Young restaurant owner celebrates one year anniversary.

Penzance restauranteur Kim Reska Letchford is celebrating her first anniversary at the Bakehouse in Penzance after taking over the fine dining restaurant on Valentine’s Day 2017.

Kim and her partner Gary have taken the Cornish foodie scene by storm in their first year winning a Taste of the West Gold Award in the Restaurant category and regularly achieving 50 covers a night during peak seasons.

Kim’s love for the Bakehouse started nine years ago, when her dream to own her own restaurant was ignited during her Year 10 work experience at the same venue!

Kim commented: “I am proud to say I was the first and probably only student ever to go to my teacher at school and tell them I wanted MORE hours for my work experience, and decided to work additional hours at the Bakehouse in the evenings – it was good practice for the rest of my life”.

After completing her GCSEs Kim studied Professional Cookery at Truro and Penwith College from 2010 to 2013, where she received a Level 2 and 3 Diploma in Professional Cookery and a Level 3 NVQ in Patisserie and Confectionery, all while continuing to work at the Bakehouse.

“One of the key skills I gained throughout my time at the College was being able to come up with interesting menu ideas, which now I do on a daily basis”, commented Kim.

Kim also worked at The Victoria Inn, where she was able to develop her skills further: “I learnt a ridiculous amount under Nik Boyle, in less than a year”. After completing her college course Kim decided to spend some time travelling the world before settling down and starting her career.

When Kim returned to Cornwall earlier this year the Bakehouse owners got in touch to inform her that they were selling, and asked if she would like to buy. Kim said: “Ever since I was 14, I have wanted to own my own place, and I wanted to be a Chef since as long as I can remember, so I decided to buy the Bakehouse and do fine dining in the evenings. After 6 stressful months of negotiations, offers, lawyers, bank managers, loans and crying later, we bought the venue.”

Experience fine dining at the Bakehouse, Chapel Street, Penzance for yourself by calling 01736 331331 and booking a table.

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