Venezuelan chef Alejandro Bello has worked under Michel Roux Jnr. as well as at Ceviche Soho, the Saatchi Gallery and Somerset House, writes Marijke Hall

Renowned chef Alejandro Bello is pushing the boundaries once again with his inventive cuisine, this time heading up the kitchen at The Gastronomist Club in Ashford.

For the Venezualen native, it’s a chance to show off that innovative flair which has landed him jobs in some of the world’s best venues, including Le Gavroche, Ceviche Soho and Somerset House.

“It’s an opportunity to be creative with no limits,” says Bello, who is very much on show in the pioneering Kent restaurant, with its open presentation kitchen. He admits at times it feels like he’s centre stage in a theatre.

And he’s already making a statement with his curated tasting menus, which he says cater for everyone.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re vegan or flexitarian or even a picky eater - we will include you,” he says.

“You can be whatever you want to be here, we just want you to be happy. No one is an afterthought.

“People haven’t seen anything like what we’re doing here in Ashford, and this is coming from guests who have eaten in restaurants around the world.”

The Gastronomist Club, based in Elwick Place, launched in May as a refined, modern event space aimed at delivering exceptional and, at times, unconventional dining experiences.

Guests can buy tickets to curated events featuring menus inspired by ingredients from the Kent countryside, with wine tastings, exciting collaborations with international chefs and ‘Meet the Producer’ evenings.

Bello, who has worked in London, South America and Saudi Arabia, says as soon as he saw The Gastronomist he fell in love with it.

His remarkable background also lends itself to the imaginative vision of the team behind the dining concept.

“I started cooking when I was 12,” he explains. “I lived in Venezuela and my mum and dad were both doctors and working crazy hours. We had a nanny who’s cooking was awful and so my older sister and I started looking at my mum’s cook books.

“There was one from Cuba and the vibe of the cooking started from there. My Spanish grandmother taught me a lot of her cooking, too

“My heritage is half European and half Venezaulan and everything was around food. The dinner table was a place where we would talk and relate to each other.”

But despite his cooking abilities, his path was set to become a journalist and he was accepted on a course at university to begin his studies.

However, waiting for term to start, he picked up some work experience at a restaurant in Venezuela's capital Caracas.

“The moment I entered the kitchen it was clear that’s what I wanted to do,” he says. “It was 1996 and not fashionable then to be a chef.

“But I took the decision not to go to university - my mum said I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”

Required to complete his training, he was advised by his chef in Caracas to go to France but worried about being unable to speak French and with a friend in the UK, he chose London.

He was sent to Le Gavroche and mastered classic culinary techniques under the management of the legendary Michel Roux Jnr.

“It was an exquisite time to come to the UK, to see a new world,” he says. “It was also a hard time. I was living in Folkestone, I was travelling to London and back, I was always late.

“But it was an amazing experience and I wish I could have stayed longer, but I had to go home.”

Returning to Caracas and opening the first of many high-end restaurants aged just 22, his career path was set.

He spent the next 15 years in Venezuela until, due to his part-Spanish heritage, he was able to move to London.

But Bello admits now it felt like he was starting again, turning his back on a successful career in Caracas.

That is until restaurateur Martin Morales plucked him out of the place he was working in Chelsea saying he wanted to open a Peruvian venue.

“I said ‘I’m not Peruvian but I know everything about the cooking’,” explains Bello. “I cooked for him and he said ‘are you sure you’re not Peruvian?’.

“We set up Ceviche Soho. It was really exciting and a big jump in my career. Martin gave me the opportunity to jump from nothing to being well respected.”

Within a week of Ceviche Soho opening, Bello’s food was described as “a gastronomic dream” by The Wall Street Journal.

He then went on to work in several prestigious venues, among them the British Museum, the Saatchi Gallery and Somerset House.

In recent years, he became involved in creating and delivering lavish events across London for companies including Caprice Holdings and Alexander & Bjorck, before working in Saudi Arabia at the beginning of 2020.

“Then the pandemic hit,” he says. “It was a time to reflect and I started to create concepts.

“One day I got a call about The Gastronomist. I met the team, they showed me their concept and I thought ‘I love this place’.

“So I’ve gone full circle - I started in Folkestone and I’m back in Kent again.”

His focus for The Gastronomist goes further than the dishes he is serving up to patrons, saying it’s about what the county can offer in terms of produce.

“We’re in a part of the world which has everything but we haven’t always been paying attention to what we have,” he says.

“It makes so much sense to be a chef here, using local producers and suppliers.

“I think there is also a part of me that wants to start giving back, we need to include people from Ashford here.

“It’s not enough to develop a gentrified town and not include the people who live here.”

So what does his mother now think after her warning all those years ago that cheffing wasn’t the way forward?

“She is so, so proud,” Bello says. “She’s really supportive and wants to come and try my food here.”

Go to https://www.thegastronomistclub.com/ for tickets and more information.