Master distiller / blender
Andy Watts
- Discipline
- Master distiller / blender
Portrait of Andy Watts
i. Biography
A kitchen career built from the bottom up gives a chef a clear read on pace, waste, and the people work that keeps service moving. Andy Watts started by washing up at his aunt’s cafe, where the job began with the unglamorous end of the shift and the discipline of learning service from the sink up. He then moved to a burger van at The famous Donington market at Donington Park race track, a setting where speed, repetition and control mattered more than presentation. A local pub followed, first as a part-time worker (evenings and weekends), then as full-time staff member at a local pub, a progression that speaks to reliability earned over time. That route led to Head Chef at The Pheasant Inn in Lambourn, the point where the work clearly shifted from support to leadership. By 2023, Andy Watts was Head Chef at Jack Russell Inn in Faccombe, England, and in 2024 he was Executive Chef at The Tawny Hotel, balancing two roles while keeping the focus on place, team and season.
Where They Are Now
Local sourcing sits at the centre of the kitchen at Jack Russell Inn, with the menu shaped by what the surrounding landscape can provide. Andy Watts describes produce, game, garden vegetables and foraged ingredients as the framework for the work, with the Faccombe Estate and the kitchen garden feeding the direction of the plate. It is a practical approach: the kitchen responds to what is available, rather than forcing a menu against the site. Team input is part of that same structure. As the kitchen grows, Andy Watts has made collaboration part of menu development, treating the line as a working part of the process rather than a fixed hierarchy. The result is a kitchen built on shared ideas, with the menu refined through the people cooking it.
In Their Words “Firstly being led by the produce around us at The Jack Russell Inn, whether that’s the game from the Faccombe Estate, the fruit and veg from the gardens including our little kitchen garden or what we can forage from the estate.” That line lays out the operating principle clearly: the menu is drawn from the estate, the gardens and what can be gathered locally. For a kitchen working to place, the ingredients are not a garnish to the concept; they are the starting point. “Secondly, as our kitchen team is growing and getting stronger it’s nice to collaborate on our menus and get the team’s input and ideas for the menus.” The second point keeps the focus on process. Menu development here is collaborative, with the team contributing ideas as the kitchen expands. In Andy Watts’ work, product and people are linked: what the land gives, the kitchen shapes together.
Career - Head Chef, Jack Russell Inn, Faccombe (2023–present) - Executive Chef, The Tawny Hotel (2024–present) - Washed up, aunt’s cafe - Worked at a burger van, The famous Donington market at Donington Park race track - Part-time worker (evenings and weekends), a local pub - Full-time staff member, a local pub - Head Chef, The Pheasant Inn, Lambourn
FAQ What is Andy Watts's current role? Andy Watts is Head Chef. Where did Andy Watts work before? Andy Watts's earlier career included aunt’s cafe, The famous Donington market at Donington Park race track, and a local pub.
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