Displaying posts tagged with 'Restaurants'

It is the final round of Great British Menu heats this week, and with three top chefs from the South West region taking part it promises to be a great week.

We spoke to Nathan Outlaw ahead of the the competition to find out how he got on with this year’s brief, twitter and his restaurants.

How did you find the Great British Menu brief this year?

For me was all about the Olympic spirit – the spirit and determination to do well. What I did in the competition wasn’t necessarily any different to what I do day in day out – I do what I do to the best of my ability, and I’m always looking to improve. Obviously the dishes were created for GBM, but I didn’t change my style or anything. I think maybe that is where some of the chefs have gone wrong this year and gone a bit more for Olympic rings and torches and all that sort of stuff; it is nice but I don’t really think that’s what the show was aiming for. I thought the brief was quite a good challenge.

How was it competing with Paul and Simon?

Paul’s restaurant  is literally across the water from mine, and Simon’s is in the next county – so I know both of them very well. We also know what each others strengths and weaknesses are so that made it a bit more interesting. Simon and I have come across each other in other competitions in the past too – so we both know the other can cook!

I understand that when you went to start out in the industry, your Dad, a chef warned you off it – is that advice you would pass on today?

I’d tell people to give it a go for six months. but my biggest piece of advice would be if you are not enjoying it then definitely don’t do it, because cooking is one of those jobs which at the top level will consume your life. You live it and you’ve got no personal life – I’m living proof of that, I have two children and a wife who barely see me, I spend more time with my chefs than I do with them. From some peoples point of view that’s quite a sad thing, but it is the life they’ve always known and if my kids come to me and say “Dad, I want to be a chef” then I personally would say you need to give it a go before making that decision – it is not an easy one.

I’ve got a lot of young chefs in my kitchens, boys and girls of about 20 and we try encourage them but don’t tiptoe around them either – because you don’t want to portray the industry as being anything other what it is. We do endeavour to make things better and improve conditions. At the end of the day if you want to produce food and you want to have a restaurant at the top if its game, then there’s only one way to do that and that is through hard work – there is no short cut, that is for sure.

Things are improving then?

I definitely don’t think we can get away with the antics that some of the chefs that I worked under got away with, the way they treated people. I think a lot of the conditions weren’t that great and a lot of us have taken that on-board and instead of replicating that way of running a kitchen we’ve made it a much nicer place to work. Most of the chefs I know at the higher end have boys and girls in their kitchens who have been with them for a long time, that tells you something. If you look back at the early days with chefs like Marco and Gordon Ramsay you would see chefs just leaving and walking out day in day out – nowadays there are very loyal crews in most kitchens which speaks volumes for the improvements in the industry.

You are quite active on Twitter – do you find it a useful tool?

Yeah, for us, so far twitter has been very useful. I try to keep it business like because at the end of the day everyone can see it. I try to put the sorts of things people who would come to the restaurant would like to see but wouldn’t normally… So if there’s some lovely fish that comes in, or one of the chefs has made a nice staff tea – just the little quirky things.

It works well with the book (British Seafood) having come out recently too – we’ve already had people on there saying they’ve tried the recipes.

It must be great to get that feedback, where as perhaps people might not have bothered to write or phone.

Yes, it’s really nice to hear from people that perhaps wouldn’t even come to the restaurant but have bought the book and had a go. Even little things like when I’m on Saturday Kitchen and people say “your omelette was nice today” or “I loved the look of the dish you made” that kind of thing – that person couldn’t have got the message to you before.

It also seems to be a good community for chefs.

There are loads of us on there, I think in the past a lot of chefs wouldn’t have shared their recipes or ideas – but what you are seeing now is chefs sharing and being very open – so from that aspect it’s really good as well.

Tell us a bit about the restaurants – how do they differ?

The Seafood and Grill is four years old, and basically the idea for the restaurant came from the hotel where both the restaurants are – they wanted good food in a casual environment. The clientèle who come to this area of Cornwall are discerning and want quality – so what I set out to do was to start with lovely pieces of fish from the market, and meat from the local butchers and farmers. We give them lots of variety, so customers can choose their own sauces and dressings, the way they’d like it cooked and which side orders they’d like – so really they’re making their own dishes. Because of where we are, we can confidently put tronçon of turbot, whole lobster, and things like that on the menu and people are happy to pay for them as they know they will be fed well, have good wine and be in a relaxing environment – it’s very “Cornwall”!

