Wales meets Japan

As a young man, Gareth Ward was unsure of the career path he wanted to take. His first job in a pub kitchen quickly made him realise that he had found his calling as a chef. Arriving at Ynyshir on the picturesque and serene Welsh coast, he earned his first Michelin star within a year. In 2016, he took over as Chef Patron and continued to pursue his vision of transforming Ynyshir from a traditional country house hotel into a destination restaurant where foodies flock. The culinary mastermind is passionate about using the best ingredients and creating dishes that surprise and inspire. He loves to experiment with and perfect traditional techniques such as dry-ageing, even installing a Himalayan salt chamber and curing his own meat and fish.

Gareth Ward offers a bold, playful and mind-blowing gastronomy experience with a strong focus on Japanese produce and local shellfish. His multi-layered tasting menus feature around 30 small, high-impact morsels of food. Only the finest ingredients, no fillers. Like no other, he blends Asian flavours with nostalgic Welsh favourites, constantly pushing the boundaries of the culinary world. On Ynyshir’s menu, Japanese hamachi coexists harmoniously with Dyfi lobster or Silverhill farm duck. However, two of Gareth Ward’s all-time favourite creations, which have now become Ynyshir classics, have their origins neither in Japanese nor Welsh cuisine, namely “Not French Onion Soup” and tiramisu.

Ynyshir became the first ever two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Wales. The Good Food Guide named Gareth Ward Chef of the Year 2019 and considers him one of the most exciting chefs cooking in the UK today. Elite Traveler magazine echoes this sentiment by listing Ynyshir as one of the world’s top restaurants, as do the National Restaurant Awards, which placed Ynyshir at the top of their list of the UK’s 100 best restaurants in both 2022 and 2023.

For the first time, Gareth Ward will be taking his food outside the UK as guest chef at Restaurant Ikarus. Prepare to be captivated by an awe-inspiring mix of Welsh produce and Japanese techniques and seize the opportunity to experience an edgy and explosive style of cooking that opens up new worlds of taste.