Chef Magazine 47 November/ December

Chef Talk to the chef The Big Softie of Seafood:

Nathan Outlaw An interview with Alan Ducasse Stormy clouds gather over

French Cuisine

living legend

Fergus

Henderson Sept/Oct 2016

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The photography is a work of art and the recipes are as diverse as the chefs featured.

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Packed with Illustrations which includes Recipes for Individual Chocolates, Deconstructed Desserts, Entremets, Small Sweets, Petite Gateaux and Chocolate Bars

Contents The inside Track

Ben Tish............................................................. 09 Industry Topic

Alan Ducasse on French Cuisine........ 10 Talk to the Chef

Nathan Outlaw............................................... 16 Living Legend

Fergus Henderson........................................ 22 Area Profile

St Tropez............................................................ 30 Our Man in Thailand................................... 36

Ingredients

Lamb Pig Trotters Christmas Creations Strawberry Puree......................................... 38

The White Table • • • •

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Featured Plate Botanique - part of the Chef Plates Collection of Tableware

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Ganache

Food Cultures................................................. 48

Meet The supplier........................................ 51

Who’s Opening Where............................... 54

Good food guide results and comment................................................. 60

Front of House

South African Wine..................................... 63 Tried and Tested

Artis Tabelware............................................. 66

Cooking the Books...................................... 68

News.................................................................... 70

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Recipes Nathan Outlaw

Crispy Oyster.................................................. 20 Fergus Henderson

Ox Tongue and Bread................................ 28 Arnold Donckele

Yellow Tail and spider Crab................... 34 Ben Tish

Lamb Loin......................................................... 39 Fergus Henderson

Game Bacon and Trotter Pie.................. 41 Chris and Jeff Galvin

Roast Grouse.................................................. 43 Yann Brys

Ginger Choc..................................................... 45 Classic Fine Foods

Cream Puff with Lemon Aroma........... 47 Simon Jenkins

Red Fruit and Spice.................................... 50

Chef Journal Network House 28 Ballmoore Celtic Court Buckingam MK 18 1RQ Tel: 44 20 7097 1396 For general enquiries regarding Chef Journal email: peter@chefpublishing.com Accounts and Administration Lesya Grebenyuk

Photography Peter Marshall Geoff Dann Kuma Masahi Steve Lee Francesco Tonelli Designer, art editor Zoran Simonovski movedesign@graphic-designer.com

sales email: peter@chefpublishing.com Contributors Namai Bishop Simon Jenkins Andy Lynes Josh Sims Jean Smullen Regis Crepy Andrew Scott

publisher Peter Marshall

www.chefpublishing.com

Michelin-starred Restaurants A l i st o f t h e U K and Ir e land ’ s M i c h e l i n - starr e d r e staurants

 London

Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester Jocelyn Herland www.alainducassedorchester.com Gordon Ramsay Clare Smyth www.gordonramsay.com/ royalhospitalroad

England The Waterside Inn Alain Roux & Fabrice Uhryn www.waterside-inn.co.uk

 London

Darroze at The Connaught Hélène Darroze www.the-connaught.co.uk/ mayfair-restaurants-bars Dinner by Heston Blumenthal Ashley Palmer-Watts www.dinnerbyheston.com Greenhouse Arnaud Bignon www. greenhouserestaurant. co.uk Hibiscus Claude Bosi www.hibiscusrestaurant. co.uk Le Gavroche Michel Roux Jr www.le-gavroche.co.uk Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley Marcus Wareing www.marcus-wareing.com Sketch (The Lecture Room & Library) Pierre Gagnaire www.sketch.uk.com The Araki Mitsuhiro Araki the-araki.com The Ledbury Brett Graham www.theledbury.com The Square Phil Howard www.squarerestaurant. com The Umu Yoshinori Ishii umurestaurant.com

England Midsummer House Daniel Clifford www.midsummerhouse. co.uk Gidleigh Park Michael Caines www. gidleigh.com Le Champignon Sauvage David Everitt-Matthias www. lechampignonsauvage. co.uk Whatley Manor Martin Burge www.whatleymanor.com Le Manoir aux Quat’Sainsons Gary Jones www.manoir.com Restaurant Nathan Outlaw Nathan Outlaw www.nathan-outlaw.com/ nathan-outlaw-restaurant Restaurant Sat Bains Sat Bains www.restaurantsatbains. com The Hand and Flowers Tom Kerridge www.thehandandflowers. co.uk

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L’enclume Simon Rogan www.lenclume.co.uk Michael Wignall at The Latymer Michael Wignall www.pennyhillpark.co.uk/ EXCLUSIVE_HOTELS/ eating_and_drinking/ the_latymer.aspx

england Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles Andrew Fairlie www.gleneagles.com

eire Patrick Guilbaud Guillaume Lebrun www.restaurantpatrick guilbaud.ie



London

Alyn Williams at The Westbury Alyn Williams www.alynwilliams.co.uk Amaya Karunesh Khanna www.amaya.biz Ametsa with Arzak Instruction at Halkin Hotel Elena Arzak www.comohotels.com Angler at South Place Hotel Tony Fleming www.southplacehotel.com Arbutus Anthony Demetre www.arbutusrestaurant. co.uk Barrafina Nieves Barragán Mohacho www.barafina.co.uk Benares Atul Kochhar www.benaresrestaurant. com Bonhams Tom Kemble bonhams.com Brasserie Chavot Eric Chavot www.brasseriechavot.com Chez Bruce Bruce Poole www.chezbruce.co.uk City Social Jason Atherton www.citysociallondon.com Club Gascon Pascal Aussignac www.clubgascon.com Dabbous Ollie Dabbous www.dabbous.co.uk Fera at Claridge’s Simon Rogan www.feraatclaridges.co.uk Galvin at Windows André Garrett www.galvinatwindows. com Galvin La Chapelle Jeff Galvin www.galvinrestaurants. com Gymkhana Karam Sethi www.hakkasan.com Hakkasan Tong Chee Hwee www.hakkasan.com Hakkasan Hanway Place Tong Chee Hwee www.hakkasan.com Hedone Mikael Jonsson www.hedonerestaurant. com HKK Tong Chee Hwee www.hkklondon.com

Kai Alex Chow www.kaimayfair.co.uk Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs James Knappett www.kitchentablelondon. co.uk Kitchen W8 Mark Kempson www.kitchenw8.com L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon Oliver Limousin www.joelrobuchon.co.uk/ L’Atelier L’autre Pied Andy McFadden www.lautrepied.co.uk La Trompete Anthony Boyd www.latrompette.co.uk Launceston Place Timothy Allen www.launcestonplacerestaurant.co.uk Lima Robert Ortiz www.limalondon.com Locanda Locatelli Giorgio Locatelli www.locandalocatelli.com Lyle’s James Lowe lyleslondon.com Murano Angela Hartnett www.muranolondon.com Outlaw’s at the Capital Nathan Outlaw www.capitalhotel.co.uk Petrus Sean Burbidge www.gordonramsay.com/ petrus Pied a Terre Marcus Eaves www.pied-a-terre.co.uk Pollen Street Social Jason Atherton www.pollenstreetsocial. com Portland Merlin Labron-Johnson portlandrestaurant.co.uk Quilon Sriram Aylur www.quilon.co.uk Seven Place Park at St James’ Hotel and Club William Drabble www.stjameshotelandclub. com Social Eating House Jason Atherton www.socialeatinghouse. com St John Chris Gillard www.stjohnrestaurant.com St John Hotel Tom Harris 020 3301 8020 www.stjohnrestaurant.com Story Tom Sellers www.restaurantstory.co.uk Tamarind Alfred Prasad www.tamarindrestaurant. com Texture Agnar Sverrisson www.texture-restaurant. co.uk The Dining Room at the Goring Shay Cooper thegoring.com The Clove Club Isaac McHale www.thecloveclub.com The Harwood Arms Barry Fitzgerald www.harwoodarms.com The River Café Rose Gray www.rivercafe.co.uk Tom Aikens Restaurant Tom Aikens www.tomaikens.co.uk

Trishna Karam Sethi www.trishnalondon.com Umu Yoshinori Ishii www.umurestaurant.com W1 Restaurant Paul Welburn www.guoman.com Wild Honey Anthony Demetre www.wildhoneyrestaurant. co.uk Yauatcha Cheong Wah Soon www.yauatcha.com

England 5 North Street Marcus Ashenford www.5northstreet restaurant.co.uk Adam’s Adam Stokes www.adamsrestaurant. co.uk Adam Simmonds at Danesfield House Adam Simmonds www.danesfieldhouse. co.uk Alimentum Mark Poynton www. restaurantalimentum.co.uk Apicius Tim Johnson www.restaurant-apicius. co.uk Bath Priory Sam Moody www.thebathpriory.co.uk Box Tree Simon Gueller www.theboxtree.co.uk Butchers Arms James Winter www.thebutchersarms.net Bybrook Richard Davies www.manorhouse.co.uk Casamia Jonray & Peter Sanchez www.casamiarestaurant. co.uk Chapter One Andrew Mcleish www.chaptersrestaurants. com Curlew Andrew Scott www.thecurlewrestaurant. co.uk Drakes Steve Drake www.drakesrestaurant. co.uk Driftwood Chris Eden www.driftwoodhotel.co.uk Fischer’s at Baslow Hall Rupert Rowley www.fischers-baslowhall. co.uk Fraiche Mark Wilkinson www.restaurantfraiche. com Hambleton Hall Aaron Patterson www.hambletonhall.com Hinds Head Kevin Love www.hindsheadbray.com Holbeck Ghyll David McLaughlin www.holbeckghyll.com JSW Jake Saul Watkins www.jswrestaurant.com L’Ortolan Nick Chappell www.lortolan.com Lords of the Manor Richard Picard-Edwards www.lordsofthemanor.com Manor House Hotel & Golf Club Richard Davies www.manorhouse.co.uk

