Readers might recognise the chef as a runner up in MasterChef: The Professionals and a contestant on Great British Menu where she'll make a third appearance on 12th March, competing to cook at a banquet for the Paris Olympics.
The 32-year-old has been at the stoves here since 2018 filling the shoes of the late and great Joyce Molyneux who presided over The Carved Angel (as it was then known) from 1974 to her final retirement in 1999. In those 25 years, Joyce Molyneux was recognised as one of the country’s top chefs, creating a place not just of culinary pilgrimage, but of solidly grounded training too.
In a very masculine profession, it often looked like a safe space for women chefs. Joyce herself famously cooked in a skirt, rather than the usual chef's trousers – she was at home in every sense, as were the youthful brigades that learned from her. As one diner reported to The Good Food Guide in 1984: ‘We went to thank the chef and found her cleaning the oven.’
In the decades following Joyce Molyneux’s stewardship, The Angel saw a period of mixed fortunes. Now it’s firmly back on its feet, with Elly’s cooking dazzling our Good Food Guide inspector on our most recent visit.
Elly, what does it mean to you to be cooking in the same place as Joyce Molyneux?
It’s an honour. Joyce has the biggest legacy as a female chef. People travelled to eat her food. I’m so lucky to work in a restaurant with one of the best histories.
Did you meet Joyce?
Twice. The second year I was here, she came for lunch with a friend during the Dartmouth Food Festival weekend. She had the salted caramel tart and she told me how pleased she was that a woman had taken on The Angel. On her next visit, just before the pandemic, she had the glazed beef cheek.
What dishes of Joyce’s do you regularly offer at The Angel?
She had a classic dish of ox tongue, celeriac and sauce picante, a tomato-based sauce with vinegar. We use Dexter beef fillet instead, and we’ve tweaked the sauce recipe adding some diced gherkins and spices and using verjus instead of vinegar.
How many women are in your brigade?
At The Angel it's me and two women, Janeera on pastry, and Koh who does a lot of the food prep. I’ve got a male commis chef, Charlie, and all his fellow students at college are women. It’s great to see so many coming into kitchens. That wasn’t the case a few years ago.
You’ve got a busy year ahead…
My book is out in May. (Elly Wentworth at The Angel of Dartmouth, published by Penguin, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of The Angel.) I always wanted to do one that celebrates the legacy and history of The Angel, and the ingredients we have on our doorstep. There are 45 Elly recipes and 15 of Joyce’s including her famous Dartmouth Pie [with mutton and spices]. Tom Jaine helped a lot with the research. He was The Angel’s restaurant manager in the early years, and later he was editor of The Good Food Guide [1989-1994].
You’re loyal to Devon – what makes it such a thrilling place to be a chef?
We’re so lucky with the ingredients. I get the best scallops. They’re free-dived on a single breath, landed on the quay, and I have them within 30 seconds. I’ve never seen scallops like them. I get my venison from Curtis Pitts [game butcher]. I remember him walking into the restaurant six years ago to introduce himself, he was only 20-21 years old. I was one of the first chefs to use him.
Any menu favourites?
If I take the beetroot and goats’ curd tart off, everyone wants it back on! Wild garlic is starting now which is one of my favourite foraged leaves. We’ll be serving it with spring lamb, and we pickle the buds to use as mini capers.
What makes you optimistic about 2024?
We’re lucky to have lots of returning customers. Dartmouth is very seasonal, but Easter is coming!
Whose cooking do you admire?
Locally, John Hooker at The Cornish Arms, Tavistock. A true gentleman and he cooks the food I want to eat on my day off. Beyond, Clare Smyth and Lisa Goodwin-Allen. What legends.
A favourite cookbook?
I love the Larousse [Gastronomique], the Midsummer House cookbook [Out of My Tree by Daniel Clifford], and The French Laundry Cookbook [by Thomas Keller]. I’m classically trained, so this is my style.
Go-to place for a low-key dinner?
I love Andria in Dartmouth. Small plates, food comes when it’s ready, and it’s all done really well.
