#TenMinuteTuesday is back! After a brief hiatus to cook up something special for you all, we wanted to return with a BANG. So for all you Masterchef fans out there, this one is for you. Here is our ten-minute quick-fire interview with Masterchef winner 2018, Kenny Tutt.

Kenny, we are so excited to dine at PITCH – can you introduce it to us?

PITCH is my first restaurant, and I’m really excited to be opening on my home turf of Worthing. The restaurant focuses on classic British dishes, using as much local produce as we can, but we’re adding our very own PITCH twist to things too!

We hear PITCH has a private dining room, can you tell us more?

Yes, we’ve got 3 floors at the restaurant, one of which is our private dining space, which can seat up to 32 people. We’re working on some fantastic feasting menus, and customers will also be able to add more experiential elements like wine tastings to their events too.

Who was your first inspiration or the influence in your cooking passion?

Some of my earliest influences from the chef world were Keith Floyd & Gary Rhodes. I’ve of course also got to mention my Mum, who really showed me what great produce is all about through the seafood stall that she ran when we were kids, she’s also a great cook & still won’t let me go anywhere near the gravy for Sunday lunch!

Is Worthing ready for a restaurant like PITCH?

I really hope so! We’ve had such a welcome from the town, with people popping in as we’ve been working on the restaurant & chatting about what we’re up to. Worthing’s food scene is really changing, and I’m so happy to be part of it.

PHOTOGRAPHY COPYRIGHT @GEORGEGUNNPHOTO

The past year must have been a complete whirlwind for you, is there anything that really stands out as a highlight?

Winning MasterChef was obviously huge, but aside from that, I think deciding to run my own business & start from scratch having worked in a bank for the last 20 years, has to be up there.

For you, what has been the most exciting part so far in launching Pitch?

Getting out there to meet all of the suppliers has been really fun – I knew that seasonal ingredients & working closely with my suppliers would really shape my menu, but it’s also been so helpful to get more insight from producers just by going out to meet them, their expertise is amazing!

What’s the best advice you have received so far on your journey?

That it’s all a huge learning curve, and it’s ok not to know everything from the beginning! I didn’t think that opening a restaurant was going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination, but I hadn’t thought that my days would be so varied – from writing menus & developing dishes to installing fridges & making my own beer!

Pitch opens on 24th May, 2019. Book your table here.