DOUGLAS MCMASTER

Owner and head chef / Silo

Douglas began his career in 2003 at Winteringham Fields, a then two Michelin-starred restaurant. From there, he moved to London to work at Fergus Henderson’s ST. JOHN, which he credits as forming the foundation of his career. Following ST. JOHN, Douglas spent the next 2 years doing stages at dozens of different restaurants around the world in restaurants including Heston Blumenthal’s renowned The Fat Duck and two Michelin-starred Noma in Copenhagen.

In 2011, Douglas launched pop-up restaurant, Wasted, in Sydney and Melbourne, successfully testing his zero-waste concept by serving food that would have otherwise been wasted in the name of fine dining.

Douglas returned to the UK and motivated by the goal to create the world’s first zero-waste restaurant, opened Silo in Brighton in 2014 at the age of 26. With produce delivered ‘package free’, flour milled on site and compost machines turning scraps and trimmings into compost, Silo achieved its zero-waste goal. In October 2019, Douglas moved Silo to The White Building in London in a partnership with CRATE Brewery. 

Throughout his career, Douglas has picked up numerous awards and accolades; in 2014 he won the ‘BBC Young Chef of the Year Award’ followed by ‘Britain’s Most Innovative Chef’ at the first Young British Foodie awards. Just two years after opening, Silo won the prestigious Observer Food Monthly Award for ‘Britain’s Most Ethical Restaurant’.  In June 2018, Silo also won ‘Britain’s Most Innovative Restaurant’ award at the Craft Guild of Chefs Awards. Most recently, Silo has been shortlisted in the ‘World Restaurant Awards 2019’ for innovation and ethical practice.

Session:
Waste as a resource

Website:
silolondon.com

Instagram:
@silolondon