Connah Walker sets up weddings pizza business with Prince's Trust help

Connah Walker, 31, has been cooking and baking since a young boy, and has spent 17 years working in nearly every job in the kitchens of some well-known Gwent restaurants.

But when the pandemic struck, Covid restrictions decimated the hospitality trade, and Mr Walker found himself out of work and at a loose end, desperate to fulfil his ambition of running his own kitchen.

Now, with help from The Prince's Trust, he has launched a new venture, creating "upmarket, affordable pizzas" that he hopes will become a hit at weddings and other catered events.

Gwent chef Connah Walker. (Image: Connah Walker)

Mr Walker grew up around kitchens and has fond childhood memories of cooking with his grandmothers, in their homes where the smell of fresh bread usually filled the air.

"They loved baking, and I was always involved with making different cakes and pastries," he told the Argus. "It was always something I wanted to do."

As he grew older, his passion for cooking intensified, and he used to ask his food technology teachers in secondary school to set him ever more challenging tasks.

A keen MasterChef viewer, Mr Walker said he wanted to create "exotic" dishes with a "wow factor".

Some of the dishes created by Gwent chef Connah Walker. (Image: Connah Walker)

After leaving school, he worked in relatives' restaurants, starting out as a pot-washer but keeping a keen eye on what the chefs were doing.

"That's the way I learned," he said. "I didn't go to catering college, I wanted to do my qualifications while I worked."

Mr Walker wasn't intimidated by the "stressful" kitchen environment and, once qualified, found himself working at the Carpenters Arms in Coed-y-paen, a pub and restaurant well-loved for its meals.

He spent "the best eight years ever" there, and was granted the freedom to create his own dishes and menus.

Gwent chef Connah Walker in action. (Image: Connah Walker)

But the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 meant a period on furlough and eventually unemployment, as government restrictions prompted long periods of closures for many businesses in the hospitality sector.

"I had to start all over again - I was living on my mum's sofa and questioning what I'm doing," Mr Walker said. "I had to think to myself what my next move would be - something that could give me more control [over my work] and more time with my family."

After hearing about The Prince's Trust, a charity set up in the 70s by the now-King Charles III, Mr Walker decided to try his hand at an entrepreneurial course and become his own boss - something he hoped could give him the creativity he craved.

The charity has now backed him to set up Dark Kitchens, and the Pontypool-based chef will start out making wood-fired pizzas before branching out into hog roasts, street food and barbecued meats.

Mr Walker's ambition is to return to the "amazing" experience of catering for weddings and other large events, where he plans to also serve cocktails from a trailer he is converting into a professional kitchen.

He hopes 2023 will be the year his dream becomes a reality.

"I like challenges," he added.