Marlow chef Adam Simmonds tipped to challenge Ramsay and Blumenthal (From Bucks Free Press)

Marlow chef Adam Simmonds tipped to challenge Ramsay and Blumenthal

12:15pm Wednesday 30th December 2009

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GORDON Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal may have ruled the noughties but a Marlow chef has been tipped as one who could “dominate” the restaurant scene in the next decade.

The Good Food Guide has picked ten contenders to challenge the established order and Adam Simmonds - head chef at The Oak Room at Danesfield House hotel - got a shock when he found out his name was on the list.

The 38-year-old said: “It's come completely out of the blue – the first I heard about it was when the BBC called me for an interview yesterday.

“To be compared to the other top chefs in the country is obviously a great achievement and an honour.”

Simmonds, who trained under Raymond Blanc among others, has been at the Henley Road establishment for three years after his previous restaurant near Aberystwyth was awarded a Michelin star.

Though not quite Gordon Ramsay in the swearing stakes, Simmonds said: “I can lose my rag from time to time but that's the nature of the job – you need to be hard on people sometimes and the boys in the kitchen all know that.”

Next month The Oak Room will change its name to 'Adam Simmonds at Danesfield House' and the chef is keen to build up his name.

He said: “The name change is fantastic for me. I think I'd like to do some form of television simply for the exposure it could give me and the restaurant. All the hard work is paying off but there's still a long way to go."

The guide, which currently ranks Simmonds' restaurant 19th in the country, said he is "producing some breathlessly modern food”.

Elizabeth Carter, editor of The Good Food Guide, said: “There’s no doubt that Blumenthal and Ramsay have been the chefs of the decade. But what will the 2010s bring? We certainly have some exciting talent coming through the ranks. Will any of our predictions make it to the top in the next decade?”

The 10 nominated chefs are :: Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley hotel in London.

:: Jason Atherton at Maze in London.

:: Angela Hartnett at Murano in London.

:: Nathan Outlaw in Cornwall.

:: Shane Osborn at Pied a Terre in London.

:: James Sommerin at the Crown at Whitebrook, Monmouthshire.

:: Will Holland at La Becasse in Ludlow, Shropshire.

:: Robert Thompson at Hambrough Hotel on the Isle of Wight.

:: Mark Wilkinson at Fraiche on Merseyside.

:: Adam Simmonds at Danesfield House in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

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