John is a Belfast Boy who studied Biology, Drama, and Economics at Methody. During this time he had a part-time restaurant job and caught the kitchen buzz, so headed off to college to learn the basics. After college he worked at the Roe Park Resort where working the big functions helped him develop his knife skills and speed.

From here he went to The Barking Dog where he began to see the more creative side of cooking. This took him to Tedford’s and the Tedford’s Kitchen where he developed an interest in the pastry section and got promoted through the ranks to Senior Sous Chef. From there he joined the opening team of The Muddlers Club and helped grow the restaurant to where it is now, NI’s newest Michelin Star Restaurant. After 4 years, John moved to a completely different style of cuisine in Yugo to broaden his skill set with more Asian influences and helped open their outpost, Yugo East in Ballyhackamore.

During lockdown John had a small pop-up in the Hill Street Hatch called Roller Boy. This experience of running his own business was invaluable. However, once lockdown eased it was back to the kitchen when he moved to run pastry with Alex Green in the oldest of Northern Ireland’s current crop of Michelin Star restaurants Deane’s eipic.