e Post Woman

Chef profile Leader of the Pack

Lowri Haf Cooke talks war scars and knickerbockers with award-winning Y Polyn Head Chef Susan Manson

ere are plenty of Welsh chefs with ‘sleeve’ tattoos, displaying their pride as members of the cooking tribe. But you’d be hard-pressed to nd a more hard-core gang-member than Chef Susan Manson, whose forearms are covered with burns. ‘I’m not sure if it means that I’m more accident-prone than most - it’s just an occupational hazard’, she explains with a shrug. Her no-nonsense attitude to her kitchen warwounds is reminiscent of a traditional Welsh Mam, faced with hot saucepan handles and all sorts of kitchen splatters. She’s a mother herself – to Tilly, who’s 12 – and her scars have caused alarm amongst some. ‘I’ve had doctors, and even my mid-wife, give me ‘meaningful looks’. ey were so relieved when I explained that I’m a Chef’.

e head-chef (and co-owner) of Y Polyn in Capel Dewi, Carmarthenshire, is a rare bird indeed - according to the O ce of National Statistics, only 17% of chef positions in the UK are held by women. ‘I’m hoping it’s changing, but it’s a hard industry. e hours aren’t conducive to having a social, or family, life – but it’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do’. As a child in Sussex she loved making sweets and at 17, she skipped her A Levels to join the kitchen at Amberley Castle. ‘I was surrounded by boys in the kitchen, and very shy. I woudn’t say boo to a goose.’ But there, she met Mark, a Scotsman from Caithness, who went on to become a restaurant inspector for the AA Guide. Four years later they moved to London, where she was appointed Head Chef at the Little Ship Club in the City. A er that she entered the worlds of outside catering and private dining, regularly hosting 100-seat dinners at e Livery Club.

Amongst popular dishes at these ‘classic, traditional’ feasts, was Susan’s sh soup that’s been Y Polyn’s house classic since 2005. Paired with sourdough, Gruyère cheese and Provençal rouille, it’s a heartwarming, indulgent treat. It’s just one example of a tantalizing menu that’s a cut above the usual Welsh gastropub fare. Indeed, it’s fair to say, that Y Polyn led the way, garnering plaudits and awards to this day. A year a er opening Jay Rayner was much taken with the ‘pleasing bistro classics’ menu, and twice in succession they won the ‘Best Sunday Lunch’ Observer Food Magazine award.

So how did the move to Carmarthenshire occur? ‘A er 9 years in London we wanted a family life in a rural setting, similar to where we’d both grown up. We were friends with Simon and Maryann Wright, and o en visited Nantgaredig, so the four of us opened Y Polyn in Capel Dewi’. Five years later, the Wrights departed amicably, to develop Sosban in Llanelli, before opening Wright’s Food Emporium nearby. en, in 2012, Good Food Guide readers voted Y Polyn their Recommended Restaurant of the Year for Wales.

Much imitated, but never bested, the secret of their success is very simple, as Susan herself explains. ‘We’re a restaurant in a pub setting, so we’re much more food orientated than most pubs, which makes sense, as most people have to drive to get here.’ Indeed it’s a lovely drive through the Tywi valley, past bluebells and wild garlic, and it’s the empasis on local produce that has ensured a loyal following. ‘I love cooking coracle-caught sewin or salmon from the Tywi, and we’ve got local asparagus and Pembrokeshire lamb hogget on the menu at the moment. Seeing customers coming back, and back again, is so rewarding; ultimately, that’s what you want as a chef.’ Her childhood love of sweets is also in evidence on the menu at Y Polyn; she’s currently on her 30th incarnation of the Knickerbocker Glory – with a tropical promise of ‘Pina Colada’to debut over summer. 28 years since she began her career, she’s still surrounded by men in the kitchen – including Phil Leach, formerly of Slice in Swansea, and Alix Alliston, who graduated to the position of chef from pot-washing – but over the years, she’s encouraged plenty of female chefs at Y Polyn.

‘I’ve got a great team at the moment, but it’s really nice to have a balance of male and female; tempers can fray, and it’s always good not having too much testosterone in the kitchen, but then we can also be very silly. One of the things me and Mark wanted to do from the beginning was to ensure a work-life balance, and we’re now seeing Michelin chefs promote a 4 days on / 3 days o working week.’ ‘At heart,’ she says, ‘kitchen culture is a camaraderie; you want everyone to succeed. Yes, it’s hard work, but what isn’t in life?’