After the Guardian revealed last week that two talented young chefs had been cooking up a storm at a Wanstead restaurant, reporter Crystal Wilde paid them a visit to learn what it takes to stand the heat.

JUST two years ago, Hadley House restaurant in Wanstead High Street was in hot water, receiving just one star in a Food Standards Agency inspection.

But after their surprise take-over last summer, Terence Hau and Jon Simister have been cooking on gas, working tirelessly to bring their dream restaurant back to the boil.

At only 24, you could be excused for thinking that Jon Simister lacks both age and experience.

But when he landed his first job at Roux Fine Dining with world-renouned chef Albert Roux, he immediately found himself on a very steep learning curve.

Jon said: "Straight out of school and at only 16, I found I grew up very quickly in a professional kitchen.

"When it's someone else's neck on the line things suddenly become a lot more serious, and I went from being a teenager one day to a completely different person the next."

It was not long before Jon moved on to work with celebrity chef Gary Rhodes at Tower 42, cooking alongside his future business partner Terence Hau for the first time.

Terence, 36, started cooking in his dad's Chinese takeaway at the tender age of 14, despite secretly aspiring to break the mould and become an architect.

But after deciding that seven years at university was a few too many, he took a course in Hotel Management at Westminster College and got a taste for cheffing on placement at the famous Sheraton Hotel in Singapore.

After returning to the UK, Terence slaved over hot stoves in themed restaurants across the West End, including the Fashion Café and Planet Hollywood, before landing the job with Mr Rhodes.

Terence said: "Gary was nothing like Gordon Ramsey, and though he wasn't there all the time, I never heard him cursing and blinding and he was always very approachable and encouraging."

After spending nine months working together at the Hilton Hotel, the plucky pair were presented with an offer they could not refuse, the chance to go-it-alone at Hadley House, serving up their unique modern mix of British and European cuisine.

Jon said: "I'm very impulsive whereas Terence is quite level-headed and I think it's quite a good combination that definitely comes out in our menus."

Terence added: "I'm not going to say that the recession hasn't affected us, but we're trying to do good food and keep the value for our customers, and as long as we can do that we'll be staying."