Foodies right across the county will be mourning Norfolk chef and food champion Richard Hughes, whose sad passing was announced on Monday.

Over a career spanning well over four decades Richard was seldom out of the public eye, famous for running a series of well-regarded restaurants, the success of his eponymous cookery school, rejuvenating the historic Assembly House in Norwich, but above all for bringing his positivity and all-round niceness into everything he touched.

From Number 24 in Wymondham back in the 1990s, The Lavender House in Brundall in the 2000s, the Pigs at Edgefield and the Assembly House more recently, whenever Richard’s name was above the door you knew you would enjoy not just great food, but also, in his own words, ‘memories that last’ and ‘glamour’.

The lovely tribute to him posted on the Assembly House’s Facebook page included this paragraph which really summed the man up: ‘He always loved the kitchen porters just as much as anyone with a star under their belt, probably more. 

He always judged people on how they treated hospitality staff and service providers and never trusted anyone who looked down on anyone else or treated them as if they were invisible.

He gave everyone a chance and rewarded loyalty with loyalty: it’s just one of the reasons he was so very loved by so many.’

I had the privilege of knowing him, and a kinder, more generous character you couldn’t hope to meet. 

So many people have reason to be grateful for his life and his achievements, not least the huge number of chefs and hospitality staff who he mentored and whose careers he nurtured across all those years.  We have lost a true Norfolk food hero.

Showcasing the best of Norfolk

As a true champion of our county’s food and drink producers, Richard was always ready to share his expertise on a food stage, entertaining and educating his audiences in equal measure as he effortlessly knocked up a delicious dish, however rudimentary the conditions and equipment.

I was sharing just such a food stage at the weekend with some of the county’s finest chefs and food producers at the weekend, at the North Norfolk Food and Drink Festival, once again held in the wonderful surroundings of the walled garden at Holkham Hall.

The sun shone, and thousands of eager foodies flocked to Holkham to see the 60 or so local producers who were exhibiting their wares (unlike the Royal Norfolk Show, the North Norfolk Food Festival has a strict ‘local only’ policy when it comes to who gets to exhibit).

I once again had the privilege of hosting the cookery theatre at the festival, which over two days saw a succession of chefs and producers cheerfully share their expertise, and demonstrate just why Norfolk is such an important place when it comes to food and drink. 

Among them was possibly Norfolk’s luckiest chef, Michael Chamberlin from the Victoria Hotel at Holkham, who has a 25,000 acre larder (the Holkham Estate) from which he can draw the finest ingredients; Fran Hartshorne, head chef at the White Horse in Brancaster, who regaled us with tales of how she and her team shucked over 4,000 oysters in three days during a recent oyster festival at the restaurant; and Scott Dougal from the Wells Crab House, who despite being one of the county’s finest shellfish chefs, is himself allergic to molluscs and crustaceans.

The audience also enjoyed wine tastings from two of Norfolk’s finest vineyards, Chet Valley and Burn Valley; a guided tasing of fine Norfolk artisan produce led by Katy Truss of Fabulous Food Finds; and, of course, the evergreen double act of butcher Arthur Howell and chef Chris Coubrough, who is also chair of the committee of volunteers which organises the whole event.

Those volunteers put in huge hours to make the Festival a success, for no other reward than the knowledge that they are supporting those who produce the food and drink of our county that they love so much. 

That such a landmark event in the Norfolk Food and Drink calendar is driven not by commercial considerations but by passion shows that while we have sadly lost Richard Hughes, his legacy of championing our county’s wonderful food and drink is in safe hands.