Dai Chef cooks up his dream job

 

* Dai Chef at Bodnant Welsh Food.

 

A TOP celebrity chef who wowed opera superstar Luciano Pavarotti with his culinary skills has landed his "dream job".

 

Dai Chef, who lived in Chirk for many years, has vowed to champion Welsh produce after being appointed as the resident chef at Bodnant Welsh Food in the Conwy Valley.

 

The centre of excellence at the heart of the 5,000 acre estate has been a big hit since it was officially opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in 2012.

 

According to Dai, his role at Bodnant  is the culmination of a 30-year mission to promote the merits of Welsh food.

 

Working with Executive Chef Clare Jones who's been at Bodnant since it opened, he will be running the centre's Hayloft restaurant and tea room as well as teaching in the cookery school, with the ingredients coming from Bodnant's acclaimed farm shop.

 

Dai famously cooked for Pavarotti when he came to perform at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in 1995, exactly 40 years after he first came to Llangollen as part of his father's choir from Modena, in Italy.

 

A native of Aberystwyth, Dai gained his initial experience in some of the largest hotels in London's West end and by the age of 21 he was the youngest chef saucier – in charge of the creation of delicious sauces – at the world famous Carlton Club in St James’s.

 

He was the founder of the Welsh Culinary Team and is now seen as the "Daddy of Welsh Chefs", having trained the like of Rhodri Williams, the Senior Sous Chef at Raymond Blanc's legendary Oxfordshire eatery, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons.

 

For the past six years Dai has been chef director at the Ship Inn at Red Wharf Bay on Anglesey and in 2008 he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship at Glyndwr University in Wrexham.

 

Dai, who's moved to live in Colwyn Bay, said: "I started championing Welsh food 30 years ago when it wasn't flavour of the month so my role at Bodnant - as the centre of excellence for Welsh food - is truly a dream job for me. It's a marriage made in culinary heaven.

 

"The menu at the Hayloft restaurant will be full on Welsh rustic food with a modern twist.

 

"All the ingredients are available right here literally on the doorstep. Bodnant has its own butchers shop and delicatessen. The butter is produced here, the bread is baked here. We're not talking food miles - it's more like food yards.

 

"I'm just putting the final touches to the menu for St David's Day and I've gone down the traditional route with lamb, leek and lava bread in a cawl style.  I’m going to slice some lovely potatoes over the top with some the award winning Bodnant cheese."

 

Gwyndaf Pritchard, the General Manager at Bodnant Welsh Food, was equally excited about Dai's arrival.

 

He said: "We are the Welsh Food Centre and Dai is very passionate about Welsh produce, as well as being extremely talented and creative.

 

"Bodnant is now well established as a centre of excellence but we are determined not to rest on our laurels and Dai's appointment will help take us to the next level.

 

"Food is an increasingly important part of the Welsh economy and we are doing our bit by sustaining local growers and local farmers.

 

"Forty per cent of the produce on sale in our shop comes from Bodnant Welsh Food and if we can't produce something ourselves, then the Conwy Valley is our first port of call.

 

"These are exciting times at Bodnant and we have an appetite for even more success."

New health centre plan gets go-ahead

* An artist's impression of the new health centre.

County councillors have approved plans to bulldoze the former River Lodge (pictured below right)and replace it with a new £5.5 million health centre on the same site off the A539.

The application from the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was given the go-ahead by the planning committee earlier this week.

However, a number of extra conditions were imposed on the original application.

These are:

8. The car parking areas shall not be brought into use until the written confirmation of the Local Planning Authority has been obtained to the proposed management arrangements for the use of the parking areas outside core operating hours.

Two conditions also need to be added to the suggested list, to cover the requirements of the Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust, and questions raised over the potential for contaminated land on the line of the former railway.

Suggested new condition(s):

20. No development shall take place within the application site until the applicant, their agents, or successors in title has secured the implementation of a programme of archaeological work in accordance with a written scheme of investigation, which has been submitted by the applicant and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The archaeological work shall be undertaken and completed in accordance with the standards laid down by the Institute for Archaeologists and MoRPHE (2006). On completion, appropriate reports and an archive assessment shall be submitted for approval to the Local Planning Authority and the Development Control Archaeologist, Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust, 41 Broad Street, Welshpool, Powys, SY21 7RR  Telephone 01938 553670.

Reason: To ensure appropriate archaeological investigation and works are undertaken in conjunction with the development.

22. If, during development, contamination not previously identified is found to be present at the site then no further development (unless otherwise agreed in writing with the Local Planning Authority) shall be carried out until the developer has submitted a remediation strategy to the local planning authority detailing how this unsuspected contamination shall be dealt with and obtained written approval from the local planning authority. The remediation strategy shall be implemented as approved.

Reason: To ensure that appropriate steps are taken in the event of contamination being identified in the interests of protecting the adjacent main river from pollution.

Plas Madoc battlers could seek judicial review

* The packed public meeting in Acrefair. Picture courtesy of Mabon ap Gwyfor. 

Campaigners at a public meeting in Acrefair last night (Thursday) said they planned to consult a barrister about the possibility of a judicial review into the proposed closure of Plas Madoc leisure centre.

See a report on the BBC website at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-26269338

Segway centre plan is withdrawn

llanblogger exclusive

A planning application for a segway adventure trail on the edge of Llangollen has been withdrawn.

