Our Team
Ryan - Head Chef
Ryan’s been around a few kitchens in his time, and not just any kitchens. We’re talking Chiltern Firehouse, Stoke Park, and the two Michelin-starred Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, to name a few. He’s done the fine dining thing, the long hours, the precision plating. These days, he’s blending that classical training with a curiosity for new flavours, techniques and ideas from all over the world.
At Ember, that experience meets the fields and farmers of the Cotswolds. Working side-by-side with Matty, they build menus that celebrate British produce. Together they’re all about honest cooking, big flavour and letting great ingredients do the talking.
He’s as happy perfecting a sauce as he is firing up the grill, and his food proves that simple doesn’t mean boring. It’s all about flavour, craft and the kind of food that just makes sense.
Outside the kitchen, Ryan’s powered by travel, family and a lifelong love of Arsenal (we try not to hold it against him). Inside it, he’s helping build something that feels like Ember through and through. Good food, great people and that warm, easy atmosphere that makes you want to stay for one more pint.
Matty - Owner
Matty started out on Savile Row, cutting his teeth in the world of bespoke tailoring, a place where precision, patience and creativity rule every stitch. His work attracted clients from rockstars to royalty and evolved into collaborations with world-renowned artists, including Stuart McAlpine Miller, the former artist-in-residence at The Savoy. It was a life built on craft, storytelling and the simple idea that the best things are made with care and connection.
That same curiosity later pulled him into a different kind of craft: food and drink. From the pass of London restaurants to the street food stalls of Asia, he learned that great food always tells a story. Since then, he’s worked alongside some of the most respected breweries and producers across America and beyond, chasing flavour, authenticity and the people behind it all, though anyone who’s seen him run knows it’s more of a gentle amble.
But after tasting the world, he found the thing he had been looking for was right here at home. British produce, seasonal ingredients, the rhythm of the countryside, it all brought him back to the Cotswolds. At Ember, he and Head Chef Ryan champion the incredible meat reared at their home on Eastwood Farm and the outstanding ingredients grown, raised and made across the region.
For Matty, Ember is not just a bar or a restaurant. It is a place built on friendship, flavour and curiosity, somewhere to slow down, share a drink, eat well, and experience something genuinely memorable together.