Morston Norfolk Galton Blackiston www.morstonhall.com Mr Underhill’s at Dinham Weir Chris Bradley www.mr-underhills.co.uk Northcote Nigel Haworth www.northcote.com Ockenden Manor Stephen Crane www.hshotels.co.uk/ ockenden-manor-hoteland-spa/dining Old Vicarage Tessa Bramley www.theoldvicarage.co.uk Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen Nathan Outlaw www.outlaws.co.uk Paris House Phil Fanning www.parishouse.co.uk Paul Ainsworth at Number 6 Paul Ainsworth www.number6inpadstow. co.uk Pony & Trap Josh Eggleton www.theponyandtrap. co.uk Purnell’s Glynn Purnell www.purnellsrestaurant. com Raby Hunt www.rabyhuntrestaurant. co.uk Red Lion Freehouse Guy Manning www.redlionfreehouse. com Restaurant Tristan Tristan Mason www.restauranttristan. co.uk Room in the Elephant Simon Hulstone www.elephantrestaurant. co.uk Sienna Russell Brown www.siennarestaurant. co.uk Simon Radley at the Chester Grosvenor Simon Radley www.chestergrosvenor. com/simon-radleyrestaurant Simpsons Luke Tipping www.simpsonsrestaurant. co.uk Sir Charles Napier Chris Godfrey www.sircharlesnapier. co.uk Thackeray’s Richard Phillips www.thackeraysrestaurant.co.uk The Black Rat Winchester, Hampshire Jamie Stapleton-Burns 01962 844465 www.theblackrat.co.uk The Black Swan Adam Jackson www.blackswanoldstead. co.uk The Cross at Kenilworth Adam Bennett www.thecrosskenilworth. co.uk The Glasshouse Daniel Mertl www. glasshouserestaurant.co.uk The Harrow at Little Bedwyn Roger Jones www.theharrowat littlebedwyn.com The Mason Arms Mark Dodson www.masonsarmsdevon. co.uk

The Neptune Kevin Mangeolles www.theneptune.co.uk The Nut Tree Mike North www.nuttreeinn.co.uk The Park (at Lucknam Park Hotel) Hywel Jones www.lucknampark.co.uk The Pass Matt Gillan www.southlodgehotel. co.uk/EXCLUSIVE.../ the_pass The Pipe & Glass Inn James Mackenzie www.pipeandglass.co.uk The Royal Oak Dom Chapman www. theroyaloakpaleystreet. com The Samling Ian Swainson www.thesamlinghotel. co.uk The Sportsman Stephen Harris www.thesports manseasalter.co.uk The Stagg Inn Steve Reynolds www.thestagg.co.uk The Star Inn Andrew Pern www.thestaratharome. co.uk The Terrace (at the Montagu Arms) Matthew Tomkinson www.montaguarmshotel. co.uk/terrace_restaurant The Treby Arms Anton Piotrowski www.thetrebyarms.co.uk The West House Graham Garrett www.thewesthouse restaurant.co.uk The Yorke Arms Frances Atkins www.yorke-arms.co.uk Turners Richard Turner www.turnersrestaurant birmingham.co.uk Wilks James Wilkins www.wilksrestaurant.co.uk

JERSEY Ocean House at Atlantic Mark Jordan www.theatlantichotel.com Bohemia (at The Club Hotel & Spa) Steve Smith www.bohemiajersey.com Ormer by Shaun Rankin www.ormerjersey.com Tassili at the Grand Hotel Richard Allen www.grandjersey.com/ grand-jersey/tassili

SCOTLAND 21212 Paul Kitching www.21212restaurant.co.uk Boath House Charlie Lockley www.boath-house.com Braidwoods Nicola Braidwood www.braidwoods.co.uk Castle Terrace Dominic Jack www. castleterracerestaurant. com Glenapp Castle Adam Stokes www.glenappcastle.com Isle of Eriska Ross Stovold www.eriska-hotel.co.uk

Inverlochy Castle Philip Carnegie www. inverlochycastlehotel.com Kinlock Lodge Marcello Tully www.kinloch-lodge.co.uk Knockinaam Lodge Tony Pierce www.knockinaamlodge. com Martin Wishart Martin Wishart www.martin-wishart.co.uk restaurant-martin-wishart/ home Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond Graeme Cheevers www.martin-wishart.co.uk Number One (at The Balmoral Hotel) Jeff Bland www.thebalmoralhotel. com/dining Sangster’s Bruce Sangster www.sangsters.co.uk The Albannach Colin Craig & Lesley Crosfield www.thealbannach.co.uk The Kitchin Tom Kitchin www.thekitchin.com The Peat Inn Geoffrey Smeddle www.thepeatinn.co.uk The Three Chimneys Michael Smith www.threechimneys.co.uk

WALES Crown at Whitebrook Chris Harrod www.crownatwhitebrook. co.uk The Checkers Stéphane Borie www. thecheckersmontgomery. co.uk The Walnut Tree Shaun Hill www.thewalnuttreeinn. com Tyddyn Llan Bryan Webb www.tyddynllan.co.uk Ynyshir Hall Gareth Ward www.ynyshirhall.co.uk

EIRE Aniar Enda McEvoy www.aniarrestaurant.ie Bon Appetit Oliver Dunne www.bonappetit.ie Campagne Garrett Byrne www.campagne.ie Chapter One Ross Lewis www. chapteronerestaurant.com House (at Cliff House Hotel) Martijn Kajuiter www.thecliffhousehotel. com L’Ecrivain Derry Clarke www.lecrivain.com Lady Helen at Mount Juliet Hotel Cormac Rowe www.mountjuliet.ie Thornton’s (at The Fitzwilliam Hotel) Kevin Thornton www.fitzwilliamhotel.com

The Inside Track By Ben Tish Chef and Restauranteur

S

o it’s that time again- the run up to opening a new restaurant and all the excitement, hopes, dreams and sleepless nights that process brings. Its been nearly three years since our last opening and how things have changed on the London restaurant scene in that time- not least that there are more central London restaurants opening weekly now than ever before and this brings with it its challenges.

Don’t get me wrong- it’s a incredibly exciting being part of this scene and at the sharp edge to boot. Honing the concept with the senior teams is an incredibly enjoyable and creative process. We (myself, co-founder Simon Mullins and the rest of the senior team) strive to keep our company ethos, style and standards whilst always trying to push forwards, adding fresh, new twists to keep us out there and hopefully exciting. London’s restaurant scene has become a notoriously tough cookie and you have to work very hard to make things a success.

There’s so many restaurants out there now and this us effects in different ways- primarily, potential customers have more choice (which in turn makes them naturally fickle) if they have a poor or even mediocre experience then they are likely to be more inclined to try a different restaurant than come back to yours and theres a different new restaurants every night of the week if they so wish.

Quality and consistency of food and service are paramount but not everything- you hope your concept will have that “x factor” that will appeal not only to the masses but the spoilt, over indulged and somewhat jaded foodies and food journalists.

It’s a highly pressurized time, what with getting to grips with new logistics, staffing (that’s another story) and operations but the pressure of appealing- everyone is a critic nowadays and can be as vocal as they like via social media. Now im a fan of quality food and restaurant journalism and reviewing- it can really put your restaurant on the map, get the punters in and point out where there’s room for improvement but amateur, unknowledgeable reporting is just frustrating at best. A review from Fay Maschler is always highly (and nervously) anticipated but she’s the doyen of the London restaurant critic scene and is seriously well respected.

Others will follows some more influential than others a mix of broad sheet journos and the new breed of online reviews and bloggers indeed, these are the future and the quality’s improving ED Smith – aka Rocket & Squash is the leading light with, knowledgeable and creative writing, wit and he even sketches the establishment!

Recruitment in the restaurant industry has been notoriously tough for as along as i can remember- it’s the nature of the beast I’m afraid but with a huge influx of new restaurants its tougher than ever. An increase in restaurants means a dilution of the candidate pot- you have to compete with larger restaurant companies with

deeper pockets and there’s a tendency for the new generation to look for a shorter working week. Fair enough, although my old school training and working 80 hours for not much more pounds has naturally made me slightly resentful of this new breed of chef who wants a normal work life balance- my problem to get over though.

Nowadays we are constantly looking at our HR systems and how we can attract staff above and beyond the salary package- intelligent HR. its is something that’s essential and the teams need to feel they are going to be valued. A structured training programme whilst at work along with an extra circular programe for chefs who want to learn more in depth skills we simply don’t have the time to do on a working day are just two things we offer ( oh how times have changed) along with supplier trips, in house competitions and a monthly eating our “research” budget for each restaurants team.

One way we are attacking the recruitment problem head on is with the old fashioned apprenticeship scheme- its naturally a slow burner but I believe it will not only start to strengthen our own restaurant teams but the industry in general. Creating chefs from an early age with no experience is brilliant- they have nothing to compare to so there fore are happy to learn your methods, style and ethos and apply- no arguing the toss and they’ll do things exactly as you want them. I believe there’s an amount of discipline and integrity missing from the industry at the moment and apprenticeships are a step in the right direction to repair that. I take my hat off to Mark Hix and Kevin Graton for creating the Hix Academyessentially a feeder system for their group and its something I’m working towards.

