The AYALA SquareMeal Female Chef of the Year Series 2025: Sarah Hayward

When Sarah Hayward stepped through the doors at The Hand and Flowers 10 years ago as a young demi chef de partie, the idea that one day she’d be running the show at the UK’s only two Michelin-starred pub was but a pipe dream.

‘If someone had told me at that point, in 10 years you're going to be the head chef, I'd have laughed in their face. I would have never believed it’, she jokes.

Sarah has been quietly climbing the ranks at the Tom Kerridge group for a decade, taking on leading roles at The Coach in Marlow and the now-closed Bull & Bear in Manchester, a fitting crescendo to her most recent promotion as head chef at the gastropub juggernaut. It’s something of a rare, full circle moment for the chef, and a culmination of years of hard work and ambition.

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But the Sarah 10 years ago, and the Sarah sitting in front of us now, are clearly two different people. The former, after all, had never worked in a two Michelin-starred kitchen before, had little to no experience of cooking gastropub food, and was still, relatively, at the beginning of her career. Experience is something that's built over years, but Sarah’s natural ambition and drive have allowed her to carve an impressive path from the off, qualities she owes in part to her father.

The chef grew up on the Isle of Wight to two ‘insanely good cooks’, as she describes her parents, including her dad who was a professional chef. Meal times formed a core part of her childhood, where proper home-cooked meals were enjoyed together as a family. 

‘The biggest influence on my life is my dad. We always had home cooked dinners on the table, and it was always an occasion in our house. No matter what, we sat down and had dinner together as a family. I'd always relate food to very happy memories.’

Her journey to restaurants felt like a natural step – a combination of nature and nurture. She went to work in her dad’s seafood restaurant on a work experience placement at school and quickly fell in love with the buzz of the kitchen - despite her father’s apprehension. ‘He was like, ‘this is either gonna kill or cure it’. But I just loved it. It solidified for me that it was exactly what I wanted to do.’

In the years that followed, she completed an apprenticeship at a local hotel on the island, and before long had left the Isle of Wight to join the team at Lucknam Park Hotel, where she worked across its brasserie, cooking school and eventually its Michelin-starred Restaurant Hywel Jones. Sarah’s name is now synonymous with gastropub cooking, but she looks back at her time at hotel restaurants with fondness, even if it wasn’t necessarily her calling card.

‘I did [enjoy it] at the time. I don’t think it’s something I’d go back to now though. When you’re young it’s good to explore different styles of cooking. I really enjoyed it at the time and the food is amazing and I learned so much.'

Climbing the ladder

In 2015, Sarah landed a job at The Hand and Flowers. She was ‘right at the bottom’, and absolutely terrified, but with one foot planted firmly in the door and a natural inclination for gastropub cooking, that fear soon turned into fire to succeed. Within three months she’d been promoted to chef de partie, and she spent the following three years settling into one of the UK’s greatest kitchens, learning how to be a cog in its well-oiled machine.

‘The style of food that I'd been cooking up until the Hand and Flowers was completely different,' she explains. 'The Hand is a machine, it's massive, and has got bigger over the last 10 years. It was quite intimidating, but I loved it.’

'The Hand is a machine, it's massive, and has got bigger over the last 10 years.'

A few years passed and Sarah was itching to keep learning, keep developing, but the team in place at the time was so solid that it didn’t leave much room to grow. The chef had a secret weapon up her sleeve though - Tom Kerridge as a mentor - and a brief conversation with him revealed there was a position going spare at The Coach, Kerridge’s one-starred pub just down the road in Marlow. Sarah jumped at the chance. Opportunities like that don’t come around every day, and she knew that in order to go far within the group, she'd have to wield her own path.

‘One of the best things about working with this group is there's always room for growth – you've just got to be a little bit flexible about how and when.’

Indeed, she owes a huge amount to Tom, who has flown the flag for Sarah from day one, putting her forward for opportunities time and again, often ones she didn’t know she was ready for herself. Her gratitude is unmistakeable: ‘While I've been with Tommo, he's just been so incredibly supportive of my career and growth - he makes me do things that are out of my comfort zone. But it’s all for the greater good. It's all things that build you as a person and build your character and strength.’

Learning to lead

A real turning point in Sarah’s career came with the launch of The Bull and Bear in Manchester. The opening was supposed to be an iteration of The Coach, but up north, and bigger - much bigger. ‘It's going to be a machine – it's going to be like The Coach on steroids’ is how Tom pitched it to her at the time.

That was the chef’s first-ever restaurant opening, a hectic, eye-widening experience that allowed Sarah to step into a managerial role, putting things like wage costs and staff management on her radar for the first time. She was promoted from senior sous to head chef within three months, a milestone high that was quickly blunted by the arrival of lockdown. ‘It was a really tough time because it was all over Covid. So, it was my first head chef role over a global pandemic.’

