Every month MK Reviews will interview a Chef from the Milton Keynes area who we believe has a key role to play in maintaining a high standard of quality food. We'll try to find out what makes them tick, what they believe is essential in running a quality restaurant and at the same time, gain a valuable insight into how they run their kitchens, and what drives them to produce cuisine of the highest order.

Dan Cameron is certainly a Chef with ambition. Not only does he have high hopes of one day making the Navigation Inn a top-rated establishment for high quality dining, his long-term aim is to gain a much coveted Michelin Star.  If you listen to his words carefully, and appreciate how passionate he is about good, tasty food, then you begin to realise that this no forlorn hope for a young Chef going places.

Having started work as a waiter in the newly opened Flying Fox when just 16 years-of-age, he was soon asked to help in the kitchen and it was here that his love for cooking good fun was born. “I really enjoyed working in the kitchen. I went on to work at The Birch in Woburn but soon realised that if I wanted to move to the next level, I needed some training.” A stint at the highly respected Leiths School of Food & Wine in London followed and his first big break came when he successfully applied for a job at Gordon Ramsay’s Maze.

“Working at Maze was a real eye opener. It was there that I realised for the first time that this is what I really wanted to do. It opened my eyes and proved to me that I could take my cooking to another level.” MK Reviews had to ask, just what was it like working for Ramsay? “To be honest, he was not there all the time. It was a high pressure environment anyway, but when he was there tasting your food, it was incredibly intimidating.”

Now, Dan has his sights firmly on the Navigation Inn but readily admits his ambitions will not be achieved overnight. “The aim is to have two restaurants with two menus. One, a high quality bar menu, and the other, a top quality restaurant menu serving the finest and freshest local produce. We do not have the investment to do this overnight which means that when we do get there, it will be all the more satisfying. Our kitchen will need to expand before we can look to do any of this” explained Dan.

None of the above will be easy and there is clearly a lot of hard work to be done. Dan continued, “There is definitely a gap in the market for a top quality restaurant in this area, but it will be tough. It is not easy creating awareness and its not easy when you look at some of the restaurants in the area. It would be easier if we could collectively raise the standard. Milton Keynes needs more quality restaurants.”

Most Chefs will tell you that the hardest thing to cook in a busy kitchen is fish, but Dan loves cooking fish. “It can be difficult, as the fish needs to be cooked right at the last minute and be ready to go, so there’s no room for error. But I love my fish.” What about desserts? Many Chefs are left down when it comes to desserts. “I like to think I am strong all round. I spent a year working in London as a Pastry Chef so I’m reasonably confident on my desserts” explained Dan.

So what’s the worst part about being a Chef? “The burns!” was the immediate reply and the out stretch of his left forearm revealed a pretty large scar. “It’s part of the job, but there’s nothing worse than suffering a serious burn at the beginning of a busy night. You have no choice but to continue working and it can be painful.”

So what’s the key to a successful restaurant? “You need consistency” said Dan. “There’s no point in producing good food two or three times and then sending out something that is below par. Everyone needs consistency whatever standard they are cooking to. As soon as your standards drop, your customers will feel let down, and that’s just not fair. Anything that isn’t perfect cannot leave my kitchen.”