So there are modern challenges to opening up a restaurant but there are overriding positives and the pure excitement is infectious. Me and my team including head chef Jamie Thickett have been working and tweaking our menus and style over the past months, choosing beautifully designed plates and glasses, exciting new kitchen kit and seeing it all come together is a great feeling and the creative juices are over flowing. Rants aside this city (and country) are at the top of their game in the restaurant world and its exciting times- I wonder what the this will look like when we open our next? One thing is for sure ill have my academy rocking and rolling by then if it’s the last thing I do.

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I n d u str y T o p ic by Josh Sims

Stormy clouds gather over French Cuisine An interview with Alan Ducasse the figurehead for Gout de France

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There has been too much emphasis in French cuisine on big names and big restaurants,” says Alain Ducasse, arguably French cuisine’s biggest name and proprietor of its biggest restaurants. “French cooking has to change its focus and look more to smaller food operations where the food is still very very good.

T

his outlook is why Ducasse is now the figurehead for Gout de France, a French government initiative aimed at changing the perception of French cuisine - one Ducasse, with 21 Michelin stars under his whites - has done much to create.

An annual event, launched last year and recently enjoying its second, much larger scale outing, it brings together 1800 chefs globally to cook French dishes - approved

by Ducasse - with less fat, sugar and salt, and with greater environmental awareness.

Some 5% of proceeds go to local health/ environmental charities. The event was inspired by Auguste Escoffier, who in 1912 arranged for the same French menu to be served on the same day in several cities around the world.

“The problem now,” says Ducasse, “is that French cuisine is always regarded as

being haute cuisine - too complicated, sophisticated, expensive and a bit arrogant.

It’s got caught up in that assessment of food over recent years as being this very serious topic, with every country trying to proclaim that its food is the best. Even Australia. It’s important again for France to say we’re here, but also to get the message across that actually our cuisine is diverse and accessible.

It’s not all about the big names. Little bistros offer amazing food...”

Indeed, this is not the only action to rescue French food’s reputation. In 2014 France’s Union of Hotel Industry Professionals revealed that 85 percent of the country’s 150,000 restaurants serve vacuum-packed and frozen foods without telling customers (and why would you?), prompting the government to issue a saucepan logo -

yet another layer of bureaucracy - that designated a restaurant’s menu was all ‘fair maison’. Perhaps such moves fall on deaf ears to a culture that now sees queues around the block when Burger King opens, as was witnessed in Paris the year before.

France is now McDonald’s most profitable market outside of the US. Critics - at least those outside France responded to the new quality assurance move less than positively. The real problem with French food, they noted, was not that the French populace seemed less than interested - raw milk cheese are all but extinct in France, wine consumption has plummeted, thousands of farms and small restaurants have closed - but that it’s boring. It has yet to embrace the notion that it is no longer at the centre of the 11

culinary universe, a problem exacerbated by so many other nations’ readiness to mythologise it. As Ducasse notes, “Paris has yet to find that dynamism of new ideas that you find in London.”

Certainly the chef is sanguine about the pace of change of perception - he doesn’t expect it to happen overnight, so rooted is French cuisine in ideas of pomp and often overbearing richness. He speaks of French cooking - indeed, any considering itself haute - being up against what he calls “instant cuisine”, the proliferation in street foods which, he says, offer a different if comparable experience to some of the best restaurants in the world. Travel, and a willingness to get off the beaten track, has led him to some of the best meals he’s ever had - and not a Michelin star in sight. Michelin, indeed - that great French institution - might also well need to expand its horizons if it’s going to stay relevant.

“Michelin is something of a mystery,” Ducasse says - an easy thing to say perhaps when Michelin nevertheless crowns everything the chef touches, but a telling comment for the frontman of a national cuisine looking to realign its public image. “No one really knows how the organisation works. A lot of emphasis is placed on it. But does it matter in, say, Brazil, or the UK? The goal of any chef should be to fill his restaurant, not to spend his time thinking about awards. That said, I think Michelin is making good choices lately - more unconventional choices the likes of Tom Kerridge. The fact is that it’s Michelin that makes a certain type of person go to a restaurant. But all that amazing street food coming through - that’s all a long way from Michelin. Michelin isn’t that exploratory yet.”

But he is at least putting his money where his finely tuned taste buds are. Among his more recent projects have been the revamping of menus at two of his Parisian restaurants so that - sacre bleu! - neither offers meat, and in one case not fish either. Even the maitre d’ came begging for Ducasse to at least have one veal dish. But non! It took, he says, a lot of work to explain the shift in thinking to his regulars, quite aside from the work required to squeeze stronger tastes out of vegetables after junking thousands of recipes.

“The question for me was whether it was possible - can you have fine dining without meat? And especially as a French chef, and 12

Alain Ducasse and Romain Meder, Chef of Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée Photographed by Pierre Monetta.

13

a French chef like me,” Ducasse laughs.

“Meat with sauce is such a huge part of the French repertoire. Doing without is not an easy idea to push in this country but I want to show that we can take ideas from other cuisines that don’t have the same emphasis on meat - Morocco, India, across the Middle East - to make fantastic dishes. It’s an important step. We need to have more sustainable, more humanistic vision of cuisine. We have a billion people underfed and a billion people clearly overfed. We have to change things and find protein in sources other than animal.”

Ducasse is no stranger to taking on challenges. Contrary perhaps to Gout de France’s attempted celebration of the broadest spectrum of French dining - and it’s proof that it can do healthy, progressive cooking - Ducasse’s latest venture is as French and as haute as it gets. Later this year he will open the first full-on restaurant situated within the Palace of Versailles. He will be offering something akin to a tasting menu, although actually based on historic menus unearthed among court documents dating to the early 1700s. The restaurant will even use some of the original china from the court of Louis and Marie Antoinette.

“To be able to open a restaurant there is of 14

Industr y T o p i c b y J o s h S i m s

course a real honour,” he says. “We want to create the feel of being invited to the king’s table, so we’ve spent a lot of time with archivists to devise a contemporary version of that historic approach. Very few people have had access to the documents - the menus, the protocols. From what we can gather they liked multiple dishes, though it was really more about spectacle than anything else. Actually not a lot was eaten.”

The venture is reminiscent of other very French Ducasse moves. He opened a restaurant on the Eiffel Tower. He designed the menu for Concorde, back in its operational days, having to take into account the effect on flavour of flying at such a high altitude. Then - sans a French astronaut - he went higher still and devised dishes for the crew of the International Space Station. “That was a real challenge,” he says, “since you want to be able to give astronauts extreme pleasure through their food because it aids them psychologically. It’s about giving them a taste of home, a Sunday lunch. The good thing is that, that far up, you can’t see the competition.”

The competition is - even in Ducasse’s esteemed position - something he thinks

about a lot, Michelin stars or not. In today’s restaurant world, he argues - and perhaps more than ever in today’s French restaurant world - it’s imperative that you stand out. “The bar has been raised, which is good, because everyone has to be that much better,” he says, stressing that Gout de France is as much a recognition that French haute cuisine’s emphasis on national traditions has to move on as it is simply about raising awareness. But there has been a cultural shift - in information, in dining - that is changing the game. For one, Ducasse argues - again somewhat to Michelin’s detriment - more and more people are internet and social media savvy: they decide where to eat out based on real people’s real experiences, on buzz, not on awards or critics’ opinion.

“And the fact is that the public isn’t loyal anymore - because at the end of the day anyone who can eat out isn’t really hungry,” Ducasse adds. “They’re looking at what’s around and picking and choosing. Whether you have hundreds of covers in your restaurant or just a few, you have to offer an entire vision for food - from the choice of linen on the table upwards. There’s no chance at all to compromise on the detail.

Competition is fierce. It really is.”

T a l k t o th e c h e f :

by Namai Bishop

The Big Softie of Seafood:

Nathan Outlaw

16

Namai Bishops meets one of Britain's most well-liked chefs and discovers his passion for Seafood and his latest project that is taking him from Cornish Coast to the Arabian Sea.

A

sk many chefs about Nathan Outlaw and they will tend to agree: an all round good guy, dedicated to his work and unpretentious. This seafaring chef, is as down-toearth as it gets. Descriptions of him invariably refer to a big guy, with a big heart and talent to match - Jamie Oliver in his forward to Nathan's latest book Nathan Outlaw's Everyday Seafood describes him as just that “a massive softie with a big heart and one of the nicest guys in the restaurant industry.” And given his adept skill with seafood, no doubt that big heart of his pumps seawater through his veins!

Those skills caught on from an early age – his father was a chef and Nathan got his initiation into the kitchen at an early age, buttering toast for breakfast service at eight and by 14, working in the industrial kitchens in the evenings and weekends. The hard graft continued as he trained at Thanet Catering College in Broadstairs before moving to London to work under Peter Kromberg, and then Gary Rhodes and Eric Chavot. But the call of the ocean proved strong for Nathan and it wasn't long before he moved to the Cornish coast where he discovered his true passion for seafood.

Today, he is remarkably, the Chef-Owner of the only specialised seafood restaurant in the UK to hold any Michelin stars - his eponymous restaurant in Port Isaac, Cornwall boasts not one but two at that. Factor in his other successful outposts (the Mariner's Rock, a public house and his Michelin-starred London restaurant at The Capital hotel) along with his latest high-profile international venture, and temper that with genuine humbleness – now that is what makes Nathan so exceptional.

Bearing such notable accolades would define some chefs, but not Nathan. So his response to my question, asking him if he sees himself as a Michelin star Chef, comes as no surprise.

