Chef to the stars Steve Bott has cooked for countless celebrities and royalty during his culinary career and next on the menu is his new role as Executive Chef with Greedy Gordons.
The Rothwell-born chef recently joined the successful company, which owns several bespoke pubs and venues in Northamptonshire. With decades of experience in the hospitality sector, Steve’s appointment will see him design the menus at all the Greedy Gordons locations, including The Red Lion in Cranford, The Pig & Waffle in Grafton Underwood, and The Snooty Fox in Lowick.
Its award-winning pub The Red Lion recently relaunched its extensive, picturesque Kitchen Garden, offering alfresco dining and authentic Italian cuisine with Steve at the helm, drawing from his Italian heritage and his experience of working as a chef in Italy, alongside having previously run his own Italian restaurant in the county.
In his latest prestigious position, Steve’s new Italian-inspired menu, including indulgent sharing boards, home-made dishes, hand-made breads, and pasta options, was introduced at the relaunch of the Kitchen Garden at The Red Lion, which is proving a roaring success.
Richard Gordon, who manages the bespoke culinary collection of venues with business partner Sonya Harvey, said they were delighted to have Steve join the successful company.
Richard said:
“Steve is incredibly well known in the county, and it is great to have him on board as our Executive Chef. He has designed and created our new menu at The Red Lion where the launch of our outdoor dining Kitchen Garden proved phenomenally popular, with hundreds of visitors attending on the opening weekend, it was amazing.
“We have lots of fantastic culinary collaborations and events we will be hosting at the venue throughout the summer. The Kitchen Garden is perfect for alfresco dining and it’s ideal to showcase Steve’s sensational dishes. As it’s covered, you can still enjoy the relaxing dining and drinking experience outdoors, whatever the weather!”
Steve’s culinary credentials have seen him head up teams of chefs at multiple successful restaurants and venues, as well as owning his own esteemed establishments within the county.
Numerous famous faces savoured Steve’s creations when he worked at Langan’s, then part owned by actor Michael Caine, and which was popular with an array of Hollywood stars, before he made the move to another popular celebrity haunt, Quaglino’s, where he cooked for the royals and stars of stage and screen.
Steve’s soared throughout his hospitality career after having started off washing dishes in a small Northamptonshire village pub at the age of 14. After attending Tresham Catering College in Corby, he landed his first professional job in London at the world famous Langan’s Brasserie.
Cooking for the rich and famous became a reality after Steve’s ambition and initiative to make his hospitality mark paid off follow- ing a college trip to the capital which included a lunch at Langan’s. Steve said:
“While we were there I asked if there were any positions available, I applied and got in, working as a commis chef to start with.
“Working in a professional kitchen at 18 and moving to London was a bit scary but it was all good. Langan’s was a great place to learn – you had to speed up as you were doing meals for 400 people a night. There were different celebrities dining there every day. The paparazzi were always waiting outside because of all the celebrities who dined there regularly.
“I also worked at Quaglino’s where we’d have a thousand people a day dining. That was also full of famous people, including Princess Diana, and during my career I’ve cooked for the Queen Mother, Tom Cruise, Steve Martin and many more famous faces.”
While Steve has worked in numerous prestigious places, including Nicole’s, Nicole Farhi’s brasserie in Mayfair and was head chef at Covent Garden’s PJ’s restaurant, when deciding to start their family, the now father-of-two Steve and his wife returned to his native Northamptonshire, where he fulfilled his long-held ambition of opening his first restaurant in Northampton called Steven Bott at Kettering Road.
In the ensuing 22 years Steve’s purchased or run restaurants in Stoke Bruerne, where he owned Bruernes Lock; worked at The World’s End in Ecton as well as at Shearsby Bath restaurant and wedding venue in neighbouring Leicestershire, where he was head chef. The culinary couple also ran The Italian Market Kitchen restaurant in Rothwell for eight years.
At Greedy Gordons, Steve’s been able to call on his extensive experience and Italian heritage to delight diners after an authentic alfresco dining experience at The Red Lion, which will host a range of regular weekly events and live entertainment throughout the summer.
Steve’s newly designed menu includes everything from home-made smoked Italian sauces to hand-made focaccia bread and piadina flatbreads to Italian burgers and all are his own recipes, with everything made fresh from scratch.
Regarding his new Greedy Gordons role, Steve said:
“The position is varied; I could be over at The Snooty Fox cooking lobsters or the trio of pork tasting dish before being back at The Red Lion creating the extensive Italian sharing boards – it’s a challenge but I am really enjoying it.
“It is giving everybody pleasure, when you finish the night and everyone has gone away happy, you know you’ve done a good job and that’s the most rewarding thing about it.”
For more information or to make a booking at The Red Lion visit the website.