Then there is the fine dining restaurant – that is where I cook, and if I’m not here it’s not open. There are ten tables, a maximum of twenty covers and just myself, my head chef Chris and a couple of apprentices in the kitchen. We cook one daily changing, nine course fish menu. We basically get everything from four or five fishermen – one who just supplies crab and lobster, one that runs an oyster farm and a couple of day boaters. I just make the menu up from what they have and the produce we get from a few small growers. We do take into account any dietary requirements and stuff like that, but other than that we cook for you and people seem to love that “no choice” element to it. At the moment, we’re booked up until October so it is going really well.

So there’s one restaurant with lots of choice and one where you come in for me to cook for you – but both championing seafood more than anything else.

So finally, where else is good to eat?

In this area there is Number Six – Paul Ainsworth’s restaurant which I think is very good and his other, Rojanos which is great for kids and Rick’s Stein’s establishments too. There are a couple of less known ones too – Fresh From The Sea in Port Isaac – owned by my crab and lobster fisherman. In there you’re going to get half lobster and crab sandwiches and that’s pretty much it, half a lobster and a glass of wine for £12.50 but they’re really good. Also in Port Isaac is The Harbour Restaurant – simple fresh food. There’s Chris Eden down at The Driftwood – he’s a very, very good chef, and Porthminster Beach Cafe down in St. Ives. There’s The Beach Hut and the Brasserie at the Watergate Bay Hotel which are both good and there’s Fifteen there too. We’re very lucky down here.

Channel 5 series The Restaurant Inspector returns tonight for a second series with Fernando Peire, director at London’s iconic The Ivy restaurant, visiting six ailing restaurants and offering them advice to help turn their businesses around.

Restaurants featuring in this year’s show include Piccadilly Spice (formerly The Maharaja Tandoori) in Soho, Iggs in Edinburgh, Zanzibar Restaurant in Sheffield (previously known as UK Mama) and The Black Lion Inn in Halland, near Lewes (previously known as Tarragon).

We spoke to Fernando ahead of the show:

With the current economic climate, do you think diners are becoming more discerning?

I think that many people are being more careful with their money but not everyone. There are still some big spenders out there, especially in London. I do think that people are more and more discerning about service, however, and expect to be treated well and served with a smile by people who know what they are doing. Good hospitality and service is what sets restaurants apart.

What are the most common problems you find with restaurants?

Owners who are out of touch with the marketplace and too ego-driven; prices too high; menus too long; a lack of thought in the layout and style of the place; owners lacking in self-awareness and empathy.

What would be your advice be to anyone starting out in the restaurant business today?

Only invest your own money if you have had the experience of making money for someone else. Then apply the same rules. Investigate your market and look at the competition before you decide what to do. Try to look at your offer from the perspective of potential customers. Listen to your customers and get to know them. Employ only staff who enjoy making other people happy.

First impressions count – what would make you walk away from a restaurant without even going through the door?

If the place looks dirty, if there is someone standing outside trying to drag you in, any mention in the window of awards, if I look through the window and see a napkin on a table in the shape of a dying swan, any mention of “foam” on the menu… So many things!

Where is good to eat right now?

I like simple places with tasty food. Old favourites:

Yalla Yalla for Lebanese mid-afternoon, 500 for Italian on a Sunday, Busaba Eathai for Thai-Asian any time; Joe Allen for after-theatre burger and burgundy; Centre Point Sushi for raw fish lunch; Cote for Steak & Chips before theatre; the Riding House Cafe for breakfast; and The Running Footman for a cheap Mayfair lunch.

Stephanie Moon is consultant chef working with producers and restaurants including Rudding Park in Harrogate, she also tutors at Leeds College and presents at numerous food festivals across the country. We spoke to her about her second appearance on Great British menu, foraging and Yorkshire food.

How was it taking part in The Great British Menu this year?

The calibre of chefs that are in the competition this year is amazing and it is an honour to be on that list. There are some weird, wonderful ways of cooking and some very different ingredients this year.

I think this year’s brief has been very tough. It’s difficult when you do something like Great British Menu – it is about how you read the brief and how other people read it. It is something you do on your own, and although you ask other people’s advice it is very much your own opinion. It is a big thing to do. I do take a few wacky twists and turns and tonight’s main course is very much like that!

