The new fine dining restaurant from one of Wales’ hottest talents will only have five tables
09:00, 01 May 2026Updated 09:10, 01 May 2026
One of Matt’s creations at FIR(Image: Gareth Evans)
Chef Matt Sampson has worked in some of the best kitchens around the UK and now he is taking his phenomenally successful FIR restaurant and opening a brand new venue in the heart of one of Wales’ most popular towns.
The 25-year-old, who first ran FIR out of The Vine Tree pub in Llangattock, where it achieved a place in the Michelin Guide just months after opening, will take over the site of Green Michelin Star-holding restaurant, Chapters in Haye-on-Wye.
Named FIR by Matt Sampson, the new dining spot will have just five tables and serve a 14-course taster menu during the evenings and then a shorter form menu at lunch. It’s due to open on Saturday, June 20, in the heart of the town known for its literary festival held every spring.
The chef said: “I’ve been trying to find a permanent home for what I started in Llangattock, but under my own name and business. So the plan is it’s going to be a 14-cover restaurant and basically pick up what we were doing, there.
“Really just showcasing the best ingredients from both Wales and internationally as well as just reflecting on my career as a chef in a very sort of intimate space. The goal is to really put FIR on the map as one of best restaurants in Wales, my ultimate goal would be to get a Michelin star.
“Chapters had a great reputation, I had a great six months in Llangattock, so it was very much combining them to into sort of a mega version of both things, that makes sense.”
Opening in Hay means he’ll be collaborating with local producers, too, and he’s keen to elevate the Town of Books’ restaurant status to equal its cultural one.
The exterior in the heart of Hay
“I want Hay to become the Welsh example of a real food destination, more than just my restaurant,” he said. “I’ll be working with the brewery literally 100 metres down the road, there’s multiple cider companies, there’s bakeries, there are like an old school butchers in the town and I want to sort of showcase all of those things alongside FIR.”
A well-seasoned chef with an impressive CV, Matt, who was raised in nearby Glasbury, started his dream of becoming a chef with a part-time job at 15 with the Felin Fach Griffin near Brecon.
From there he went to Michelin starred, Casamia in Bristol before two years working under Simon Rogan at L’Enclume in the Lake District. At that time L’Enclume had two Michelin stars, now it has three and most recently appeared on La Liste top restaurants in the planet, and is headed up by multi-award-winning chef and Great British Menu judge, Rogan.
From the Lake District, Matt then served three years in the kitchen of Ynyshir under Gareth Ward, a destination restaurant that holds Wales’ only double Michelin star title.
What the restaurant will look like
His time in the Llangattock pub saw diners travel from across Wales as well as places like Manchester and it was added to the Michelin Guide five months after it opened last September. For the latest restaurant news and reviews, sign up to our food and drink newsletter here
Matt in action at FIR(Image: LJP Media)
Speaking about working towards opening the new restaurant, Matt said: “I’m excited and also quite wary, like there’s a lot of money which is going into it. But at the same time, everything you dream of as a chef, I’m now doing.
“All my plates have just been delivered in the last few weeks. All the plates in the restaurant have been made specifically for me. No one else in the world has those plates, which is quite a surreal feeling. You know, the restaurants I’ve worked in, you always see it like, ‘oh, these are Simon’s plates, these a Gareth’s plates.’
“The fact that I’ve now got that to create my own identity, the restaurant itself being called for ‘by Matt Sampson’. Having my name above a restaurant is something as a chef, you always dream of. And now it’s like actually a reality.
“But I think until I actually see the sign on the wall and I’ve got some guests in the restaurant, it won’t actually sort of fully sink in of what we’ve committed to.”