Want to know what’s cooking in Nailsea?

Well, fantastic news as the former chief chef of Backwell House Andrew Brooks is opening a new restaurant called White Truffle at Ivy Court.

Andy is taking over the Golden Horse which closed in February when its Chinese owners decided to retire.

Along with 21-year-old award-winning sous chef George Lilley the pair will run a fantastic 40-seater fully refurbished restaurant just off the High Street next door to Nailsea MicroPub.

An updated décor and ambitious menu they will open five days a week from Wednesday to Sunday with online bookings on a newly created website by local design agency One2One.

In fact, every ingredient for the new restaurant is, if possible, locally and environmentally sourced from its fresh fruit and vegetables to its prime cuts of  meat.

Even the professionals Andy has used like the  accountants AR Dury & Co which has its upstairs offices in the same building and his solicitors Bradford & Co along the High Street are ‘locals’.

Andy, aged 50, showed an interest in cooking from a young age and the former Nailsea School pupil went on the study catering at Weston College before perfecting his skills in many prestigious hotels in this country and abroad.

For the past six years he was at the much-loved Backwell House.

Andy has been encouraged to open a ‘place of my own’ by wife Cherish, a nurse, and two sons George, 22, and 18-year-old Harry.

Andy said: “My passion for cooking came from childhood, from a very young age I was drawn to the kitchen, aged 11-12 I was making trifles and mince pies, I loved it.

“I served my apprenticeship between a two-rosette North Somerset family-owned French restaurant and at Weston College.”

After two years of intense training and hard work, he took his first large hotel job at Bristol Marriott Royal.

He saw this as an opportunity to develop skills in other areas, such as large banqueting and busy bistro style food, as well as dipping in and out of the fine dining restaurant.

After three years and two promotions, he moved on to Moat House Hotels, working at the Crowne Plaza and The Billesley Manor Hotel - a two-rosette hostelry in Stratford-on-Avon.

Andy’s first head chef job was with Novotel Bristol. After just three years, he became the company’s development chef for the UK!

Andy has enjoyed many travel opportunities – working in countries such as Morocco, Philippines and Thailand for the Sofitel Hotels and Resorts five-star brand.

He loved every minute of working abroad, seeing different cultures and learning all about new flavours and cooking methods.

Andy worked as executive chef for Novotel UK for 12 years before leaving to work in a similar capacity within the Devere Hotel Group.And then came the opportunity to head the team at Backwell House and he says he relished the luxury boutique hotel environment.