“I don't worry about it and I don't ever loose sleep about the Michelin stars because I think that it comes down to what you put in day in and day out. I'm the only one to blame if the standards go down, not anybody else, that's the way I see it and how I've always done it. So with the Michelin thing, yes it's important because it does put the restaurants into categories quite well. I think it's a good guide even though they do come under criticism - probably by those who don't have stars!” he laughs, but continues more seriously: “ it is a good way of marking a benchmark. But at the end of the day it's not something I've ever got out of bed and aimed for”.

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It's that very teamwork that Nathan credits for his success.

apprenticeship, every single member of staff, each of the 7 chefs have come through from it and they stuck with us. Tom [Brown] (Head Chef at Outlaw's at The Capital, London) is a product of that. Pete [Biggs] has been with me for 19 years. We have good fun too!

I'm most proud of the retention we have for staff in all my restaurants, because we create an environment they are proud of and its also fun. And that reflects into the dining room and obviously that makes people much happier to come back again and again because they know that they'll be looked after. Hospitality – that's all it is!”

In just one word Nathan outlaw shows a profound understanding and love of his craft and profession – yet delivers it in a characteristically honest and uncomplicated manner. Just like his cuisine.

Secret to Nathan's Success: Teamwork

A taste of the Cornish seaside to the Arabian sea

“The secret to my business is the people I work with; nurturing talent and nurturing people.”

I met him at a tasting for the launch of his new venture, Outlaws at Al Mahara at Jumeirah's iconic Dubai hotel Burj Al Arab .

He continues “We have two academies in Cornwall that encompass all Hospitality.

Front and back of house - and that's what's exciting. We're into our 5th year now and it does prove that if you spend some time it does make a difference. So in my pub for example, from the head chef right through to the comis they're all gone through the

Nathan is overseeing the entire project, along with famed GM and F&B supremo Anthony McHale (formerly of Mandarin Oriental, responsible for the hugely successful opening of Bar Boulud and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal there). The Chef, along with fellow-Brit Anthony, is at the very helm in taking a taste of the Cornish seaside to the Arabian sea.

I refer to some of his mentors, like fellow fish fanatic Rick Stein with whom Nathan trained, who never achieved the stars. “Rick probably shot himself in the foot on his TV appearance when he said the Michelin guide was terrible! I worked at the Seafood Restaurant in Padstow for two years with Rick and there's no reason why it wouldn't have stars . It's just that it's about consistency – that's what Michelin are after. From what I can gather - and this is totally guessing - the guide is basically about recommending people to go to eat at places and so if you're consistent you've got more chance. If you've got a good team behind you and you put in some safety nets you shouldn't have a problem with that.”

Nathan is certainly keeping this project close to his heart, with his signature style and work ethic dictating the entire tone of the restaurant, so dishes are clean, light, simple but pack a punch on flavour. His philosophy on teamwork will also follow through, from a lighter approach on the floor with less fussy service, to sourcing and right through to the back of house.

Here, he's moving his number 1 chef, Pete Biggs from his post at The Capital hotel in London to take up the role, whilst at the same time closing his restaurant at the St Enodoc Hotel in Rock so that Tom Brown, the chef there could step into Pete's shoes at The Capital.

“So they all shifted over one!” laughs Nathan. Once again, what appears as a simple, whimsical statement from Nathan encapsulates a profoundly relevant point: his team stick with him and he adapts his business to support and nurture the relationships that he has long-harboured closely.

No 'brand' Nathan!

With his protégé Pete already based in Dubai ahead of the scheduled September 24th opening, Nathan has no intention of leaving him out at sea.Unlike many Michelin-starred chefs who see Dubai and international markets as an opportunity to roll out their 'brand', Nathan emphasises “This is not about a Chef going in there and 'endorsing' a restaurant – far from it! I wouldn't do it. I'm not that sort of person. That's why I wanted to go over and see it originally and actually going over 7 or even 8 times a year, which is a lot more than most of the other Chefs go over to their restaurants in Dubai. So for me it's really serious.”

I question Nathan about how he is adapting his honest British classic cuisine to the very different environment of Dubai.

“The philosophy behind my food transcends across the world. The style of my food will not be changing much, just adapting according to the ingredients that will be best available. We're bringing the same standards. I'm always going to cook to my best ability and for me, it's about good ingredients. Yes, the atmosphere and surroundings are different but the appreciation of good food is worldwide, no matter where you are.”

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He continues “At the same time, my food relies heavily on the quality of ingredients. I can do the technical stuff but I don't see the point of mucking about with decent food, decent ingredients. If you've got good ingredients why would you want to blend it up and turn it into something else? It doesn't make sense to me.

And that's just my personal view on food. I think people enjoy eating just well cooked, well sourced, simple food.”

Nathan admits that the main challenge for him will be working with local fishermen, markets and suppliers to develop a sustainable source of seafood – something the Chef is renowned for championing.

What is a Hotel vs Restaurant Chef?

Having worked with several restaurants within hotels, as well as running his own highly successful restaurant, I wanted to find out from Nathan what the difference for him was.

“It's very different. With my two-starred restaurant in Cornwall I can turn the key, turn the lights off and just go home! It's completely mine. At a hotel it's all about relationships. If I'm being honest, the restaurant's easy, but it can be boring.

Having a relationship with a hotel is actually fun! There's lots going on, lots of challenges.

I quite enjoy it!” he beams.

“My first job was at Intercontinental on Hyde Park Corner and from day one Peter [Kromberg] said to me 'Nathan you'll always be a hotel chef. I didn't realise what he meant by that at the time. But now I understand: he didn't mean a hotel chef that does catering, banquets and that but one thats about relationships. What he meant was I'm good with people and that's what I'm suited to.”

That is Nathan, through and through: valuing not the (increasingly commonplace) egotistic obsession of 'his' restaurant done

'his way’, but rather, placing value building relationships and working with, and to support, other people.

He's modest too: “I'd say I'm level-headed, quite calm. I'd say I loose my temper twice a year. I think it's about being organised and keeping it simple in everything you do, not just in food but everything you do. For me it's about nurturing people, being patient I'm very patient.”

“I genuinely enjoy working in this industry and I get out of bed every morning and get on with it. I never planned to have restaurants, I just did this because I love cooking. That's why I cook today.”

His enthusiasm and positivity is echoed in his parting words “You've got to love what you do, right? otherwise don't do it!”. With that pure and honest statement, amiable Nathan, like his flavours, makes it seem all so simple!

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Recipe

by Nathan Outlaw

Crispy Oyster, Cucumber Chutney, Oyster Sauce and Caviar Cucumber Chutney

INGREDIENTS ●● 1 cucumber ●● ½ green chilli, deseeded and chopped ●● 1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped ●● 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped ●● 50ml white wine vinegar ●● 50g caster sugar ●● 1 tsp mustard seeds ●● 1½ tbsp chervil leaves, chopped ●● 1½ tbsp dill leaves, chopped

method Grate the cucumber into a bowl then squeeze it in your hands to remove all the excess water.

Put the cucumber back into a bowl and add the chilli, shallot and garlic. Heat the wine vinegar, sugar and mustard seeds in a small pan to dissolve the sugar, then pour over the cucumber mixture. Allow to cool slightly then add the chopped herbs and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cucumber and Horseradish Sauce ●● 1 cucumber ●● 50g fresh horseradish, peeled and grated ●● 1 shallot, peeled and diced ●● 50ml white wine vinegar ●● 2 tbsp caster sugar ●● 2 egg yolks ●● Juice of ½ lemon ●● 2 oysters, shucked and juices retained ●● 250ml sunflower oil

method Peel the cucumber, cut it in half lengthways, scoop out the seeds then chop the flesh.

Put the horseradish, shallot, wine vinegar, sugar and a pinch of salt into a blender or food processor. Add the cucumber then blitz for 3 minutes. Strain the mixture through a muslin-lined sieve into a bowl, twisting and squeezing the cloth until you can’t extract any more juice. Set aside.

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Put the egg yolks, lemon juice and oysters with their juices and the juices from the oysters used for the crispy oysters into a food processor. Blend for 30 seconds. With the motor running, slowly add the oil until it is all incorporated and you have a thick mayonnaise. Set aside.

through the flour first, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs. Set aside.

Crispy Oyster

To finish

●● ●● ●● ●● ●●

8 oysters, shucked, juices retained Flour to dust 2 eggs, beaten 200g Japanese panko breadcrumbs Oil for deep frying

method Drain the oysters, reserving half the juices.

Put the flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs into three separate bowls. Pass each oyster

Heat the oil in a deep fat fryer or suitable heavy pan to 180C. Lower the oysters carefully into the hot oil and fry for 2 minutes until golden. Remove and drain onto kitchen paper.

●● 4 tsp Baeri Heritage Giaveri caviar ●● Few drops of lemon oil To serve Share cucumber and horseradish sauce between each of four plates. Add a portion of the cucumber chutney in the centre then carefully place 2 crispy oysters on top.

Finally finish with a teaspoon of caviar and a few dots of lemon oil.

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l i v i ng l e g e n d :

by Andy Lynes

Fergus Henderson

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T

here is a cruel irony to chef Fergus Henderson’s particular culinary passion.

When he opened the now world famous St John restaurant, symbolically close to London’s historic Smithfield’s meat market in 1994, he brought ‘nose to tail’ dining to the world, the hugely influential philosophy of using forgotten cuts of meat and especially offal. From the outset, his menus have been littered with internal organs including hearts, kidneys and brains. Then in 1998, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative brain disease. ‘Your arms start flying around everywhere, it rather got in the way of lunch. Being diagnosed wasn’t the best moment of my life but good food and a few glasses of wine always put things into perspective,’ he stoically told the Independent in 2007, a few years after undergoing the experimental deep brain stimulation surgery that has greatly improved his condition.

