Clare Smyth stands apart in a rarefied field of chefs: her restaurant Core was awarded three Michelin stars in 2021, making Clare the only female British chef to ever achieve this accolade. Alongside this achievement her restaurant, Oncore, in Sydney received three hats in 2022 making her only the second chef in history to hold three Michelin stars and three hats at the same time.

Over the last twenty plus years, Smyth has pursued the highest of heights of haute cuisine with a single-mindedness that has stunned many of the chefs she has worked alongside. Her CV forms a constellation of Michelin stars; a whole career spent in predominantly three star kitchens, alongside some of the greatest luminaries to grace a stove including Gordon Ramsay and Alain Ducasse. With her own restaurant Core, Smyth translates a more personal style, her food is superlatively elegant, redefining modern British food in it’s own terms - a collection of stories about ingenuity, nostalgia, humour and craft, told across a series of courses. Core puts Britain’s best foot forward, showcasing the country’s most outstanding produce, all sourced from a tight-knit collective of trusted suppliers who, like the team in Smyth’s restaurant have spent their life dedicated to excellence.

“I learned so many different things from them. For example, Gordon, it is really about his management style and leadership. Alain Ducasse, very much about classical French cuisine and produce and then Thomas Keller for his stealthy cool calmness in his kitchen.”

Having grown up on a farm Clare has an innate understanding of what it takes to create great produce. That respect for the ingredients, the foundation of every great recipe, has been evident throughout her singular career. They are central to what she sees as almost performance art.

“To me, it’s something that’s part of a show, cooking should be in front of everyone and not hidden away in the corner. Even in my restaurant Core, there is no wall. It’s a big window where the chef’s gather around the pass and even dress in front of the customers.”

At home, this central role is even more important. “For me the the kitchen is the centre of the home” and “to be able to entertain and speak to people as you’re cooking in the centre of the kitchen is really important.”

For that to happen, for the chef and host to be seen, heard and involved, requires subtle, effective, intelligent ventilation.

“The Vario Downdraft extraction system is just beautiful by design and very powerful. I really wanted to have that sense of openness in the kitchen where I could talk to and entertain my friends and family around that central island.”