Lee Skeet hopes his first permanent venue, Cora, will become Cardiff’s best
A CHEF from Cardiff Bay has opened Cora above Pontcanna’s Milkwood Café, with the aim of it becoming Cardiff’s best restaurant.
Following his training, Lee Skeet, 35, became the head chef at Hedone, London, which at the time held a Michelin star and was ranked among the world’s best restaurants.
The acclaimed chef aims to secure the first Michelin Star restaurant in Cardiff through the refinement of his food, front of house service and wine selection.
Lee suffered a serious accident in 2017 resulting in a four-year break from cooking professionally, until the coronavirus pandemic left him with no option but to return to the kitchen.
Beginning with just one table in his living room, Lee restarted his career with the Bones Supper Club which quickly became one of Cardiff’s most sought-after dinner reservation locations.
The restaurant is named after his four-year-old daughter, Cora, in the hopes of showing his children what hard work can achieve. He said: “I named the restaurant after my daughter because every single minute of hard work I do is for her and my son.
“I wanted to name it after what I love. I also want to show her what she can achieve because where I started from to where we are now most people would find unbelievable.”
Cora follows the runaway success of a collaborative pop-up restaurant with Milkwood Café which sold out 650 tickets within three days of release.
The restaurant will be open from Monday to Friday serving a set tasting menu of seasonal British produce focusing on seafood.
He said: “What sets the restaurant apart is the sourcing and focusing on the best quality produce available. Most restaurants don’t focus on that and it’s something I take really seriously.”
Priced at £75, the menu consists of six courses served to just 12 guests each service. He said: “I’m trying to make the best food I can, not the most money. With that number of guests, I can really concentrate on doing my very best.”
“I want to be solely responsible for the food. A chef who has his name on the restaurant but isn’t cooking isn’t a chef and I never want anything to be served unless I made it.”
