Nicholas Balfe is the Chef Director and Owner of Holm, a restaurant with rooms in South Petherton, Somerset, which celebrates its fifth year in 2026. Self-taught, Nicholas began his career after leaving a corporate marketing role in London, realising that food, not office life, was where his real passion lay.
He trained in some of London’s most influential kitchens, including stages at St John and Moro, before working under Margot Henderson at Rochelle Canteen. He went on to hold the head chef role at Brunswick House, and worked closely with Isaac McHale and James Lowe on the early Young Turks pop-ups in East London.
In 2012, Nicholas opened Salon in Brixton Market, followed by Levan and Larry’s in Peckham, restaurants known for their produce-led cooking and relaxed, thoughtful approach to hospitality. In 2021, after starting a family, he relocated to Somerset to open Holm.
In 2025, Nicholas represented the South West on BBC’s Great British Menu, bringing his ingredient-led cooking and deep connection to Somerset produce to a national audience.
Now approaching its fifth year, Holm has quietly become a destination restaurant with rooms, deeply rooted in its Somerset surroundings. The menus are shaped by seasonality, local growers and producers, and a wider sense of place, with Nicholas using food to tell stories connected to the landscape and history of the South West, from figures such as Mary Anning to Jean Eavis. Alongside the restaurant, Holm also offers a small collection of bedrooms and experience-led stays, cementing its place as one of the region’s most distinctive food destinations.
