Unknown to me at the time, my future wife, Christiana, was also at Catering College and gaining top marks at Cauldon College in Stoke-on-Trent. My first position in England was at the Great Fosters Hotel in Surrey, where I first met Christiana, who is also a chef. Between the two of us, we spent two years there, and then we eventually moved to the Hyde Park Hotel in London, where I became Chef de Partie in the sauce department at the age of 19. Christiana did not stay at the Hyde Park for as long as myself, but moved to the Park Lane Hotel and became Chef de Partie at their newly opened Brasserie.

We had always discussed opening a restaurant together, and we both wanted to move to the countryside. It was at the Cavendish Hotel in Baslow as a Second chef, and I stayed there for eight years. Christiana worked as a chef at Fischers restaurant in Bakewell and Baslow. During this time, I served in the French Army for one year as a private chef to Colonel Perollaz. After my return to England, Christiana and I married, continued to work, started a family and eventually started the business, and on 21st September 1994, Renaissance Restaurant (as it was named before) opened in Bakewell, but after recently refurbishing, we decided to change the name to Piedaniel’s Restaurant.

The evening menu is also available, and each has been inspired by our experiences of working in different restaurants. People come from all around to enjoy the sensational flavours at Piedaniel’s Restaurant.