Top 50 Gastropubs chef launches cook book

Modern British Food​ highlights the fun style of British food available and Dunford Wood wanted to “banish the reputation of British food for being brown, dull and boring”.

Recipes include the pub’s iconic Cow Pie, scrambled eggs and Gala Pie, alongside instructions on how to make the Parlour's roast dinner.

Dunford Wood told The Morning Advertiser​: “People ask me for recipes at the pub and it’s fun to be able to share it all.

“The book has got funny stories, unexpected twists along the way, some slightly different recipes and a lot of illustrations, including artwork by my father and sketches by me."

Wider audience

He added: “It also has a picture of my grandfather, lots of personal stories and the book is about me and my style.”

The chef-patron also outlined how the recipes show consumers what he and Parlour is all about.

He said: “It reflects the pub quite a lot and though it might not have photographs of the pub in it, the book does talk about it a lot.”

“The whole style of the book is in keeping with what we do at the pub. It’s another way of communicating what we do at Parlour to a wider audience.”

Dunford Wood also explained what the future holds for him, Parlour and how a certain celebrity chef has altered the image of the trade.

Banish the reputation

He said: “For the future, I want to slightly banish the reputation of pub chefs, which Tom Kerridge has done so well and make acceptable.

“It takes some guts for fine-dining chefs to be involved or associated with the ‘common pub’. Kerridge has totally blown that out of the water by making amazing food in a pub environment.

“Our food is a bit more pubby and I am happy with that.

“I loved the process of producing the book and would love to be given the opportunity to do another one.”