Gareth Ward of Welsh powerhouse Ynyshir is planning to open not one, but two new venues in the nearby market town of Machynlleth. The first will be an intimate wine bar/restaurant named Gwen in honour of his mother, which he hopes to follow up with a sourdough pizzeria next door.

Gwen will take over the site now occupied by a bistro, Number Twenty One, and will offer a more affordable taste of Ynyshir where the 17-course tasting menu currently costs £350 a head. Ynyshir’s head chef Corrin Harrison will be cooking 10-course meals for just eight diners.

Gareth said of the new project: “I’ve always loved the restaurant so when the owner offered us the chance to take it on, I jumped at it. It will be the same kind of concept as Ynyshir, but more for the locals.”

The planned pizzeria will use a pizza oven bought from fellow-chef Peter Sanchez-Iglesias following the closure of his Pi Shop in Bristol. Gareth said: “We’re going to do something for the town – this is something it needs”.

Both new venues – like the Legless-Fach tapas tent in the grounds of Ynyshir – will have access to the same top-quality ingredients used in the main kitchen: only leg of lamb appears on the Ynyshir menu, which leaves plenty of off-cuts for use elsewhere.

Gareth took over the kitchen at historic Ynyshir – a lodge where Queen Victoria holidayed as a child – almost 10 years ago, and has driven it to global foodie fame. In the 2022 Harden’s guide it is listed as no 1 restaurant in Wales and no 7 in the UK.