alchemilla placed 53 in the 2018 Top 100 Restaurants by Restaurant Magazine.

What is the best thing you can do with your hands? My job, feed my kids and provide for my family.

What was your first experience with sustainable eating? Silo Brighton. It’s a zero-waste restaurant and they are now at a point where they’re making their own crockery from recycled glass.

What do you love most about what you do? The creativity of it.

What do you consider the most overrated ingredient? Caviar.

Is there anything you don’t particularly care to eat? Celery, raw celery. I just don’t like it. Beyond that, nothing.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? Pierre Gagnaire. He’s the king of the vegetables.

When was the last time you ate out, and where? Elystan Street in London, before the National Restaurant Awards with Gareth Ward.

Are there any mentors or food heroes you’d like to thank? Anthony Flinn and Phil Thompson are the chefs that taught me so many different aspects of this career.

What are your favourite books or cookbooks? Origin by Ben Shewry and the new book from Maaemo, it’s a beautiful book.

What is the dish on your own menu that most engages you? Our bread ice cream. It’s a closed-loop dish that means we have no waste. I love the creativity; how we’ve created something out of nothing. We’ve used bread ends and our butter to make a dish. It’s not different for the sake of being different – everyone can understand it. It ticks every box by using waste products and being really delicious.

What would you be doing if you weren’t doing what you are doing? I honestly have no idea! I’ve been doing this since I was fourteen. I didn’t stumble into it; it was something I wanted to do. But if I had to choose something else, it would be related to gardening or growing. My partner is a horticulturalist.

How do you like to spend your day off? With my kids and wife. I like a boozy Sunday lunch, it’s doesn’t happen that often, but my wife and I always make time for day dates.

What does success mean to you? Being busy and paying the staff. My long-term goal is to be busy enough year-round that we can close for the whole of August and I can travel with my family.

What is your current obsession, the thing you think about at 3am? Nothing, I sleep like a baby!

What are the qualities you most admire in others? Honesty and respect. I think you should treat each other like people and speak to each other as you’d like to be spoken to.

Which three words best describe your cooking style? Imaginative, fun, accessible.

If you could eat only one thing today, what would it be? Soreen, I’ve got a real hankering for Soreen.

What do you see when you think of the cuisine of your own country? Amazing, at the moment I think we’re on fire. There are loads of phenomenal restaurants like Kitchen Table, Hide, Ynyshir, Clove Club, Lyles, Hedone, and L’Enclume.

Which producer or supplier really brightens your day? Jonny Pusztai, our butcher. We get pork from him and he’s just ace. His pork is phenomenal and he’s just the loveliest man you’ve ever met.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse? Apparently I say “innit” a lot. One of my team says she’ll fine me a pound every time I say it.

What do you think the food of the future will look like? Plant-based. We can’t sustain this amount of meat long-term.