There are three very different styles of cooking and interpretations of the brief this week.

Yes, Colin’s food is very molecular – precise and controlled. His fish course was my favourite dish of his, I thought it was stunning and I’m surprised he didn’t get a 10 for it, it looked so elegant. Charlie is more bold with his flavours, his monkfish with beetroot was a very nice dish too.

Your starter was certainly unusual, what gave you the idea of making goats cheese in 90 minutes?

They asked us to push boundaries and do things that have never been done before, and I thought it would be a good idea to try making a fresh cheese in the hour and a half. I think it’s something different and it is also something close to my heart – I’m a farmers daughter and the farm I visited to do the filming is 7-8 miles from where my parents live. I’ve used their cheese and milk before, they also make something called a crowdie [a soft, spreadable goats cheese] which is wonderful stuff.

You are a big fan of Yorkshire produce in general aren’t you?

Yes definitely and I’ve used it in all this year’s dishes for Great British Menu – Yorkshire food makes up the main bulk of my menu.

Yorkshire is a real garden of food for chefs, we’re amazingly lucky. We’ve got fish over at Whitby, game from the Moors then in the Dales there is fantastic Lamb and beef. Then over in East Yorkshire there is lots of arable farming, things like rapeseed oil – there are so many different people producing that now and it is a great product. Then there’s all the milled flours and fantastic beer. There are more microbreweries in in Yorkshire than in any other county – I’m using stout from Ilkley Brewery in my main course and something called Boozy Infusion from a restaurant called Beatson House in my dessert – that’s a different product, a really unique thing!

There are a lot of foraged ingredients on this year’s show – perhaps a reflection of the trend in the UK, but you’ve been doing it for a while haven’t you?

At Rudding Park we do a lot of foraging and we’ve been blogging about foraging for 4-5 years now. The blog is getting lots of visitors at the moment which is really good because it means there is interest there and people want to know about these things.

Is there a really simple recipe using foraged ingredients you could recommend for people looking to dip their toe in the water?

There is, a really food one to get people started is wild garlic soup; wild garlic is absolutely around and about at the moment – it’s everywhere. I think for people who haven’t done any foraging before it’s a good one. Wild garlic is easy to find, it tends to grow in woodlands and near to streams or rivers and all you need to do is rub a leaf and you know you’re on to the right thing. Also, there is so much of it about you aren’t going to cause a problem by taking a few handfuls.

Where is good to eat in Yorkshire at the moment?

The Pipe and Glass in South Dalton is fantastic, James McKenzie is doing a fantastic job. I’m looking forward to a new place opening, Iris in Wakefield, that’s going to be interesting – the chef Liam Duffy used to work with Steve Smith at the Devonshire Arms and for Aiden Byrne so I think he’s going to be one to watch. I also ate at The Black Swan at Oldstead recently, that was a fantastic meal. There are lots of places in and around Yorkshire.

Full details of the North East heats of Great British Menu are here.

Mark Greenaway is making his first appearance on BBC2’s Great British Menu in this weeks Scotland heats. We spoke to him ahead of this weeks show about the competition, his own award-winning restaurant and where else is good to eat in Edinburgh.

So, how was Great British Menu? We’re hearing this years is even better than last year.

Yes, I think this year’s series is going to be amazing.

I think this year’s brief suits a lot of the chefs better because we aren’t being squeezed into doing something so far outside our comfort zones. It is back to restaurant food, and every one of the chefs taking part is a restaurant chef. This is a real chance to fly the flag for what we do.

The brief of pushing boundaries and being innovative – it’s what we all do anyway, perhaps some to a lesser extremes than others, but at the end of the day we all push ourselves and we all push our food regardless of style.

You took a lot of ingredients you used in the Great British Menu kitchen with you from Scotland, why was that?

When you devise your menu you devise it with what’s in season when the show goes to air. I know all my suppliers and I know how good they are and the quality of the stuff I can get I really didn’t want to take a chance of getting there and ending up with something I wasn’t 100% happy with. Also, the boys that I’m up against are based in that neck of the woods and I didn’t know what they were going to cook or where they were going to get their ingredients from – so you’ve got to do the best you can do because you believe that they’ll do the same – and if having a great bit of produce is the key, then good!

