MasterChef star Reece Elliott has opened his own restaurant on Ecclesall Road, calling it a ‘dream come true’.

At the age of 19, the chef competed and picked up second place on the show MasterChef junior and in 2020 he continued to impress the public, appearing on MasterChef: The Professionals and two years later has successfully opened his own restaurant.

Raffina by Reece Elliott is located on Ecclesall Road, a suitable location for the chef who was born and raised in Sheffield. He said “I’ve always loved Ecclesall Road, mainly for the bars and cocktail offering but you never really hear of good restaurants there so when this opportunity came up I knew I had to take it”.

After always wanting to have his own restaurant, Elliot calls this new chapter a “dream come true”.

He said: “It’s amazing! Being able to create all my own menus and dishes and developing them with my own team is just crazy. Being able to see our guests’ expressions and faces light up with the first mouthful just makes everything worthwhile”. 

Mr Elliott shared his experience of cooking, having only started officially cooking at the age of 16 after gaining an apprenticeship. He said ” I started at the very bottom and worked my way up. The more I learned, the more my passion grew”.

Local resident and student, Caitlin Cleary, 18, said: “The location of the restaurant is ideal, especially for me as a student as it is only a 20 minute walk from student accommodation and offers many affordable dishes”.

For anyone who dreams of opening their own restaurant or progress further with the culinary skills, Mr Elliott advises you to “to work hard and keep passionate. If you don’t have passion then this job isn’t for you”.