Henderson has become something of a poster boy for Parkinson’s and recently teamed up with trendy burger chain MeatLiquor to sell brain burgers, an unflinchingly direct nod to the condition made with a slice of calf’s brain, fried in panko breadcrumbs and served with sauce gebriche, home-made mayonnaise and cabbage on a St John bakery potato and onion roll, with proceeds from the £30 snack going to the Parkinson’s UK charity.

Although his medical condition attracts media attention, it’s Henderson’s pioneering approach to food that is his greatest claim to fame. His signature bone marrow with parsley salad starter has been imitated around the globe and his first book Nose to Tail Eating, published in 2004 was recently named the number one cookbook of all time by a panel of chefs and industry insiders voting via the 1000 Cookbooks website.

American broadcaster, author and chef Anthony Bourdain has called him a ‘titan and a personal hero’ (they’ve just filmed a new TV programme together in London) and Henderson’s former employees have gone on to open dozens of restaurants and gastropubs across London in his image including Jonathan Jones at the Anchor and Hope and James Lowe at Lyles. Henderson himself however is no empire builder and runs ‘two and half’ restaurants with business partner Trevor Gulliver: St John, St John Bread and Wine in Spitalfields and St John Maltby (a wine bar that 23

Henderson counts as the ‘half’) and St John bakery both in south London.

difficult project with construction, design and economic issues’.

There was, all too briefly, St John Hotel in Chinatown too, but despite winning a Michelin star and rave reviews (including my own for the Metro where I described my meal as ‘a genuinely uplifting experience’) the hotel went into administration in 2012 after just 19 months of trading. In a message posted on the St John website at the time, Henderson and Gulliver said, ‘Ouch, it was a long and tough road, a

It was a misstep in an otherwise charmed career that has won Henderson both critical acclaim and commercial success and he arrives for our eleven a.m. meeting in the bar at St John exuding bonhomie, dressed in the blue French worker’s coat and round wire framed glasses that have become his trademark. His round, owlish face, peering over his mid-morning glass of Fernet-Branca

wouldn’t look out of place in a Hogwarts classroom and there is a general air of British character actor about him. He speaks much as he writes, in a series of gnomic pronouncements which makes interviewing Henderson as singular an experience as dining in one of his restaurants.

I began at the beginning by asking what had been the inspiration for his nose to tail culinary style? ‘Common sense really. It just seemed sensible to eat the whole animal. It’s always

American broadcaster, author and chef Anthony Bourdain has called him a ‘titan and a personal hero’ (they’ve just filmed a new TV programme together in London) and Henderson’s former employees have gone on to open dozens of restaurants and gastropubs across London in his image including Jonathan Jones at the Anchor and Hope and James Lowe at Lyles. Henderson himself however is no empire builder and runs ‘two and half’ restaurants with business partner Trevor Gulliver: St John, St John Bread and Wine in Spitalfields and St John Maltby (a wine bar that Henderson counts as the ‘half’) and St John bakery both in south London.

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l i v i ng l e g e n d b y A n d y L y n e s

been close to my tummy. Mum came from Lancashire so tripe and trotter featured on the menu of my youth’.

Offal is still something of a hard sell in these much enlightened days where it seems everyone’s Instagram account is crammed with pictures of restaurant dishes and you have to look hard to find anyone that wouldn’t describe themselves as a foodie, but back in the early 90’s St John could hardly have been considered a commercial proposition.

‘People said I was crazy. They still say I’m a bit crazy. So commercial, no. Foolhardy you could say. But offal now cost a lot more. Pigs ear, trotters and pigs head that butchers would have thrown in for free are now quite expensive. It seems very strange, I feel a bit guilty about that’.

Although you can see Henderson’s influence on many menus, few take the nose to tail philosophy as far as St John itself. Where else, I wondered would you find something like rolled pigs spleen with bacon, a dish chalked up on the restaurant’s bar menu the day of our interview.

‘It’s interesting, that’s the one dish that people balk at but it’s actually delicious. City boys ask what’s the scariest thing on the menu, but nothing’s on the menu to scare people, its all there because its good stuff to eat. There’s no fear factor or testosterone blood lust in the kitchen, it’s all quite gentle. Strangely enough, things like calf’s liver which is the biggest filter in the body seem to stay on menus, sweetbreads are the same’.

The Brain Burger made with a slice of Calf,s brain and fried in panko beans created by Fergus for burger Chain MeatLiquor with proceeds going to Parkinsons Charity

Although Parkinson’s has prevented Henderson from cooking professionally he keeps a close eye on his restaurants and has a strong and unusual connection with them. ‘My office is upstairs and at twelve o’clock I head for lunch. After lunch the table’s still humming, strangely the humming hasn’t stopped totally.

It sounds a bit weird but I feel this hum quite strongly. I love it’.

If the menus continue to be a reflection of Henderson’s unique culinary vision (self taught, Henderson has never cooked under another chef. ‘It’s helped me to follow my own strange thoughts’, he says) then his restaurants are tribute to his training as an architect. Minimalist in style with white washed walls, open kitchens, pendant lighting and the only decoration coming from 25

customers coats and jackets hung on rows of simple white pegs. St John Bread and Wine has recently been refurbished for the first time in its 15 years of trading but remains true to Henderson’s vision.

‘It’s really nice, it’s worked really well.

Everyone’s really chuffed and happy and it looks miles better. It’s changed but not much.

The look is simple and we never have music.

Munching is our music’

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The St John group has remained fashionable by eschewing the entire notion of fashionability. By sticking rigidly to its guns, it has transcended trends and become it’s own benchmark, central to the London scene but at the same time apart from it.

I think there’s a smugness in London. All the young things talk about puntarella rather than Savoy cabbage or beans. There’s layers upon layers in restaurants, all being clever and witty.

It’s slightly dangerous as well I think, that thing of being fashionable. But I still look forward to a cabbage conversation’.

‘I London is a bit puffed up. It’s not cheap anywhere to eat. It’s a lot of money to eat out.

But there are things Henderson loves about London too. ‘I love Chinese and Japanese

food and the Canton Arms gastropub is a life saver for us, but Sweetings is my favourite place. I have the same thing to eat every time I go there. Black velvet to start which causes the juices to go in your mouth then scampi chips and peas and bread and butter pudding or buck rarebit to finish’.

When it comes to the future of St John, don’t expect any sudden growth spurts. ‘Small is good’, says Henderson who admits that he’s been

approached about extending the brand abroad.

‘I’ve had strange flirtations with New York, but they’ve remained flirtations of the strange variety’.

And if you’ve been waiting for a follow up to Henderson’s last cookbook Beyond Nose to Tail, published in 2007, then there’s both bad and good news. ‘There won’t be another cookbook, there’s already too many of them, we’re drowning in them. But I am working on a book with illustrations. It’s a weird thing. It’s

already seven years over due but it should be out next year’.

Before the end of the year, Henderson will visit Jerusalem and Australia where he hopes to draw inspiration for future menus, but beyond that he’ll simply be looking forward to his next good lunch.

‘Five year plans never worked for me.

Hopefully I won’t sit still for too long’.

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Recipe

by Fergus Henderson

OX TONGUE & BREAD

To serve 4

INGREDIENTS ●● 16 x 1.5cm cubes of yesterday’s white bread, with the crusts removed ●● A healthy dollop of green sauce (see below) ●● 16 slices of cold boiled salted ox tongue, like little angels’ wings (one tongue will supply this and more) ●● 8 trimmed spring onions ●● 2 bunches of wild rocket, trimmed (this can be replaced by watercress) ●● A bunch of sorrel, picked from the stems ●● 8 young borage leaves, if you can find them ●● Extra Virgin olive oil and lemon juice 28

method Place the bread cubes in your salad bowl with the Green Sauce, so they have a chance to absorb some of it. Then gently toss the rest of the ingredients into the bowl, trying to keep the slices of tongue reasonably intact. If it seems a wee bit dry, loosen with an extra splash of vinaigrette or oil and lemon juice.

GREEN SAUCE Plenty for 6 ●● Half a bunch of curly parsley ●● Half a bunch of flat-leaf parsley ●● Half a bunch of mint ●● A quarter-bunch of dill ●● A small showing of tarragon ●● 1 small tin of anchovy fillets, finely chopped

●●

●●

●● ●●

12 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped A handful of capers, roughly chopped (if extra-fine, keep whole) Extra Virgin olive oil Crushed black pepper

method Chop your herbs finely, but not too finely, and mix with the anchovy, garlic, and capers. Add olive oil to reach a loose, still spoonable, but not runny or oily consistency. Taste and season with black pepper (the anchovies should negate any necessity for salt).

Never use a food processor to make Green Sauce, you will end up with a pulp rather than a textural delight.

C o u ntr y Pr o fi l e :

By Namai Bishop

St Tropez:

the tiny town of movie stars and Michelin stars

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Namai Bishop reports directly from this glamorous town that’s known more for its visiting movie stars than its commendable count of Michelin starred restaurants, offering a distinct blend of Franco and Italian “Riveirastyle” cuisine.

St Tropez has a worldwide reputation for high-octane glamour and extravagance.