Your restaurant (Mark Greenaway at No. 12 Picardy Place) has only been open for just over a year, but you’ve already picked up a number of awards. Tell us a bit about your restaurant, what is the style of cooking?

The style of cooking is very modern and produce lead. We use some very old techniques on the same plate as some very new ones. For example, we might do a beef dish of a roasted sirloin, with duck fat confit potatoes, and braised short rib – so you’ve got sous-vide then roasted sirloin which is very modern and then you’ve got the braised beef which is an old classic technique with the duck fat confit potatoes which isn’t very new either – it’s all about how it is brought together.

As for being produce lead, everybody bangs on about food miles and how they only use seasonal produce. At the moment, we have a lot of rhubarb on the menu – that rhubarb comes from Yorkshire. Are we using local produce? I think we are – we use the best of British ingredients, so if the asparagus that comes from down south is better than the one that comes from Fife up here in Scotland – I’ll buy it from down south. To me that is still local – it’s not like flying it in from Peru in the middle of December – that is something I would not do.

The great thing about Edinburgh and the restaurant that we’ve opened is that we’re not in competition with anyone here and nobody in Edinburgh is in competition with us. All of the – for want of a better expression – fine dining restaurants, are so different in style. Tom Kitchin for example has his from nature to plate approach – very rustic, it’s great flavours but very simple cooking, whereas Martin Wishart is the total opposite end of the spectrum to Tom – very French, very classical, very precise. Which is great because it means there is so much choice for the customer.

So where else is good to eat in Edinburgh?

There are loads. There are six Michelin starred restaurants in Edinburgh in total – that’s the biggest concentration outside London. There is an new restaurant opened up at a place called Stockbridge called Purslane – it’s very small, just 20 covers, but Paul Gunning the head chef there is doing great food. There’s Wedgewood on the Royal Mile, Paul Wedgewood’s place – again great food. Then you’ve got Tom Kitchin’s place, Martin Wishart, Plumed Horse, Number 1 at The Balmoral, Angels with Bagpipes – there are loads. There are some great Asian restaurants too. You’d be very hard pushed to go out in Edinburgh and have a bad meal to be honest, you really would.

We look at restaurants around the country and the same seems to be true in a lot of places; do you think the restaurant industry as a whole is improving in Scotland and the rest of the UK?

I think because of the financial climate that we’re in the people that aren’t quite up to the grade fade away, they don’t last. The ones that dodge the bills – or the general cowboys, just like with that kind of plumber or electrician, those people don’t get the business because the work that is out there is so slack as it is.

In the restaurant scene if you aren’t giving your customers something that they want to go back for, they won’t come back and it won’t last – so everyone is just trying that little bit harder to get the food offering right, the pricing right and the service right for the level that they are pitching themselves at. I’m the first one to go out for a £5 burger, because I know exactly what I’m going to get… but if I go out for the same burger and somebody tries to charge me £12.50, I’ll be asking myself “why – that is a £5 burger”. It is the same at any level, people come in with an expectation of what they should be getting when they walk through the door and if you don’t deliver that then you are dealing with a complaint, or the very British thing to do is not to complain and not come back. So I think everyone is just getting a little bit smarter about their business now, which is great for the industry.

The Great British Menu is on BBC2 at 19:30 each weekday starting on Monday 9th April. Details of the Scottish heat are here.

The Restaurant Inspector begins tonight at 10pm on Channel 5. Following on from the success of The Hotel inspector, the series will follow a similar format with Fernando Peire, who is Director at world famous London restaurant The Ivy – a restaurant renowned for it’s good service – visiting six ailing restaurants and aiming to turn around their fortunes.

For more details and to view the trailer, click the ‘continue reading’ link below.

Continue reading “The Restaurant Inspector (Series 1)” …

Popular BBC Two show The Great British Menu returns on April 4th for it’s sixth series. This year, taking inspiration from The Big Lunch, the chefs will be asked to cook sharing platters to encourage people to come together and eat. Each week, regular judges Matthew Fort, Oliver Peyton and Prue Leith will be joined by a previous winner to help judge the heat.

Great British Menu Judges - Oliver Peyton, Prue Leith and Matthew Fort

Continue reading “The Great British Menu 2011″ …