But Sarah rolled with the punches and received a huge amount of support from the team - both from Tom and the executive chef of the group, Warren Geraghty. She recalls the latter being by her side at 5 'o' clock in the morning, helping her prepare for a busy breakfast service, and if she ever had any questions, both were always just a phone call away. That experience, with their help, transformed her into the chef she is today. 

‘It was an incredible learning curve for me. I changed in Manchester for the better, and it put me on the road that led me to here. If it hadn't been for Manchester, I don't think they would have offered me head chef at The Coach.’

The Coach

Taking the reigns of The Coach put Sarah on the map in a serious way, not least because it placed her – quite literally - in front of an audience. The restaurant’s open kitchen set up is one of the things that makes the pub so special for diners, but for a chef, you’re on full display, and are suddenly required to perform a job that’s usually done behind closed doors. Her first thought was not being able to fill the shoes of her predecessors, Nick Beardshaw and Tom De Keyser, whom she greatly admires.

'You've got to step out of your comfort zone in order to grow, and although The Hand and Flowers terrifies me, how can I say no to that incredible opportunity? It’s The Hand and Flowers!’

‘When he [Tom Kerridge] offered me head chef of The Coach, I was like ‘oh my God’. I was absolutely bricking it. Nick and Tomo have such big personalities and they're both incredible chefs. Obviously, it's an open kitchen, and one of the most beautiful things about The Coach is that relationship that you have with regulars. I was like, what if the regulars stop coming? I was absolutely terrified.’

She needn’t have been. In fact, Sarah’s adeptness with guests and confident leadership saw her crowned Young Michelin Chef of the Year two years ago, an achievement she still pinches herself over today. ‘It still catches me off guard now. To be personally recognised by Michelin, that’s huge.’

Even at the ceremony, she recalls feeling a huge sense of imposter syndrome standing in line with some of the industry’s greatest culinary heavyweights: Clare Smyth, Paul Ainsworth, Sat Bains, Claude Bosi... The possibility of her name being called from the stage didn’t cross her mind.

‘When they announced my name, I turned around to Tom and said, I thought they said Sarah Hayward for a second. Tom had to push me towards the stage. I didn't hear anything from that moment. I was concentrating on walking to the stage and not falling over, and then my mouth had just gone completely dry.’

That award is still one of Sarah’s proudest achievements to date, an accolade earned for the passion she brought to The Coach every single day. We can practically feel the pride pour out of her: ‘It's just the most amazing place. I love The Coach with my whole heart. It’s magical.’

The Hand and Flowers: A new era

A love like that must be hard to leave, even when Tom Kerridge offers you the top job at his most-beloved gastropub. But if she's learned anything over the years, growth is forged in the most uncomfortable moments. At some point, you just have to jump.

'The Coach was such a big part of my life for a long time, and it always will be. But you've got to step out of your comfort zone in order to grow, and although The Hand and Flowers terrifies me, how can I say no to that incredible opportunity? It’s The Hand and Flowers!’.

We’re sitting in the two Michelin-starred pub today during a brief quiet moment between breakfast and lunch services. She’s just four weeks into the role, and still giddy with excitement and nerves. 

It’s not just a milestone moment for Sarah - The Hand and Flowers has plenty to celebrate too. It's the pub's 20th anniversary this year, and for the first time in its history, has a female running every single department. There’s a real sense that the pub is entering a brand-new chapter, and the years ahead look extremely exciting for Sarah. Sure, she has the weight of Tom Kerridge's legacy on her shoulders, but she's aware this is her chance to put her own stamp on The Hand. ‘I'm going to be learning about how to do it my way for a very long time to come, hopefully’, she says. We have no doubt. 

Sarah's perfect match for AYALA's Le Blanc de Blancs A/18

The dish: Lemon sole Grenobloise with brown butter hollandaise and anchovy fritter

The Champagne: AYALA Le Blanc de Blancs A/18

Why it works: 'For me, it pairs beautifully because the Champagne cuts through the richness of the dish. You've got the chicken sauce on the bottom, the fatty, nutty flavours from the hollandaise, and brown bread croutons, confit lemon, capers and then a crispy anchovy on top. All of it just works like a marriage made in heaven with a glass of Champagne. It's absolutely delicious.'

Explore more of our chef interviews in partnership with AYALA, including other chefs shortlisted for the 2025 Female Chef of the Year Award like Abby Lee, Ruth Hansom and Amber Francis, plus 2024's SquareMeal AYALA Female Chef of the Year, Adejoké Bakare.