When Thomas Frake was crowned Masterchef champion in 2020, he had no idea it would lead to him cooking dinner for royalty. But that is what happened when the Queen came to his country pub in Wiltshire for supper.
Camilla’s visit was kept a closely guarded secret. None of the other diners at The Wheatsheaf in Chilton Foliat knew Her Majesty was in a private room at the back of the Grade II-listed building on the night in question.
The Queen was there with former husband Andrew Parker Bowles, 83, their art curator daughter Laura Lopes, 45, and her three children.
Both Mr Parker Bowles and Ms Lopes live nearby, while Camilla was spending time at Ray Mill House in the Wiltshire village of Lacock. She bought it after her divorce in 1995 and is a 45-minute drive from the pretty pub.
The visit took place shortly before Her Majesty, 76, joined King Charles, 74, on a three-day state tour of France last month, during which they visited the Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte vineyard to learn about sustainable wine-making.
Thomas, 34, who lifted the Masterchef trophy during the first Covid lockdown, was delighted to receive a royal seal of approval less than a year after becoming the executive chef and landlord of The Wheatsheaf. And he was particularly pleased by the Queen ordering roast Brixham hake with a chive butter sauce for her main course.
The hake dish – now with curried mussels – costs £26. Other mains at the pub range from £16 for a leek and potato pie to £29 for an 8oz rump steak.
Thomas said: “I had an inkling she might go for the fish, so I made sure I had it fresh that day. I get all of my fish daily from Devon and Cornwall.”
He added: “I knew in advance that she was coming, but it was a well kept secret. Only one other person in the pub that night knew. There has been some natural excitement since the locals found out about it.”
As much as it was an honour to welcome Her Majesty to his pub, Thomas says he wanted her to be able to enjoy a relaxed evening with her family.
“The Queen’s visit was nice,” he said. “I took it quite seriously and not in the sense that the Queen was coming, but more in the sense that she is definitely a person of interest to the public.
“She was coming here as a grandmother and a mother, and it was a family dinner, so I was keen to make them feel welcomed and relaxed. I wanted them to be able to enjoy a pub experience. I did not want it to be a spectacle, I did not want it to be a story as such, but naturally there is an interest.
“It was important she could come here and have a nice dinner with the kids.”
When the Sunday Express visited The Wheatsheaf for lunch last week, the menu had just changed from the summer one Queen Camilla enjoyed, but Thomas’s famed Scotch eggs with Wiltshire sauce were still available as a starter for £8.
The main courses included the roast Brixham hake, but now with a curried mussels sauce instead of the chive butter; a grilled pork chop with roast apple, black cabbage and a wholegrain mustard sauce; and rump steak and triple cooked chips with roast shallot and a béarnaise sauce.
Puddings included a lemon posset with almond shortbread and double chocolate tart with malted milk ice cream.
The pub is the perfect setting for a cosy gathering, with its thatched roofed, flint walls, stained-glass windows and log fires.
After winning Masterchef, Thomas worked at The Pig and Butcher in Islington to learn how to run a kitchen before taking on The Wheatsheaf as his first business venture at the end of November last year. He said it has been tough at a time of rising inflation, with the cost-of-living crisis affecting customers’ disposable income.
The increase in fuel and energy costs and the knock-on effect that has on the cost of wheat and oil, has added to wage and duty rises.
Thomas, who grew up in Dartford, Kent, said: “Everything is going up across the board, so for country pubs to remain cost effective and attractive to your local community, while maintaining the standard, has been quite tough at times.
“Despite this, I love it. The community has been very welcoming and I’ve made some good friends. Some days it is just me in the kitchen to keep the costs down, but that is the bit I love doing, the cooking.”
