The Gloucester Old Spot, nestled just outside Cheltenham, is a place where great food, friendly service, and a love for local ingredients come together. At the helm are Shawn and Maria, previously directors of the pub who took over during the summer of 2024. Alongside introducing exciting new elements to the pub, such as the recent development of their fantastic Smoke House, their overall focus remains very much on delivering excellent, locally sourced, and creative but classic dishes to their valued customers.

Introducing head chef Shayde ???
Shayde ???, the head chef of The Gloucester Old Spot, has been an integral part of the business for thirteen years. Beginning his career in a fast-food restaurant at the age of sixteen, he then undertook professional training, completing a two-year programme in just six months. Upon finishing his studies, he began working in pub kitchens, followed by six years working in high-end hotel restaurants. Fortunately for the team at The Gloucester Old Spot, he made a return to pubs, and his colleagues are all grateful to have his expertise and passion at the helm of the kitchen.

We spoke to Shayde about how he got into cooking, his experience of working at The Gloucester Old Spot and how sustainability is at the heart of great local pubs.


What first drew you to cooking, and how did you come to make a career out of it? Was there a dish, a person, or a place that first made you fall in love with food?
I suppose what drew me to cooking was growing up around it. My uncle is a renowned chef and his passion for food was really inspiring to me from a very young age. I learnt and observed so much from him in terms of skill and enthusiasm. Simply, I just grew up around cooking, and people who care about food, so I gravitated towards this industry very naturally.

How would you describe your cooking style in three words?
A contemporary and refined take on classics – not three words but probably the shortest description! For me, it’s all about developing and evolving the culinary canon.

What do you think makes a great pub menu nowadays?
There are so many elements to the making of a great pub menu. I think a big focus has to be on using fresh, seasonal, and local ingredients to ensure the quality of the final dish. I think consistency also has a really big part to play. No matter how busy you are, every dish has to be prepped, cooked, and presented to the same standard.

For pubs especially, it is also important to find that balance between providing those hearty, pub classics on a menu, but with modern twists and contemporary elements to elevate the experience. There’s so much to think about when curating a menu but those would be my focuses.

How do you balance tradition with creativity when it comes to classic pub dishes?
As I said previously, for me it is all about building upon the classics, not reinventing them. I try to improve one element of a dish at a time, making sometimes even miniscule changes to just one aspect. Over time, this provides a creative and elevated twist to dishes we all know and love.

What is your favourite dish on your current menu? Is there a story behind it?
It would have to be our slow roasted pork belly. It comes with a black pudding croquette, bacon fat Hispi, an apple purée and a cider reduction. Apart from being just a great dish, I love the nod to our Old Spot name. It also uses pork from an amazing local supplier, The Gloucester Sausage Company, which is literally two minutes down the road. Our menu just wouldn’t seem right without it!

What is a lesser-known ingredient or technique you love using in your cooking?
I’m sorry to deviate somewhat from the question, as it is definitely not a lesser known ingredient, but my favourite ingredient is a potato. You can literally do anything with it. It can be used to make those hearty and rustic favourites, like chips and mash, but potatoes can so easily be transformed into amazing dishes like dauphinoise, parmentier, pavé, fondant. Potatoes are the backbone of both the everyday staples and classic cuisine. In terms of possible cooking techniques, their versatility is unmatched.

If someone could only try one thing you cook, what should it be and why?
This is easy: a duck breast with fondant potato, braised red cabbage, wild mushrooms, and a kirsch and red wine sauce. This is what I cook for my partner and family on special occasions. All the elements are delicious and together create the perfect dish.

How important is local sourcing in your kitchen, and do you work with any local producers?
Local sourcing and utilising local suppliers are fundamentally at the heart of our pub. Wherever we can, we buy local. Local suppliers have expert knowledge of their products and ingredients and prioritise quality.

We are lucky to work with a plethora of local suppliers, such as The Artisan Baker, Boddington Honey, The Gloucester Sausage Company, Everes’s Farm, Beardyman Farm, Cotteswold Dairy, and Court Farm Shop. Our front of house team also makes the most of fantastic local suppliers, such as Bottle Green, Rockfield, Bristol Beer Factory, Wye Valley Brewery, Weston’s Cider, Otter Brewery, and Hayles Fruit Farm.

Wherever we can, in all areas of the business, we use local suppliers because we want to champion these hardworking, independent businesses and imbue our dishes with their high-quality and unique products.

What’s your favourite seasonal ingredient to work with, and how do you use it?
At the moment, beetroot would probably be my go-to seasonal ingredient. There’s loads you can do with it, from puréeing, pickling, roasting, baking, salt-baking…it’s an endless list and all are equally as delicious.

How do you approach sustainability in a busy kitchen?
Basic practices such as using all parts of animals and correctly disposing of food waste contribute to a sustainable approach within kitchens. However, overall, it really is using local suppliers that is the core of our sustainable practice at The Gloucester Old Spot. It cuts food miles drastically, for a start, and local suppliers generally prioritise sustainability more in their own practices.

For example, one of our main suppliers, Beardyman Farm, utilises agroecological principles when growing their vegetables. They also provide us with amazing ex-dairy beef from Shorthorn-cross cows that have lived full and productive lives before being used for delicious, marbled meat. It is a much more sustainable approach than conventional meat production. Local really is best in all respects, including sustainability.

Do you have any kitchen rituals or superstitions?
There’s really only one ritual: coffee, coffee, and more coffee. No chef is getting through a shift without it.

What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in the Gloucestershire/UK food scene in the past five years?
I think it would have to be the focus on, and demand for, multicultural cuisine. People want variety and to go into their local town and have all options, from classic French to Indian to Italian to Thai to Korean to Mexican. Diners want the whole world’s cuisine to be readily available. And we must incorporate that demand into our pub menus, which can be hard to do when we are talking about old school, British classics.

Are there any food trends you particularly like or dislike?
I’m not so sure about dislikes, but I love the focus on farm-to-fork. It’s great to see that customers value using local suppliers and their produce as much as businesses like ours do. Customers want to know that local businesses are being championed and that their meals are made using quality ingredients.

If you weren’t a chef, what would you be doing instead?
I can’t really imagine myself doing anything else, in all honesty. But if I had to choose, I’d say maybe a maths teacher or an accountant – something to do with numbers.

If you could only eat one food/meal/cuisine for the rest of time, what would it be?
There’s no way I could select one food or meal, so I will go for Thai cuisine. I love the flavours and the freshness. But that really is an impossible question!


The Gloucester Old Spot is gearing up for its favourite and busiest season – Christmas! With a festive menu of decadent delights such as Roast Turkey & Venison Suet Pudding, Dark Chocolate Fondant and Christmas Pudding, it really is unmissable. Book online now at thegloucesteroldspot.co.uk, or email eat@thegloucesteroldspot.co.uk to enquire for parties of eight or more.