Chef
Jonny McNeil
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Old Windsor, United Kingdom
i. Biography
At The Loch & The Tyne in Old Windsor, British pub cooking is treated as a working discipline: seasonal produce, low-waste practice, and familiar forms finished with care rather than excess. Since 2021, Jonny McNeil has been Co-Chef Proprietor there, working in a register where comfort is structured, generosity is controlled, and sustainability sits inside the kitchen’s daily method. Hospitality learned from the floor gives service a different kind of measure. “My first job in a restaurant was as a waiter. I was 13 at the time and the industry was a bit different back then.” In McNeil’s case, the dining room came before the kitchen, which matters: timing, welcome, pressure, and the practical reading of guests all inform a style of cooking that keeps the experience of eating close to the craft of making.
The Path
A move from waiter to a kitchen job at Skerry Brae Hotel in Lossiemouth, Scotland, set the practical base: pace, repetition, station discipline, and the daily requirement to get the work right. In Jonny McNeil’s early career, that shift from front of house to kitchen was not decorative biography; it was the first move into the mechanics of production, consistency, and respect for ingredients. Hotel cooking sharpened the requirement for precision. From 2010, McNeil worked as chef at Fairmont Hotel in St Andrews, then from 2019 as Head Chef at Adam Handling Chelsea. Those roles placed technical assurance and leadership inside the routine of service, where clarity of style has to hold under pressure. Restaurant ownership gathers those practical strands into a defined house position. Since 2021, McNeil has been Co-Chef Proprietor of The Loch & The Tyne, where the work is framed around Sustainable British luxury pub cooking rather than spectacle.
Where They Are Now
Sustainable British luxury pub cooking is a narrow path when handled properly. The pub part has to remain legible: warmth, familiarity, and dishes that make sense to the guest before they are explained. The luxury part, in Jonny McNeil’s work at The Loch & The Tyne, sits in produce quality, finish, and attention to detail. The sustainable part is not an add-on; it is part of how the kitchen chooses, uses, and values ingredients. Classic British pub food is the base language, approached with quality seasonal produce and eco-conscious, sustainable practices. The craft is in sharpening the recognisable without stripping out its function: comfort stays central, but texture, balance, and composition are brought under tighter control. Low-waste and sustainability-focused cooking give the restaurant its operating grammar. At The Loch & The Tyne, the menu is described through quality, seasonal produce, which keeps the cooking direct: familiar forms, carefully handled ingredients, and a clear refusal to treat abundance as carelessness. Chicken liver parfait with duck fat brioche, dates and caramelised clementine shows the house position in one starter. Adam Handling has described it as one of the starters at the restaurant and as an example of a simple pub classic. In McNeil’s hands, the point is not to disguise the pub reference, but to tune it: richness set against brightness, generosity kept in check by control.
Accolades
Jonny McNeil has received Craft Guild of Chefs Awards — Pub Restaurant Chef Award nominee shortlist (2023). Recognition around The Loch & The Tyne points to a clear trade position rather than a loose reputation. Jonny's honors include Bib Gourmand (2024), Highest New Entry, no. 27 (2022), Three AA rosettes, and Muddy Award. Read together, they mark approval for seasonal produce, low-waste discipline, and British pub cooking handled with polish and restraint.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Jonny
What does Jonny McNeil do now?
Jonny McNeil is Co-Chef Proprietor.
Where did Jonny McNeil work before?
Earlier in their career, Jonny McNeil worked at Skerry Brae Hotel, Fairmont Hotel, and Adam Handling Chelsea.
What recognition has Jonny McNeil received?
Bib Gourmand (2024).
