Flying Start for Convive with Appointment of Head Chef, Francis Cowlam

A head chef with over 17 years’ experience of cooking Mediterranean food has been appointed to ensure a new £2m Leeds restaurant gets off to a flying start when it opens in February 2017. Leeds-born chef Francis Cowlam (32) who, outside of the kitchen is also in training to be a pilot, has been appointed by managing director of Weetwood Hall, Martin Hicks, who is behind Leeds’ newest restaurant venture, ‘Convive’.
Convive is a new build authentic Mediterranean restaurant that will bring a Mediterranean lifestyle to the suburbs of Leeds.
The new restaurant is part of the University of Leeds-owned Weetwood Hall estate but retains an independent identity of its own, open to customers looking for a high quality dining experience outside of the city centre as well as guests staying at the popular hotel complex.
Francis Cowlam has previously worked as head chef at a number of leading Mediterranean and Italian restaurants in the region including Piccolinos, Gusto and Blackhouse Bar & Grill as well as a number of independent smaller Italian restaurants where he developed his flair for Italian inspired dishes. Francis also lived in Spain for over two years working in authentic, family-owned restaurants cooking for locals and tourists.
At Convive, Francis will lead of brigade of 12 chefs and manage the brand new, state of the art £450k kitchen. He will work closely with respected Leeds restaurateur Martin Pickles who has been appointed as Convive’s head of operations. Francis’ first recruit is talented sous chef Najam Ur Rehman, who was previously at Brasserie Blanc in Leeds. Prior to this Najam was resident in Lombardy, Italy for over 15 years, where for the past three years he ran his own restaurant working with some of the world’s leading chefs.
Francis said: “This is the opportunity of a lifetime and I can’t wait to get everything in place ready for opening in a few months’ time. The vision and investment at Convive is on a scale like nothing I’ve ever seen before and I’m really looking forward to asserting my Mediterranean influence on the menu, creating an authentic and unforgettable dining experience. The freshness and vibrancy of the food and the fact that we’ll be sourcing locally as much as we can and applying a Mediterranean twist means we’ll be supporting lots of great suppliers on our doorstep. Working with Martin Hicks, a great visionary businessman, the team is relishing the prospect of adding something exciting and new to the dining scene in Leeds.”
Managing Director of Weetwood Hall and Convive, Martin Hicks, said: “This is an exciting time in the 25 year evolution of Weetwood Hall as we prepare to launch Convive. Francis is an outstanding head chef and fits the bill perfectly for Convive. His inspiration is Leeds’ own Marco Pierre White and Francis aims to emulate his style and flair whilst bringing his own passion, personality and experience to the role. He is already assembling a team of chefs that has an impeccable track record and after almost 20 years’ experience in Italian kitchens, has lots of great contacts of his own that will help the restaurant team soar. This experience will be invaluable especially when we begin our innovative chef exchange with genuine Mediterranean restaurants across Europe. Francis and his team will ensure that we deliver unrivalled food quality to match the relaxed, convivial dining experience we are creating.”
Convive is a 120 seat restaurant and bar where guests will be able to enjoy a full dining experience including an alfresco area under a retractable roof within the gardens. It will be twinned with Mediterranean restaurants across Europe creating inspiration through innovative chef swaps and ingredient sourcing on quality food and drink. Many ingredients used in the kitchens will be sourced from local Yorkshire farmers.