Why I'll never cook again after cancer battle says top chef

Tim Bilton was an ambitious chef heading for his first Michelin star. Then cancer struck and his life changed forever. Catherine Scott reports.
Tim and Adele BiltonTim and Adele Bilton
Tim and Adele Bilton

Three years ago cooking was his world, now Tim Bilton says he won’t cook professionally again.

The Great British Menu chef was at the height of his career and on course for his first Michelin star when cancer struck.

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“I was a perfectionist,” he admits. “I loved my wife and children, but I lived for the business and for building a future for my boys. Now that has all changed. My entire outlook on life has changed. Dealing with something like this makes you reassess what is important and what is important is Adele and the boys and spending as much time as I can with them - that is all they want.”

Tim with his sons Henry 10 and Charlie fourTim with his sons Henry 10 and Charlie four
Tim with his sons Henry 10 and Charlie four

Tim was diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer just weeks before opening his fine dining restaurant the Spiced Pear at Hepworth three years ago.

But with true Yorkshire grit he was back behind his stove straight after the operation and radiotherapy.

“It didn’t occur to me to stop working. I just had to carry on.”

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He may have carried on and to those who relished his cooking at the Spiced Pear nothing was wrong, but for two years Tim’s battle with the cancer continued.

Tim and adle Bilton with their boys Henry and CharlieTim and adle Bilton with their boys Henry and Charlie
Tim and adle Bilton with their boys Henry and Charlie

“Over the period of two years they removed one very large tumour and another two smaller one,” explains Tim’s wife Adele, who has written a blog about their journey with cancer.

“He had two courses of radiotherapy to his eye and chemotherapy. All while working 24 /7 on the new businesses he put his heart and soul into. He thought that working all hours to build his dream was the answer and never took the time to rest.”

But then last summer Tim was told the devastating news that the cancer had spread to his saliva glands and he was forced to take a break from the restaurant that had been his life.

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“It was really hard for him,” says Adele. “But we knew he had to concentrate on fighting this thing.” But nothing could have prepared the Biltons for the months that would follow.

Tim with his sons Henry 10 and Charlie fourTim with his sons Henry 10 and Charlie four
Tim with his sons Henry 10 and Charlie four

Tim was in surgery at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield for more than eight hours followed by four in recovery. “ I will never ever forget that day and how I paced those hospital corridors for hours. I have never ever felt so scared and alone before. When they finally let me see him in recovery at 9pm I have never cried as much in my life with relief that he was alive,” says Adele. The surgery left Tim with half the saliva he should have, damage to his tongue so he struggles to chew anything on the left side of his mouth and slurred speech. He has also lost his sense of taste, hard for anyone but for a chef whose life is food it was devastating.

“Going from food being his world and his job to everything tasting like cardboard is just so, so cruel,” says Adele. But surgery was only the start. Four weeks after the operation in August last year he started radiotherapy to his head and neck at Weston Park Hospital in Sheffield.

“I think radiotherapy is massively underestimated in how ill it can make you feel,” says Adele. For six weeks Tim travelled everyday to Sheffield for his treatment from the family’s home in Holmfirth.

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“Some days he was just too poorly to drive himself or even communicate how terrible he felt.” Throughout this time Adele was juggling looking after Tim, their two young sons and also keeping the Afternoon Tea side of their business going.

Tim and adle Bilton with their boys Henry and CharlieTim and adle Bilton with their boys Henry and Charlie
Tim and adle Bilton with their boys Henry and Charlie

“It would have been easier to close the business,” she says. “But whatever happened I needed to provide for the boys.” By week three of his treatment Tim said he couldn’t take any more.

“I remember the day he said to me ‘that’s it Adele I’m done I can’t do this anymore!’.” But neither Adele nor his consultant was going to let that happen and with increased medication and buckets of Yorkshire grit Tim complete his treatment in November. But things didn’t improve as they had hoped. The damage caused by the radiotherapy left Tim with such a sore mouth that he struggled to eat or drink. “Food had been one of the greatest loves of my life for so long, and suddenly, with the soreness of my mouth after treatment and the loss of taste, it became the last thing on my agenda,” says Tim. “Lack of food and drink meant that my body was going into shut down and I lost over four stone in weight.”

As a result he became dangerously weak and dehydrated and had to be admitted to hospital three times before Christmas put onto a drip.

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“It was an awful time for not only Tim but our two boys Henry, 10 and Charlie, 4, to see their Dad so ill,” says Adele. “They were used to him being at work a lot of the time and then suddenly he was home all the time but needed to rest. It was really hard on them.”

But for the first time Tim got to spend Christmas Day with his boys as he had always worked before. Gradually he has built his strength back and this week attended the Yorkshire Evening Post Oliver Awards where he was presented with the Outstanding Contribution award by friend and Michelin -starred Leeds chef Michael O’Hare. Tim still has to under go regular tests and scans to ensure the cancer hasn’t returned and throughout his ordeal he has maintained his sense of humour. To thank the hospital Tim and Adele have pledged to raise £10,000 for the Weston Park Hospital cancer charity. They have already raised more than £2,500 and are now planning a Michelin star-studded event in September at Rudding Park, Harrogate. “I have a lot of contacts and it just made sense to ask if they would help us,” says Tim who has slowly started to get involved again with the running of the Spiced Pear. “I couldn’t believe it, everyone of them said yes immediately.” The couple have also been overwhelmed by the support of staff and customer of the Spiced Pear. “Nothing really bothers me any more. I am more laid back. We don’t know what the future holds, so there is no point worrying about it. It is really important to stay positive.”

Tim and Adele Bilton are organising a Michelin star-studded fund-raising ball at Rudding Park in Harrogate on Monday September 12.

It will feature Michelin starred chefs including Michael O’Hare of The Man Behind the Curtain, James Mackenzie of the , Andrew Pern of the Star, Harome, Kenny Atkinson House of Tides, Newcastle and Adam Smith of the Burlington at the Devonshire Arms. It will be compared by BBC Radio 2’s Nigel Barden.

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“Andrew (Pern) came up with the name Cooking Against Cancer,” says Tim. “It just about says it all.” All proceeds will go to the Weston Park Hospital cancer Charity. Details will be available soon on www.justgiving.com/thespicedpear/