Ludlow chef to the stars says 'Nah, mate, I am just a cook'

He's cooked for Michael Jackson, Will Smith and more Premiership footballers than he can remember.

He's knocked around, got drunk and fallen over with some of the most famous chefs that France and England have ever produced.

And if you ask him whether he's done a lot in his time, or got a good CD, he'll be sufficiently bluff and modest to say: "Nah, mate, I'm just a cook."

Smith creates superlative food at Mortimers, in Ludlow. He's recreating the sort of gastronomic memories that his great friend and former chef-in-arms Claude Bosi did, when the latter ran Hibiscus.

It's not bad for a kid who started out as a potato peeler in Rotherham. "I was a pot wash when I was 15 at an hotel in Rotherham. I went to college and the lecturer was a head chef. I ended up working for him."

The early years of Wayne's career were brutal. He'd be charged with peeling five bins full of potatoes. "It were up north – the punters like their chips there. The head chef had exocet clogs. He'd throw them round corners and get you."

He knew there had to be a better way. He did a three-month stage at La Tante Claire, Pierre Koffmann's legendary London restaurant, before travelling to Australia and returning to the UK to cook for multiple Michelin star winner David Cavalier.

"David was the best guy I worked with. He won seven stars at seven places. He was incredible in terms of his skills." From there, Wayne moved to central London and spent 18 months with the two Michelin star tyro Tom Aitkens. "I still speak to him now. I learned a lot."

And then came Ludlow, where he teamed up with Claude Bosi at Overton Grange. "We were very similar at the time, in terms of techniques. It was very classical cooking."

He briefly moved away, working for the Queen of Brunei at Stapleford Park. "I cooked for Michael Jackson, Will Smith . . . you name it. They were flown in with Brunei money. We did a party once for 180 A-list celebrities. I cooked for them for four days. The person I were star struck by was Don Johnson because I loved Miami Vice. I talked to him about the alligator. He was the coolest man in the world."

He opened Bentleys in Dublin, for Richard Corrigan. Then in Ludlow, he opened Mortimers – at the same address that Claude Bosi formerly ran Hibiscus. "I never worked here until now. I used to come in on Saturday to drink with the boys. And I came in for a drink when Will Holland was here, too.

"It's great to be creating beautiful dishes in such a gorgeous restaurant. Since we've opened, things have really progressed."

Smith has the starriest pedigree of any chef in Shropshire. He's a class act – the secret assassin indeed.

By Andy Richardson