I’ve left those places feeling very full, but also a bit empty. (Don’t feel sorry for me, it’s okay, I know I have the best job in town). We met William, who should change his name to Willm to suit the vowel-dropping theme, on a Monday night at 7.30pm. There is also the Fig Room, where guests are invited to dine amongst the large leaves and sweet and savoury aromas of the figs themselves. William’s partner, Penelope Rushin, has been growing vegetables in the estate’s greenhouse, using organic methods and soils to grow the produce.

As for standing the heat in the MasterChef kitchen, he added: ‘I always watched the series and thought ‘the pressure can’t be that bad’. Oh, how silly I was! It was a test for me. I never feel pressure even in the hardest heat of service, I’m just always so calm. But wow, MasterChef was such an experience. I can’t put into words what the pressure in there does to you. It’s like nothing I have ever experienced before – but very good for any chef to go and give a bash. I wouldn’t change a second of it.’ What has been the highlight of your career to date? “My biggest achievement has to be owning my own restaurant at the age of 24 or achieving Head Chef at 19." Why did you want to take part in MasterChef: The Professionals? He joined St. James’s Hotel and Club in central London as executive chef andlaunched the hotel’s Seven Park Place restaurant on September 1, 2009.The following year, Seven Park Place gained a Michelin star which has been retained ever since.

The expert team are eager to discover outstanding new cooking talent and will be setting exacting standards from the moment the kitchen doors open, as only the most skilled, passionate and creative of chefs can come close to the prestigious MasterChef: The Professionals title. When you eat in a restaurant, you feel how the chef and the team want you to feel, which can be a beautiful experience but one we have come to know all too well.

So, I was brought up on the Wirral until I was nine and then moved to Norfolk. I guess this, along with stories from my grandmother about cooking in big houses led me into cooking in some way shape or form.

We will do the community proud

William believes people are turning away from the traditional restaurant experience and looking for something a bit different. All the chefs I have worked with have influenced me in some way, Philip Britten at the capital used to drag us down the veg market at 5am to hunt out the best fruit and vegetables. Tom Aikens – sheer hard, hard, work, determination, and the ability to extract every ounce of flavour out of everything. Marcus Wareing said: ‘The hunt for the 2022 champion is on and we’re ready to push these chefs as far as they can go. The sky’s the limit as far as I’m concerned and that trophy is just waiting to be claimed.’

At the end of the pandemic, it was a total rebuilding process which has been made a lot more difficult by Brexit as all the staff have vanished. Next was the piece-de-resistance. William told us he’s had this on his menu for a while. It was half a head of cauliflower (each) that had been cooked on embers for aeons. It was such a delicate thing, in the shell that was balanced on a bowl of coals. The lemon, yeast and fig sauce was subtly fresh and balmy.Tasting food straight from the garden and hedgerows, along with stories from my grandmother who worked at Wentworth Woodhouse in South Yorkshire. The decision to take on the Tigh an Truish was definitely heart led. We have a fantastic team already in place that are well liked among the community and adding our team for the kitchen and restaurant will boost the offering for all to enjoy." David and John at Tigh an Truish

John and David have been at the helm of their award-winning Etive restaurant in Oban for four years.Round three involved summer courgettes and smoked tomato. The latter fruit was whole, and had been cooking, like the cauli, all day. Thus, it had been transformed by flaming alchemy into something almost unrecognisable - sweet, slightly smokey and delicate. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, including where you are today, professionally, and what got you here? William goes off and does his thing in the makeshift kitchen, poking at the fire, and you can get romantic (or not) with your plus one and only see the chef whenever he delivers the five successive plates. In the summer, my cooking style tends to be lighter, with more olive oil, lots of vegetables, tomatoes etc. In the winter, the flavours become stronger and more intense. In 2010, Seven Park Place gained a Michelin star which has been retained ever since By having that relationship, you can also get them to try things out for you which sometimes ends up being a bespoke product just for you. A second star is potentially on the horizon for William Drabble and his team have established one of the UK’s most talented kitchens.