Catapulting this once sleepy fishing village into the international spotlight, along with French sex kitten Bridget Bardot’s career no less, was Roger Vadim’s 1950’s “And God Created Woman” - a story of heated passion in a tiny town. It was a prophetic theme, as what is less famous about this diminutive port perhaps is the heat emanating from its grand kitchens.

As well as the international movie stars and glitterati that flock here are world-class Chefs clocking up the Michelin stars.

the hotel and its restaurant are closed for the season, to better source the freshest local produce: from luscious olive oils, Provençal herbs and small-crop vegetables like courgette, aubergine and plump tomatoes.

Home to the French Riviera’s famed 3 Michelin starred restaurant The St Tropez Penninsula stretching just a few kilometres boasts several Michelin star restaurants - as well as the only 3 starred Michelin restaurant (excluding Monaco’s Louis XV) on the French Riviera, La Vague D’or. Headed by stellar Chef Arnaud Donckele, he was the youngest Chef to be awarded 3 Michelin stars in 2013 and ever since, gourmands have been booking months in advance for a taste of his fine Provençal cuisine. This Normandy (Rouen) born chef started work at just 12 in his parents’ delicatessen and by 16 had moved to Paris where “To pay my rent I’d work after classes at catering school.” Clearly resolute to flourish he boldly sent a letter to Michel Guérard hoping to be taken on as a trainee. After just three years at Eugénie-les-Bains, he was offered a full time job, before going on to work with French Doyenne Alain Ducasse.

I sat with the Chef in the sunny sea view terrace of the hotel restaurant - a suitable setting for his vibrant, perfumed and sunkissed cuisine.

Yannick Alléno’s Chic-Delice At Dior des Lices the dishes are as elegant as the couture designs found in-store. The Chef has devised a menu that runs from petit déjeuner to lunch through to early dinner, that’s at once approachable yet sophisticated.

Dishes are given suave lightness of touch by the executive chef who previously earned his stripes by putting Grimaud’s Les Santons on the culinary (and Michelin) map. As refined and concise as a capsule collection and like a perfectly sharp Dior suit, the menu presents only the finest cuts and construction.

Provenance is key here and many of the ingredients on the menu are sourced from the very same international producers that supply Yannick Alléno’s other Michelin starred eateries. Every detail here has been curated with a pretty panache befitting its Parisian heritage, from the bespoke floral china plates to the dainty petals that dress the dishes and reflect its garden backdrop. The setting may be breezy but the service is precise and the quality couture grade right down to the final touch: the D’Choux, exquisite little jewel coloured profiteroles with letters spelling Dior - très chic!

“I don’t do technical cooking” he told me “For me it’s about sculpting the products without deconstructing them. I do a reinterpretation of classical recipes to become contemporary and elegant.”

I ask him what elements of his cooking he attributes to having earned his three Michelin starred chefs “I believe it’s an understanding of the elements that surrounds me and how to extract the quintessence of each product of the region. My dishes are made using nearly all Mediterranean products sourced from local areas. I take great care to respect the local ingredients I work with.” In constant liaison with his suppliers, he spends the winters when

La Voile floats like a sail Another stylish enclave is the exclusive La Reserve Ramatuelle Hotel. A haven of minimalist architecture and immaculate design, everything here reflects a supreme essence of zen. The epitome of clean and serene, the theme runs throughout from sleek lines right through to pure flavours at its restaurant La Voile restaurant, meaning “sail”. Aptly named, it captures a light and breezy elegance of Chef Eric Canino delicate touch with his menu that is at once fine-dining yet healthy and lean. I sit with the Chef, who himself hails from the Var region’s Aix-enProvence, prior to sampling his summer

The restaurant, set in the 5* hotel Residence de la Pinède at very entrance of the town, was recently scooped up by the LVMH conglomerate that owns many of the top retail and hospitality spots here, like the grandiose Dior store that also houses Yannick Alléno’s Dior des Lices restaurant.

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season Tasting Menu that takes its inspiration from nature - an appropriate theme as we look out across the verdant hills and ocean horizon from his airy Michelin-starred dining room. He tells me “My cuisine is to be enjoyed with freedom and ease. We don’t use heavy sauces and fats, only olive oil to impart lightless and fragrance.

Ingredients are kept at room temperature to enhance their flavours. Fruits and vegetables are picked daily, preferably from the kitchen garden, or sourced from small producers along the coast from Marseille to Nice”.

Indeed, one of his menus, the Menu Côté Jardin features only vegetarian dishes, sourced mostly from the locale, like artichoke with herby vinaigrette and a ravioli of courgettes.

It takes a talented chef working with extraordinary diligence and quality ingredients to create this sort of seemingly relaxed light dining. Delicious dishes such as his signature tuna with 10 spices, are satisfying yet fine. The Chef maximises flavours by substituting rich sauces with copious use of citrus fruits and herbs to carry the full freshness and perfumes of the region. One of the landmarks of perfume making is nearby Grasse village after all! Even the speciality cocktails here feature freshly plucked sprigs of fragrant herbs local lavender, lemon balm and verbena.

In Chef Canino’s exacting kitchen, each ingredient is carefully handled and weighed precisely. To ensure its sophisticated clientele also stay weighed, lean and pristine, the hotel even offers “Better-Aging” cuisine as part of its bespoke “Boot Camps” designed to take a holistic approach to well-being and nutrition.

The healthy cuisine runs throughout the hotel and it’s perhaps the only 5* Palace property not to offer room service options of chips, club sandwich or burgers - and as the charming general manager Nicholas Vincent told me “In 10 years we’ve had only 5 complaints about that, so we must be doing something right!”

Pietro Volontè in ship shape Another Michelin starred restaurant is at Villa Belrose, part of the Althoff Collection hotels that also counts London’s St James Hotel & Club as part of its portfolio. This lofty property, perched hilltop gives its privileged diners, sat on its airy terrace, the feel of cruising on a mega-yacht as they gaze upon the azure vista below.

General Manager for over 10 years Robert van Straatan runs a tight ship and new at the helm in the kitchen is Italian chef Pietro Volontè who came aboard just last year. He brings with him skills learned at London’s Locanda Locatelli as well as Restaurant Gordon Ramsay on Royal 32

C o u ntr y Pr o fi l e b y N a m a i B i s h o p

Hospital road. He then went on to Ramsay’s Trianon Palace in Versailles before arriving here on St Tropez’s sunny shores.

according to the demand for freshness, simplicity and lightness, which we achieve blending local and Italian touches.”

St Tropez: a perfect marriage of Italian-Franco flavours At Villa Belrose, Pietro has earned a star in his very first year for is a menu that reflects well the unique quality of the region: at once French, but being close to the Italian boarder, incorporating the nuances of its neighbours flavours and techniques. The Chef’s dishes like the nutty risotto with artichoke or the langoustine ravioli with a light Bouillabaisse sauce demonstrate perfectly this FrancoItalian marriage. He told me “I use as many Italian products as local ones. My parents sell Italian foods and I often use the same suppliers for Italian products like hams, pastrami, and ricotta.”

He adds “I try not to use too may ingredients on the plate. I like to keep flavours fresh. I adapt to my environment. Here on the Côte d’Azur it’s hot so people want lighter foods.

I listen to clients; at Villa Belrose and with the Althoff group it’s all about service and understanding what clients want, so for example with my exclusively Italian tasting menu, that is offered alongside a more varied Tasting menu, we are adapting dishes

Riva-era cuisine Alain Ducasse has trained many of the chefs now working in the region and the Chef’s powerful influence is palpable in St Tropez. Whilst Ducasse brandishes three Michelin stars at his Louis XV restaurant in Monte Carlo, he also brings a sprinkling of his magic to St Tropez’s iconic Byblos Hotel.

This hotel is a veritable institution that still reigns, after more than forty decadent years, as the ultimate pleasure pen (it was after all, the fitting venue for Jagger’s torrid honeymoon!). The epicentre of all the action, the poolside serves as a catwalk for the sashaying who’s-who social scene by day, and by night the spot for Chef Vincent Maillard’s take on tapas with his Byni’z small plates and light bites inspired by mezze, kemia and antipasti. At the hotel, Ducasse’s Rivea restaurant is under the capable hands of his former protégée at Louis XV, Chef Maillard who elegantly blends the fragrant products of the Côte d’Azur with the influence of neighbouring Italian cuisine.

Sun-drenched flavours of the Franco-Italian boarder, from Nice to Italy’s Ligurie right

up to the Piedmont are all combined here in an approachable menu where technical whizzardy is shunned in favour of freshness of ingredients and simplicity of preparation.

Local Catch Similarly pure, the very latest restaurant to have captured a Michelin reference is Chef Frank Louis Broc’s Viviers du Pilon. After working diligently for over 30 years the chef has been awarded for his simplicity of preparation and confidence in allowing the ingredients, that he very carefully sources, to speak for themselves. Chef Broc personally inspects his daily catch, from SaintPierre (John Dory) to Dorade (sea bream), Loup (Mediterranean sea bass) and the appropriately named “Beaux Yeux”, all from his own crew of fisherman that set sail daily for the freshest catch.

The USP here is that all fish served is wild, never farmed. Dishes include an elegantly constructed seafood tower and whole fresh fish cooked in sea salt, all using only the finest local ingredients. As often best, the fish is served on the restaurant’s alfresco beachside terrace, offering spectacular views of the sea by day and stars spotting including of the celebrity variety, by night.