Details of the scheme - reference number 03/2013/1014 - on land to the north of Cilmedw Farm, were submitted to Denbighshire County Council last August. 

The plan called for the creation of a segway adventure trail, the demolition of an existing building and the erection of a replacement building to provide facilities for a segway centre and, as a white water rafting centre, the formation of vehicular access and creation of car park and associated development.

According to the planning brief, the site of the application was to the west of the A5 and to the north west of the White Water Hotel, and located close to the edge of Llangollen amongst a cluster of development associated with the town and set around the A5. 

However, yesterday (Thursday) an objector to the scheme was sent a letter from Graham Boase, Denbighshire’s Head of Planning and Public Protection, says: “I write to advise you that the above application submitted to the Local Planning Authority has now been withdrawn by the applicants/agent and the Authority will not therefore proceed any further with its consideration.”

The site of the application is currently agricultural land which slopes up from the A5 towards the northern and western sides of the site in line with the land form of the area, which is defined by the wooded slopes that form the western side of the Vale of Llangollen. 

The brief explains: “The proposal is a full application for the creation of a segway adventure trail and a white water rafting centre which involves the following elements:

• Creation of a segway track (with a grass surface);

• Demolition of existing agricultural building on site and erection of a replacement building of a similar size and scale which will provide facilities for the segway centre, and will also be used as the base for the applicant’s white water rafting business;

• Creation of a new access and formation of a parking area (gravel surface);

• Provision of wood chip path between parking area and building;

• Formation of soakaways to serve the building."

The planning brief submitted with the application said: “The proposal would make a positive contribution to the area’s economic character as it would provide employment and would be an additional attraction that would assist in attracting and retaining visitors. 

“A new access will be provided for the site onto the road bordering the northern section of the western edge of the site, this will then allow access onto the A5 via the existing junction.” 

Well-known local campaigner Martin Crumpton, of Berwyn, who led the initial opposition to the Sainsbury’s supermarket on the Dobson & Crowther site off the A5 and also battled plans for the closure of Llangollen Cottage Hospital, opposed the segway scheme.

Writing to a county council planning official last August Mr Crumpton expressed his concern the proposed development would destroy an identified, active badger sett and lead to what he described as “further decimation of AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and World Heritage land”.

On hearing that the application had been withdrawn, Mr Crumpton said: "The badgers who live at an undisclosed location west of Cilmedw are now safe."

Message about recycling from county council

Denbighshire County Council says it is advising householders in Llangollen to recycle their glass bottles and jars using the simple and convenient household recycling service provided by the council (blue bin/blue dumpy bag or clear sacks as appropriate) after reports that a contractor has removed the bottle bank on Market Street.
   

A statement from the council says: "Any businesses that have used the Market Street bottle banks will need to ensure they have the arrangements in place to comply with all waste legislation. Most waste collection contractors, including Denbighshire County Council, can offer collections of recyclable materials as well as non-recyclable rubbish."

 

Llan man launches new poetry collection

Mike Law of Llangollen will launch his new collection of poetry at the latest in a series of Viva Voce open mic nights at the Saith Seren Welsh community centre in Wrexham this evening (Wednesday)  from 8-10pm. Admission is free. 

 

 

 

 

 

Schemes benefit from seized crime cash

People across north Wales have chosen which community projects are to benefit from the money seized from criminals in the region.

 

Following a public online vote, two projects in each county have been awarded grants of up to £3500 towards reducing crime in their local area.

 

The grants have been distributed under the Participatory Budgeting Fund set up by Police and Crime Commissioner Winston Roddick (pictured right) and partly funded with money seized by North Wales Police under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

 

The fund was launched at the beginning of November and community groups were invited to bid for grants to help cut crime and reduce anti-social behaviour.

 

A total of 73 projects were submitted and later shortlisted to five per county area following a panel discussion involving police, local authority and community representatives.

 

Commissioner Winston Roddick said: “It is only right that money recovered from those who commit crimes against people in north Wales should go back to benefit local communities.

 

“This small grants initiative goes a step further by allowing the public to decide on where and how it should be spent.”

 

The programme was coordinated by PACT (Police and Communities Trust), operated through North Wales Police.

 

North wales Police Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Simon Shaw said: “I would like to congratulate the groups on their success in securing funding for their initiatives.

 

“The worthy recipients cover a wide-range of interesting and exciting projects that will help enhance local communities. What makes this even more worthwhile is that they are being funded by money we’ve taken from criminals.

 

“I look forward to hearing about the development of the winning projects.”

 

The successful groups, by county, are:

 

ANGLESEY:                 Plas Road Allotment Project, Holyhead (£3500); Valley Community Group (£3301)

 

CONWY:                      Llandudno Junction FC (£3500); Llanrwst Junior Football Club (£3300)

 

DENBIGHSHIRE:          Prestatyn Youth Centre (£1150); St Asaph Football Club (£2000)

 

FLINTSHIRE:                Saltney Ferry Scout/Guide Group (£3500); DangerPoint (£3500)

 

GWYNEDD:                 Gwarchod Bermo Watch, Barmouth (£3500); Noddfa Community Church, Caernarfon (£3500)

 

WREXHAM:                 Wrexham Street Pastors (£3500); Groundworks North Wales, Alyn Waters, Wrexham (£3500)