Chef brings his passion for food to Home Farm Hotel.

A chef is bringing his passion for food to Wilmington and has set his sights on securing a Michelin star rating for Home Farm Hotel.

Alan Pyne is the latest addition to the team at the hotel, which is owned by Ashley and Rebecca Gray, and hopes to get the prestigious star rating in 18-months.

“I am looking forward to the challenge,” he says.

He told the Midweek Herald that he is hopeful it can be done in 18-months and says he will be pushing the kitchen side of the business forward.

Alan has been cooking for 20 years and has developed his skills in kitchens all over the world - working in Budapest, Belgium, Hong Kong, Germany and France.

He won an amateur Masterchef competition in 1998 and has worked in a number of prominent establishments during his career including Jamie Oliver’s Jamie Italian, Aubergine under Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsey and The Savoy.

Alan added: “I am passionate about food. I am always experimenting - it is about pushing boundaries and having something that someone is going to like.”

Hotel owner Ashley Gray said: “We are very excited to have Alan joining us.

“We took over Home Farm a year ago and it was a career change. Our plan is to move the business forward and we wanted to get a good chef.”

He added: “This will give Home Farm the cutting edge and re-position us from just being a hotel to doing excellent, good quality, home-cooked food.

“We want to make this the best place to come to.”