Yahoo News North Staffordshire’s triple-rosette chef to open new venue
The owner of a North Staffordshire restaurant recently awarded three coveted AA Rosettes is to open a second venue at the same site. Thom Bateman, 38, chef owner of The Flintlock at Cheddleton, is set to launch a new ‘intimate’ tasting menu restaurant.
The candlelit 16-cover restaurant, Aprés, will occupy the first floor at the Flintlock site, with a lounge downstairs for coffee and cocktails. The Flintlock, recently recognised by the AA as being amongst the top 10 per cent of restaurants in the country, will revert to an à la carte menu.
Dad-of-one Thom, a former contestant on the Great British Menu, said: “Aprés is going to be an intimate, fine-dining tasting menu restaurant, and we’re going to change The Flintlock menu to be à la carte. We’ll still offer both things at the same level, it’s just that we’ll be offering the tasting menu in a cosier environment, and the more accessible à la carte menu in the three-rosette restaurant.”
READ MORE: Hanley's Slamwich Club to open second North Staffordshire venue
READ MORE: BBC TV licence fee to rise in 2025 - here's the damage
Thom said he intends for the restaurant to open in early December. Thom began his culinary career in the same building aged 17, working as a chef at the family restaurant until the age of 23 when he embarked on an 11-year career in agricultural engineering.
In 2019, Thom began posting videos of his culinary creations to Instagram. The videos went viral, with Thom garnering over one million followers on the app.
A year later, he opened The Flintlock. Thom said: “The building is two buildings conjoined, so we’re going to divide the building in two, with a new kitchen going in upstairs.
“That’s where I’ll spend a lot of my time and make it a very personal experience. It’ll be an intimate venue with a lounge downstairs where guests can have a cocktail when they arrive and a coffee after the meal.”
