Ynyshir – where food and music are in perfect harmony
How music elevates Two Michelin Star dining at Ynyshir Restaurant and Rooms, with the help of an in-house DJ and Bowers & Wilkins AM-1 loudspeakers.
At Ynyshir, the unique two-Michelin Star restaurant in Machynlleth, Wales, food and music form a unique partnership. As we discovered in our previous blog, Chef Patron Gareth Ward and his team deliver a scintillating dining experience accompanied by a five-hour soundtrack deftly delivered by in-house DJ Jacob Kelly. In this second blog, we look at the relationship between chef and DJ more closely, and discover the secrets behind creating the Ynyshir experience, and how this experience is enhanced by Bowers & Wilkins sound.
The early days
But firstly, why so much attention on the music? “Music's really important to me,” Gareth says. “My parents, my mum especially, were my introduction to music. It was all about Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Tina Turner, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Prince, Rolling Stones, David Bowie – I got a really good early lesson in quality music.”
So as soon as Gareth took over control of Ynyshir, where he had previously worked as an executive head chef, he knew he had to add music to the mix: “Amelia [his partner] and I always said, one day when we get our own restaurant, we’re going to buy a record player and do purely vinyl. Because you go to a lot of restaurants that have this generic playlist on a memory stick. They play the same thing on loop, and the staff go stir-crazy hearing the same songs over and over again. It’s soulless.”
They put an advert in a local paper, and a guy called Mark responded. “He turned up for an interview on a busy day with a full restaurant,” Gareth explains. “I’d never met him before, but I gave him the decks and he said he only played hardcore techno. I was worried it could be a disaster, but he smashed it. He was with me for a few years, and we built a great concept together.”
When Mark moved on, Gareth got the opportunity to bring in Jacob Kelly. “He’s world-class, next level,” Gareth tell us. “I've been to brilliant nights with world-class DJs, but he’s the best for me. He’s also a great guy, so we have a lot of fun together. We talk about music constantly.”
The coming together
Gareth and Jacob were connected via a mutual friend, and got off to an inauspicious start, as Jacob explains: “Gareth said, ‘Can you come over and just do a set?’ I said, ‘When?’ and he said ‘Now’! So I had to act quickly. He didn't really give a lot away about what he wanted, so straight away, I'm thinking it's a two-Michelin star restaurant, so I dug through my collection for some jazz.
“I came with two bags of records and played for five hours during the service period. I quickly realized that that wasn't the style Gareth wanted. And he said, ‘Come back again and bring some house music.’ So I came back, and I had two bags of house, and I had to look him in the eye and say, ‘Is this really what you want? Because if this is what you want, then I feel confident playing it.’ And he said, ‘Yeah!’ And I've been here ever since. I've owned record labels. I have owned venues and run festivals. And it's led me here. I feel very privileged to be here; it's my dream job.”
Curating the music
Jacob currently splits his time between Ynyshir and his home on the other side of the country. “I have probably about 4,000 records here in Wales”, he says. “And back in Leeds, there's in the region of another 10,000 – I’ve been collecting records since my 20s.
Four five-sets a week is a lot of music, especially as Jacob made the task ever harder for himself: “I never play the same set here twice,” he explains. “I've made a promise to Gareth and the team. So any records I've played go in a box which travels all the way back to Leeds. Then that box gets refilled with fresh records for the journey back. It's a constantly changing ebb and flow of new material.”
Jacob’s day starts at 9 am, with some serious crate digging. “I start with the main section, which is the full-on house section, and that takes two hours of auditioning records. Then I move on to what I want to play in the pre-service section, and then post. I’m normally done by 2 pm.”
That gives Jacob time to move across to the main house and prepare for the five-hour set, and also create a playlist for the staff, who work throughout the day preparing for the main event. As Gareth says: “The music is also for the team, to keep them moving during a long day.”
Front and centre
Part of the unique nature of the Ynyshir experience is that the music is viewed on a par with the rest of the experience. Even the location of the DJ booth is designed to make the partnership between dining and music flourish.
“The DJ booth used to be hidden around the corner, and customers would walk past Jacob without noticing,” Gareth says. “They were too excited to see the kitchen, so they didn’t notice the DJ booth. They’d hear the music and think it was a playlist.
“Jacob wasn't getting enough attention or praise for what he does. So, I moved him into the kitchen, where everyone is looking. It makes complete sense to have the DJ and kitchen all in one space for the full experience.”
Once Jacob got to know the kitchen and the menu, he started tying the music in with the dishes. He researches the menu, watches what is going on, and fine-tunes the music to match the food.
“The customers always say it’s incredible how the music and food are on the same journey,” Gareth says. “It creates a unique experience. It's not for everybody, and that’s fine. I always say do what you love and believe in, and if people don't like it, they won't come back, and that’s okay. If you do like it, get yourself in, let go 100%, and enjoy it because it is what it is. It's not changing. If you ask me to turn the music off, I’ll just turn it up. It’s an experience that won't change. We have so much fun doing it.
“I could save a fortune with a playlist and no Jacob, but that would make us just like everybody else. I want this restaurant to be iconic; it just elevates the experience.
“And when Jacob came in, he brought in Bowers & Wilkins, and as soon as it was set up and turned on, I was like, wow, now we’re at the next level!”
As Jacob puts it, “it’s amazing having Bowers & Wilkins install the AM-1s. Now it’s lifted the sound quality to match the quality of the food. It’s a match made in heaven, because now the sound quality is at the Michelin-star level.”
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