Former College Student Who Worked Alongside Heston Blumenthal Opens Restaurant
A former Coleg Llandrillo student and Michelin star trained chef, who worked alongside chef legend Heston Blumenthal, has launched his own restaurant in Conwy.
Nick Rudge, 27, worked at Heston Blumenthal's three-Michelin-starred Fat Duck restaurant in Bray, Berkshire for seven years before moving home to Wales after he was furloughed during the pandemic.
His new restaurant is called The Jackdaw - a traditional name given to people born within the town walls. Nick moved back to his home town of Llandudno earlier last year after Covid halted his work. Previous to this new venture, he had been running a takeaway service - The Jackdaw at Home.
He secured a job working alongside renowned food scientist Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant in 2014, immediately after leaving Coleg Llandrillo’s Rhos-on-Sea campus, following a successful work placement.
But changes were afoot, as he spent most of 2015 in Melbourne, after the celebrity chef ‘flew’ his restaurant, The Fat Duck, 10,000 miles south, whilst the original restaurant in Berkshire undertook a £2.5million renovation.
One of Nick’s tutors during his time at Coleg Llandrillo, Brian Hansen, said: “Nick clearly displayed the skills required for excellence in the hospitality industry and is an outstanding role model to our current young students.”
For more information about Hospitality & Catering courses starting at Coleg Llandrillo, go to www.gllm.ac.uk or call the college's Learner Services team on 01492 542 338.
Email: enquiries.llandrillo@gllm.ac.uk
*Photo of Nick is from 2014, just before he left his college studies for a job working alongside Heston Blumenthal