Provençal Products Viviers du Pilon also supplies other exclusive kitchens, including 5* Villa Marie

hotels’ Dolce Vita, winner of three forks in the 2016 Guide Michelin. This year sees Breton chef Pierre Eon (a strong contender on France’s 2016 Top Chef contest) rise up to head the kitchens, preparing food with now more of an emphasis on regional ingredients and preparation, like his take on a traditional ‘Salad Niçoise’ made with lime-marinated cubes of grilled Mediterranean red tuna, served with saffron potatoes and delicate ribbons of market vegetables, drizzled with home pressed olive oil from their Domaine de la Baume property and washed down with a crisp white, again their own produced label from Domaine de Marie. Even the plates are bespoke courtesy of French heritage ceramic brand Jars. Served on a terrace overlooking the lush lavender and majestic pine trees, the flavours on the plate take on an intensified, heady sense of place.

St Tropez Legend: Patrice de Colmont’s Club 55 It all started here: the story goes that what is now a world-famous beach restaurant catering to the worlds most wealthy and glamorous, started off instead catering beachside, simply to the film crew here on location. So whilst the movie was named

“And God Created Woman” it could be said that “Club 55 created St Tropez”!

Legendary, iconic and the very essence of St Tropez’s breezy shabby-chic style, Le Club 55 is an institution. Year after year, Patrice de Colmont welcomes locals, residents, film stars and royalty alike, all with his unwavering charm and humble graciousness. Large dining tables, are decked in trademark cotton blue-print tablecloths, adorned with pastel coloured market flowers, and oversized platters of chargrilled market-fresh sea bass. In pride of place, a veritable cornucopia: the ‘Corbière’ basket filled with fresh vegetables farmed from Colmont’s own Le Domaine du Vallon Des Bouis organic farm that also produces his signature rosé. A champion of the area’s organic production (“bio”) de Colmont is aiming to create the “Villa Medici of eco-agriculture”. No doubt he will triumph, given his credentials and ceaseless creativity that have included launching the successful Niolargue boat race that developed into the internationally renowned Voiles de SaintTropez regatta. At Club 55 beach club, serving an epic 900 covers a day is no small feat, especially when regulars include Bono to Barons and Billionaires - for this man, it’s just another day on the beach!

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Recipe

by Arnaud Donckele

Yellowtail and spider crab marinated with Berlugane mandarins, thyme leaves, raw spring vegetables and herbs

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Serves 8 people Preparation Time: 3 hours Cooking: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS :' Mandarin Sorbet: ●● 1 sheet of gelatine ●● 25g golden (or white) balsamic vinegar ●● 400 ml mandarin juice ●● 20g syrup at 30° ●● 4g honey ●● 60 g olive oil ●● 10g grated fresh ginger ●● 200g juice from locally grown lemons Baking Crab: ●● 2 crabs ●● 1 lime ●● 3 litres of water ●● 3 sticks of lemongrass ●● 10g ground pepper ●● 20g lemon thyme

Yellowtail Sauce ●● 29g Acacia honey ●● 18g ginger ●● 72g lemon juice ●● 58g orange juice ●● 4 zests of mandarins ●● 2 zests of Berlugane mandarins ●● 87g mandarin olive oil ●● 87g olive oil ●● 10g lemon thyme leaves ●● Salt Reduced Mandarin Sauce ●● 3 mandarins ●● 40ml mandarin juice ●● 20ml lemon juice ●● 100ml 30° syrup ●● 2g cornstarch Dressing and Finish ●● 2 mini carrots ●● 5 round radishes ●● 5 fennel leaves ●● Mesclun sprigs

Dough: ●● 150g tempura flour ●● 62g potato starch ●● 160 ml beer ●● 63ml sparkling water ●● 2 carbon dioxide chargers

Marinade for the Sandwich ●● 30ml of lemon olive oil ●● Ground pepper ●● 30ml of Bouteillan oil ●● Lemon juice ●● Sea salt

Vegetable Tellines ●● 10 mini asparagus ●● 4 mini carrots ●● 4 mini purple carrots ●● 1 yellow mini courgette ●● 1 purple mini courgette ●● 1 clove of garlic ●● 1 branch of thyme

method:

Yellowtail Sandwich ●● 1 fillet of Mediterranean yellowtail ●● 40g mayonnaise ●● 8g chopped coriander ●● ½ zest of lime ●● 1 mandarin ●● Lemon thyme

Mandarin Sorbet: Allow the gelatine to soak.

Reduce the golden balsamic vinegar until it becomes like a syrup.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix together, then empty the contents into an icecream maker. Blend.

Baked Crab: Mix the ingredients into a clear soup and cook the crabs. Leave to simmer for 15 minutes.

Leave to cool, then peel and pull apart.

Dough: Mix together all the ingredients and place in a canister with two cartridges of carbon dioxide gas.

Vegetable Tellines: Wash and peel the mini vegetables into neat rows.

Shape the yellow and green courgettes into little balls with the help of a scoop.

Cook all vegetables in boiling salt water with garlic and thyme.

Once cooked, place the vegetables in ice cold water, then set aside.

Yellowtail Sandwich Cut the yellowtail into 3mm wide slices, and then cut into three cm squares.

Mix with the crab shell, mayonnaise, chopped coriander and lime zest and juice.

Place the crab sandwich between two slices of kingfish. Add the grated mandarin and a sheet of lemon thyme.

Right before serving the sandwiches, soak them in the marinade sauce.

Yellowtail Sauce Warm the honey and add the chiselled ginger, then glaze with the juice and zest of the citrus fruit.

Leave to cool and drizzle the olive oils and finish with a strip of lemon thyme.

Reduced Mandarin Sauce Gather the zests of two mandarins and heat them with a whole mandarin.

Then peel the mandarins and mix together with the 30° syrup, mandarin juice and lemon juice.

Combine with the corn starch and add the lemon juice.

Finish Make vegetable chips out of mini carrots, radish and fennel.

Dress the tellines with all the vegetables.

Make artichoke and mini asparagus heads fritters.

Place five sandwiches in the centre of the plate.

On the side add the vegetable tellines, decorate with little scoops of mandarin sorbet, mesclun sprigs and vegetable tops.

Place some drops of mandarin sauce and add the fritters as a final touch with a dash of mandarin oil.

Serve the vinaigrette on the side.

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Our M an i n T h a i l a n d

Antony Scholtmeyer

The Chef Shortage in Thailand A world wide problem but Loyalty is the key

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Population in Thailand Population over

68,000,000

Central Bangkok

8,500,000

Bangkok and metropolitan areas

14,000,000

T

he jobless rate in Thailand is very low, currently at about 1.4%. Late in 2015 it was as low as 0.65%. So by looking at these numbers you could probably realize there are more jobs than there are people available. As an employer this would make competition for bodies quite competitive. The hotel and tourism industry is a huge part of Thailand’s income and for many people seems like an attractive industry to be in until you start working. We live our life with the rich, famous and wealthy and get paid a pittance of what they are worth. It’s glamorous on the outside.

As more and more hotels and restaurants open they have to attract new employees which 90% would come from other hotels. They offer higher salaries for the opening phase and of course higher positions to what the cook or chef have already.

Also the cooks and chefs sometimes tell little white lies in their CV’s when applying for new and higher positions. All of this squeeze of course lessens the talent pool available. A friend of mine is a judge for culinary competitions and he recently told me how alarmed he is at the drop on the overall skill level to what it was five years ago. Finding staff is actually not that difficult. Finding the right staff is.

When new hotels open you generally find that the good cooks and chefs don’t move much as they are happy in their positions, challenged and work well with their bosses. Their skill set is established, they know their jobs and what the expectations are and have good lives. They also have a clearer career path ahead of them and have been promoted regularly over the years. It’s the guys who are on the outer who tend to move more often and stay in their position for shorter periods of time looking for higher rolls and also tend to fudge their CV’s. It’s a very common thing and you have to work out ways to see who is honest and who is not.

When I interview chefs from Demi Chef de Partie up I request a food tasting. I tell them I only want traditional recipes, no fusion, no molecular just classics. I do this because I believe you can really get a good understanding on how well they have been trained, skill level and knowledge. It’s important because Demi Chef is the first stage of leadership in the kitchen where they are passing on knowledge to the younger commis and apprentices.

So in the near future over the next 2 to 3 years there are many new and glamorous five star properties opening including Park Hyatt, Waldorf Astoria, Four Seasons, Capella, Rosewood, Edition etc that will very much stretch the slim talent pool we already have and we need to react now to this. It’s easier said than done as most people are always on the lookout for the next opportunity. If we take care of our staff, train them well, challenge them in the right way and show the right leadership, develop and let them grow we will have a better chance.

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Ingredient Lamb

Diners love the taste of Lamb.

So, why isn’t it on your menu?

L

amb is one of the country’s best loved foods but only 15% of menus in licensed premises feature Lamb. We tried to find out why this is and whether businesses were missing out.

There’s no doubting the fact that lamb is perceived as expensive. Many mid-range restaurants and major chains often shy away from lamb as they feel their customers won’t pay a premium price for it and therefore they will struggle to achieve their target profit %.

However, we know that consumers are willing to pay a little more for lamb because they associate it with a sense of treat or special occasion when eating out.

To compound the issue, because it is a higher value fridge item, waste is potentially a greater issue and restaurants don’t want to take that risk. Forward thinking caterers nevertheless reap the benefits of being creative with specials, up-scaling their menu offer and spend per head. Customers like it too!!

Lamb is particularly versatile, and restaurants can avoid the ‘menu orphan’ scenario by producing different menu options from the same cut. Lamb takes very well to different spices and flavours and one cut, treated in a variety of ways can offer interesting dishes from around the world.

