Chef Jonny Lake and Master Sommelier Isa Bal join forces on new project

The Staff Canteen

Former Fat Duck Group alumni Jonny Lake and Isa Bal reveal plans for a new collaborative project.

Chef Jonny Lake and Master Sommelier Isa Bal have announced that they will be joining forces on a new project scheduled to launch in 2019 in London.  The pair worked together for over twelve years at The Fat Duck Group, with Jonny serving as Group Executive Chef and Isa as Group Head Sommelier, but announced their departure earlier this year.

jonny lake
Jonny Lake

Jonny moved to the UK to join the Fat Duck in 2005 and worked his way up to attain the role of head chef in 2009. He was subsequently made executive head chef of The Fat Duck Group. He has previously worked at the Michelin starred a Spurcacciun-a and Quintilio, both in Liguria, as well as for the legendary Italian chef, Gualtiero Marchesi at L’Albereta in Lombardy.

Master Sommelier Isa began his career in the hospitality industry more than twenty years ago as a commis sommelier at The Vineyard at Stockcross near Newbury and worked as Head Sommelier for the Fat Duck Group for more than twelve years, He is now recognised as one of the world's leading sommeliers, having won the highly regarded title of Best Sommelier of Europe in 2008.

Both gentlemen departed The Fat Duck Group earlier this year to pursue personal projects and deciding to work together on this new project was a no-brainer. Jonny says “Isa and I have always shared the same philosophy and passion for creating interesting flavour combinations and after many discussions, we knew we wanted to collaborate on a new project together.”

The excitement for the pair is palpable, Isa says “Having successfully worked with Jonny over many years. I am now very much looking forward to collaborating on this new exciting project.  We share a mutual love of food and drink as well as a passion for the creative process and look forward to sharing this in our own restaurant.”

In these challenging times…

The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall  – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.

Over the last 16 years, The Staff Canteen has built what has become the go-to platform for chefs and hospitality professionals. As members and visitors, your daily support has made The Staff Canteen what it is today. Our features and videos from the world’s biggest name chefs are something we are proud of. We have over 560,000 followers across Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and other social channels, each connecting with chefs across the world. Our editorial and social media team are creating and delivering engaging content every day, to support you and the whole sector - we want to do more for you.

A single coffee is more than £2, a beer is £4.50 and a large glass of wine can be £6 or more.

Support The Staff Canteen from as little as £1 today. Thank you.

The Staff Canteen

The Staff Canteen

Editor 6th June 2018

Chef Jonny Lake and Master Sommelier Isa Bal join forces on new project