A VISIT by a notoriously aserbic national food critic might be a worry for many up and coming chefs. But not for 25-year-old Tom Parker who wowed masterchef's Jay Rayner when he dropped by the White Swan in Fence. Diane Cooke reports.

RISING superstar chef Tom Parker has sent his dad out on a vital mission. Not, as one would imagine, to purchase a single Perigord truffle or a Squab pigeon for that evening’s menu, but something rather more basic.

Hair Gel, in fact. And not to fashion aforementioned pigeon’s feathers for some Blumenthal-esque culinary experiment, to actually do his hair because he’s having his photograph taken. He is only 25, after all. And Gordon or Marco would have had a hairdresser and make-up artist in attendance.

He appears, all six feet three inches of him, bearing the scarred arms of a persistent self-harmer. His tousled hair looks stylishly unkempt. Just to clarify, the purple gashes criss-crossing up his arms are burns – a good chef’s stripes. And he’s certainly earned them of late.

Tom is head chef at the White Swan – Mucky Duck to the locals – in Fence. Legend has it that a famous reviewer from “that London” turned up recently, sampled his fare and declared it worthy of merit.

White Swan co-proprietor Jane Turner was dismissed when she flew into the kitchen declaring that Observer food critic Jay Rayner – he of Masterchef – was in attendance. “Nah!”, they all said and went back to mandolining carrots. So she went Googling for photographic evidence. The mole on his right cheek shopped him.

“I couldn’t believe it was him, here in Fence," Tom said. "When I got over the shock, I was confident about my menu. I was more excited than nervous about the review.”

And that confidence was neither arrogant nor misplaced for Rayner positively gushed over Tom’s food....here’s an excerpt.

“I begin with what is described as a cottage pie of oxtail. It’s the humble brag of the food world. This isn’t a cottage pie like your mum used to make. The oxtail has been braised until it hasn’t so much fallen off the bone as surrendered. The braising liquor has then been cooked down to a sticky jus with just the lightest smack of red wine. Right at the end, this tangle of meaty bits is spun through with a fresh chiffonade of parsley. All that is at the bottom of the pot. To reach it you first have to go through a layer of shamelessly rich mash made with smoked potatoes. And because that isn’t quite enough to make the point, the mash is dimpled with pearly lumps of bone marrow.”

The day of the review – a Sunday – Jane called Tom at first light. “Have you seen it, have you seen it,” she asked excitedly. “Have I heck, it’s 6.15am on a Sunday morning,’ was his sleepy reply as he turned over. It seems nothing fazes this young chef.

Tom trained at Northcote Manor after writing to boss Nigel Haworth when he was 16.

He worked every section of the Langho kitchen under the guidance of Lisa Allen – his close friend and mentor – before going on to win Young Chef of the Year in 2011.

He has already introduced innovative changes to The White Swan. There’s no menu as such – just a regularly changing chalk board using whatever produce he is offered on the day.

“As far as I know, no-one else is cooking like this. I get to the kitchen at 9am and someone will turn up with a pheasant and it is on the board later that day.

“I only cook with what is seasonal and available. If we’ve got some mallard, partridge and hare coming, I’ll decide the night before what to do with it.

“Then we speak to the vegetables guys to see what they’ve got. When you cook like this it is impossible to plan too far ahead.”

Jane, her brother-in-law Gareth Ostick and their partners also have Turners, the popular Barrowford deli and wine bar. When they took over The White Swan their affordable fine dining vision (two courses for £20) required a chef of Tom’s calibre. Only problem was Tom – having left Northcote - was working in a five diamond hotel in Mexico alongside chef Ivan, who had worked at the French Laundry in California, one of the world’s top restaurants.

“I had to wrench him out of his hammock in Mexico,” laughs Jane. The sweetener was a share in the business.

”I’m a big believer that if it’s meant to be... The Rayner review has put us on the national stage. Tom has incredible drive. He worked every day over Christmas and when he’s not working he’s emailing menus. His standards are immense. I’ve never encountered anyone like him, let alone someone so young. That’s why we made him a business partner.”

Tom, who lives in Fence with his mum and dad, learned to cook profiteroles with his gran at the age of 10. The only subject he enjoyed at school was food technology.

“I was a nightmare at school,” he says. “I just didn’t want to be there because I always knew what I wanted to do.”

But he played the game, took his GCSEs, passed them and headed off to Northcote. Previously he’d worked at The Sparrowhawk as a KP.

There’s no doubt he’s passionate about what he does and accepts that the downside of that all-consuming passion is a lack of free time. So does that include girlfriends?

“Aha that’s a good one,” he says. “I was going out with a girl from Northcote but it didn’t work out. We’re still friends. I’m always working, but I love it like that. This is my whole life. Chefs don’t have the time to meet people and we don’t really socialize with a lot of people outside the industry.”

He can reel off his favourite restaurants – the three Michelin Can Fabes in Barcelona and the two-star Ledbury in London - but like the 25-year-old lad he is “you can’t beat a McDonalds when you’re hungover".

His idea of a good night out is a dinner party at Lisa Allen’s where guests included the sommelier from L’Enclume and her husband Steve, general manager of Northcote.

“We must have spent about £400. We had ragout beef tartare, foie gras, sweet breads, Squab pigeon, truffles and Tiramisu from Asda because we couldn’t be bothered making a dessert after all that.”

It’s Tom’s dream to earn a Michelin star for The White Swan, which would require some investment from the brewery to meet certain criteria. The three are working hard to make that a reality.

At 25, Tom Parker has already caught the attention of the UK catering industry’s opinion formers. One can imagine that by 35, his name will be known globally.