There are some chefs who will tell you they knew what they wanted to do from the moment they could see over a kitchen counter. Glen Merriott, head chef at Talland Bay, is not one of them.

“I didn’t really have a choice,” he laughs.

Cooking was already something of a family business. Glen’s grandfather worked in some of the larger Devon hotels around Paignton and Brixham, while his father was also a chef, running a bistro in Brixham with a business partner during the 1970s. Two of Glen’s brothers followed the same path.

So, on his final day of school, his mother took matters into her own hands.

“Without really telling me, she dropped me off at the pub and said, ‘You’ve got a job. Crack on.’”

And crack on he did.

Glen started, as many chefs do, at the less glamorous end of proceedings: washing dishes, prepping vegetables, making salads to accompany steaks and putting together the odd garnish. Gradually, he worked his way through the kitchen until, around three years later, he was running it.

Then came a ski season in France, also spent cooking - although, by his own admission, perhaps not exclusively.

“I probably drank more than I cooked,” he says. “But it was fun.”

FALLING FOR THE KITCHEN

What began without much say in the matter quickly became something Glen couldn't imagine leaving behind.

“The adrenaline you get from a kitchen, the camaraderie, the banter, the creativity - I don’t think there’s another profession quite like it.”

Those things still sit at the heart of what he enjoys about the job now, but the cooking itself has inevitably evolved.

Glen describes his food here at Talland as “rustic yet refined”: still classical in technique, influenced particularly by France and Italy, but shaped by the local ingredients arriving through the kitchen door here in Cornwall.

“I take what I’ve picked up over my career and apply it to the very best Cornish produce,” he says. “There’s plenty of flavour, but I don’t want to overcomplicate things.”

It’s an approach that feels very at home at Talland. There may be white tablecloths and two AA Rosettes (not to brag…), but taking ourselves too seriously has never been much of a house speciality.

FINE DINING, MINUS THE FORMAL

That distinction matters to Glen.

“Even though we’re a fine-dining restaurant, I don’t want people to feel as though they’re sitting in somewhere stuffy or formal,” he says. “I want it to feel warmer and more memorable.”

Special, definitely. Ceremonious, never.

“I want people to come away feeling like eating here was something special, but without feeling as though we were trying too hard.”

Here, generosity and flavour reign supreme.

what glen is cooking now

At the moment, one dish has his particular affection: roasted West Country lamb with the flavours of Provence.

The rump is roasted, while the shoulder is slowly cooked until meltingly tender, then pressed overnight, breadcrumbed and crisped to order. Alongside it come Isle of Wight tomatoes, courgettes and a purée of roasted aubergine. It’'s a meeting of the seasons on a plate.

“It’s that contrast I like,” Glen says. “You’ve got the tenderness of the shoulder, then that lovely crisp texture on the outside.”

Sunshine cooking, in other words, even if the skies occasionally have other ideas as we head into autumn in Cornwall.

on why autumn wins

Dishes right now might still sing of summer, but Glen believes that autumn may well be the season when the kitchen really comes into its own.

It’s partly about ingredients, but just as much about technique.

“I love all the cooking that comes back into play,” he says. “Roasting, slow cooking, braising, pickling, preserving. You can get some proper cooking done in autumn.”

After a summer of small plates and lighter produce, there’s something satisfying about cranking the ovens up, putting something in a pan for hours and letting dinner take its time as a chef.

Which feels particularly appropriate at Talland, where autumn tends to involve sea views, a good glass of red and considerably less reason to rush anywhere.

Glen may not have chosen the kitchen at first. A few decades, several kitchens and one slightly raucous French ski season later, and we’re proud to say our kitchen chose well in Glen.

experience glen's cooking this autumn