Tony Tobin

Tony Tobin started cooking professionally at the age of just 14 when he worked part-time in the kitchens of a restaurant in Warwickshire. He soon became hooked on the joy of cooking and studied for two years at Stratford-upon-Avon Catering College before taking up his first professional position in the kitchens of The Chester Grosvenor.

"People express their creativity in lots of ways. Since a child, for me it has always been food. I learned to make some dishes in the kitchen with my mother and I've never looked back. Taste, flavour and presentation are the media in which I express myself - it's as simple as that! " Tony Tobin

In 1984, Tony moved to London to join the staff at the Capital Hotel, under Head Chef, Brian Turner. This was followed by a ground-breaking move to work for five years with Nico Ladenis. Tony started off at Chez Nico in Battersea, later becoming Sous Chef at Simply Nico in Westminster. When Ladenis opened Chez Nico in Great Portland Street, Tony stayed on becoming Head Chef at Very Simply Nico for two and a half years. At just 25, Tony took over as Head Chef at the South Lodge Hotel in Lower Beeding where the restaurant was awarded the Good Food Guide's Country Restaurant of the Year during this three and a half years in charge.

In 1992, Tony made his first television appearances in the BBC series Hot Chefs. The book of the series contained some of his own recipes, and the success of this project lead to many more TV appearances - most notably as a featured chef on Ready Steady Cook from 1995 onwards and as the presenter of the 13 part series Spice World and The Green Gourmet on the Carlton Food Channel. Tony has appeared weekly on Ready Steady Cook nearly every week since ’95 and has recently been on a red hot winning streak!

To ensure that his 'day job' kept him busy creating culinary masterpieces, Tony became Head Chef at The Dining Room in Reigate in 1994. The quality of the food led to the restaurant becoming renowned as one of Surrey's finest - it was this quality that helped Tony to finally become Chef Patron. In 2001, insurance legend Peter Wood - whose Reigate-based firm, esure, is just a few hundred yards away - ate at the Dining Room, loved the food and struck up a friendship with Tony that finally resulted in the two becoming business partners and buying out the restaurant.

In 2006, the continued success of The Dining Room and - following strong local lobbying - Tony and Peter Wood joined forces again to open POST on 17th November 2006. Within three months, the restaurant appeared in The Times' list of top 10 Deli Restaurants in South East England.

If you like The Dining Room, why not visit Tony's new restaurant, brasserie, bar and deli in Banstead, POST. To find out how to make a reservation, click here

We look forward to welcoming you soon!