Amber Francis, formerly of The Dairy, Bermondsey Larder, The Ritz and Brawn, has been appointed Head Chef of Robin Gill’s restaurant at Birch in Hertfordshire, The Zebra Riding Club.
The 70-seat indoor/outdoor restaurant, located in the former stables of the hotel’s estate, follows a farm to table ethos using produce grown on Birch’s farm.
As Head Chef Amber manages seven people and works with the growing team to incorporate ingredients from the farm in her dishes.
Amber said, 'I am absolutely thrilled to be heading up The Zebra Riding Club alongside Robin. It feels like a natural and exciting step with me having worked at The Dairy and Bermondsey Larder.
'The ethos of the restaurant and hotel are incredibly inspiring, and to be able to work so closely with growers on site is a chef’s dream. Robin has been pivotal in my career and I feel honoured to be trusted with this restaurant.'
Classically trained but forward thinking, at the age of 26 Amber has already worked at some of the UK, and the world’s, most respected restaurants. During school she joined Michelin-starred The Hand and Flowers and Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons for work experience and this cemented her idea of pursuing a career as a chef
She joined Robin Gill as Chef de Partie at his acclaimed Clapham restaurant The Dairy, and swiftly climbed the ranks reaching Senior Sous in just over a year. When the restaurant closed, Amber moved to Bermondsey Larder in 2020 to continue this role and was instrumental in the new opening, gaining recognition in CODE Hospitality’s ‘30 Under 30’ list.
In 2021, Amber moved to Mediterranean small plates restaurant Brawn in Shoreditch as Senior Sous Chef. Here she enjoyed training up more junior staff and creating new dishes.