A second issue is one of habit. It’s always the same cuts that appear - cutlets, racks, shanks and rumps. The demand for these drives the price up for these cuts with butchers further inflating those prices to cover the cost of the

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rest of the carcase. There is so much more that can be produced from lamb with a little more skill and effort and real value to be gained. For example, a trimmed shoulder cut offers exceptional perceived value, great plate coverage and lends itself to a wide variety of dishes – a true world flavour that diners love. There are also many less popular, and therefore cheaper cuts that, combined with a little imagination, can be used to create a variety of innovative lamb dishes. Interestingly, look at the street food operators and how many lamb dishes are on their menus, of all styles and all served fast to order. It is all about cut specification and mise en place. Be adventurous!

The 2015 ‘Focus on Foodservice’ report confirms that exotic world flavours continue to dominate the UK food scene and we know that there is no better meat than lamb for being able to stand up to the diverse tastes from around the globe. The same report suggests recipes for adding more of these international styles of cuisine to your menu such as 24hr marinated chilli and cumin lamb steak from Brazil, pulled lamb taco with salsa borracha from Mexico or smoked lamb with fennel from Scandinavia – just add spice!

Lastly, UK seasonality can provide challenges.

Most chain menus are produced twice a year and unfortunately lamb does not, by nature, match those menu cycles. For example, if a spring/summer menu starts April/May, it will be new season lamb – a premium priced

product. However, if the menu covers July – October, the main UK lamb season, prices are far more competitive. Love Lamb Week (1st – 7th September) is the perfect opportunity to promote local lamb on your menu.

Customers love to learn about the provenance of ingredients and your principles behind sourcing English produce so take advantage when home-grown lamb is at its best!

By the middle of November/December there is still plenty of lamb around, but it needs careful selection and maturation. January – March is older lamb and Hoggett before the next year’s new season lamb comes in. The quality can be variable and top prices are paid for the best which is in short supply. With fixed price contracts to cover menu cycles, the prices are averaged out, which means prices are inflated.

The good news is that Quality Standard English lamb is available all year, with the first lambs coming from the South West and the season gradually working up North, with their lambs being born later in the year.

So there really is no excuse for not having lamb available to caterers whenever they want it if sourced properly. Buy seasonally, matching your dishes to the unique styles and flavours of lamb as it goes through its season. The older the lamb the slower the cooking, perfect for winter warming dishes. Use the specials board/menu and don’t be afraid to premiumise the offer. Use provenance messages to support this then bank the cash!!

Recipe

by Ben Tish

Lamb loin, celeriac puree’ crispy potatoes and salsa verde For the puree: ●● 1 celeriac ●● 500ml milk ●● 4 gloves of garlic ●● 20g butter Peel the celeriac and dice into cubes, cover with the milk, add the garlic and cook on a low heat.

When the celeriac is soft, drain from the milk and blitz in a blender and add the milk and butter until the puree is smooth.

For the Salsa verde : ●● 1 bunch mint ●● 1 bunch basil ●● 50g parsley ●● 50g spinach ●● 40g capers ●● 250ml pommace oil ●● moscatel vinegar Blitz the herbs in a thermomix with the oil and capers. Season with salt and the moscatel vinegar For the crispy potatoes: ●● 2 ratte potatoes ●● 100 ml Clarification butter Slice potatoes very fine on the mandolin, and immerse the potatoes in the melted butter.

Then place between two sheets of foil or baking paper and bake in the oven at 140 degrees for 10 mins and leave to dry In the hot area.

For the lamb: Marinate the lamb with garlic, thyme and olive oil.

Pan fry until nice and gold, finish in the oven for about 5 min and leave to rest for another 3/4 minutes.

Serve medium rare.

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Ingredient: Trotter Gear

T

rotter Gear is so entrenched in the culinary lexicon of St. John that there is an entire chapter devoted to it in Fergus Henderson’s iconic Complete Nose to Tail. But what is it? When St. John initially released it for home use some ten years ago, the packet read merely “UNCTUOUS POTENTIAL”, in true minimal style. This description, though possibly too oblique for the home cook, truly sums up this wonder product. It does exactly what it says on the tin.

Potential indeed: Fergus explains in his own inimitable style that “Trotter Gear soothes meat through the traumatic heating experience, creating a nurturing force field in which it can tenderise and flourish. It is a wobbly magic potion”.

Endlessly versatile, it is an intense ingredient and the base of many of St. John’s most popular and enduring dishes. Some of these bring Trotter proudly to the forefront: Snail, Trotter, Sausage & Chickpeas for example, or Pheasant & Trotter Pie. Other dishes use its lip-sticking qualities as an incomparably enriching backnote: Beef & Pickled Walnut Stew, and any number of the braises for which St. John is well known.

Trotter Gear contains pieces of giving trotter captured in a deep jelly, rich with madeira. The trotters are first blanched then simmered in chicken stock with aromatic vegetables, peppercorns, herbs and wine. The recipe used for the retail product is exactly the same as the one made weekly by the chefs in St. John. As Fergus writes in his book, “This unctuous, giving gastronomic tool is all chefs’ friend, finding untold uses in the kitchen”.

Paul Bocuse is quoted as comparing the de-fleshing of a pig’s trotter to removing a kid glove from a lady’s hand. Any other chef who has tried this knows that this is defiantly not the case: it is a labour-intensive process, fraught with the difficulty of removing all the tiny bones, and one that many kitchens do not have the time or labour to cope with.

The reason that this much-loved product sadly disappeared from the shelves first time around was exactly this; the company initially chosen to produce this product did not have the skill or capacity to deal with the fiddly exercise at volume. Now St. John are able to provide Trotter Gear once more, due to a partnership with TrueFoods. The expertise and experience of this respected commercial kitchen means that this invaluable staple can now be sold for domestic or restaurant use. Many people who would wish to include the unique richness of Trotter Gear into their own menu, but do not have the practical pacity to produce it in-house, are now able to access its versatile, nurturing charms.

You can just sense that unctuous potential!

Trotter Gear is available for sale from

www.chefpublishing.com 40

Recipe

by Fergus Henderson

CHICKEN, BACON & TROTTER PIE

INGREDIENTS FILLING ●● 1 pouch of Trotter Gear ●● 450g smoked lardons ●● 1.5kg bone-in chicken thighs ●● 12 shallots, peeled ●● A knob of butter for frying ●● A couple of bay leaves ●● A sprig of thyme ●● Salt & Pepper

PASTRY ●● ●● ●● ●● ●●

200g self-raising flour 100g suet a healthy pinch of sea salt 1 egg yolk, beaten 150g cold water

method Get a frying pan hot, add the knob of butter.

Season the chicken thighs, brown them in the pan then remove them to a deep oven dish or roasting tray. Now brown the lardons and shallots, add the thyme and the bay leaves and move them to join the chicken.

Gently heat the Trotter Gear in the same frying pan and when it becomes liquid, pour over the chicken in the roasting tray. Cover with tin foil and place in a hot oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for another 30 minutes. Remove, check the seasoning and allow to cool. When cool, remove the bones from the chicken.

To make the pastry, mix together all the ingredients except the egg yolk, then add cold water cautiously, a tablespoon at a time, to achieve a firm dough. Do not over knead!

Allow this to rest in the fridge for at least two hours before use. Remove and roll out the dough to around 1cm thick. Place your chicken mixture in a pie dish, cover with pastry, paint with egg yolk and bake in a medium to hot oven for 40 minutes. When the pastry is golden and the filling bubbling, it is ready to serve. Very good with sprouts.

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I ngr e d i e nt : G r o u s e

The red grouse (Lagopus lagopus Scoticus) comes from the heather moorlands of Yorkshire and is a completely wild bird unique to Britain. It can be considered as the finest game bird in the world from a taste and shooting perspective. Its distinctive features are its reddish-brown plumage, its plump shape and white eyelids with a bright pinkishred comb. Its flesh is dark in colour and offers a rich flavour and delicate taste.

The diet of the British Red grouse is about 95% heather, providing them with their unique flavour.

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The amazing red Grouse from the Moorlands of Yorkshire

iving exclusively on the heather moorlands of the UK, each bird can be traced back to the very Estate where it fledged and matured. Grouse shooting only takes place if there are enough birds on the moors to ensure a viable future population and only the surplus is harvested by shooting. The population is declining, because of the loss of heather moorland and diseases. The heather moorlands on which the Red Grouse lives are expensive to maintain and large areas have been lost to cheaper land use, making heather moorland now very rare. Management of the habitat involves gamekeepers controlling the number of predators that would otherwise feast on the vulnerable ground-nesting birds.

Gamekeepers also carry out careful rotational burning of the heather to encourage fresh heather shoots that make the majority of the grouse diet.

Game is a great alternative to the usual beef, pork, lamb and chicken. It is a seasonal, wild and free range product. Low in fat and cholesterol and offering a food source of iron, potassium, vitamins and omega 3 oil, it is the perfect healthy dish to add to your seasonal menu.

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Recipe

by Chris and Jeff Galvin Galvin Restaurants

Roast Grouse with Game chips, watercress and bread sauce

INGREDIENTS

method

For the game chips 1 large Desiree potato or similar floury potato, vegetable oil, for deep-frying sea salt and freshly ground white pepper

For the game chips, cut the potato into a cylinder shape about 3cm wide. Using a mandolin, cut the potato cylinder into waferthin slices. Rinse the potato slices in water, then drain and pat dry. Deep-fry in a pan of hot vegetable oil at 170°C until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper, then season with salt. Set aside.

To make the bread sauce, cut the onion half in and very finely chop one piece of the onion and press the clove into the other piece. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, add the chopped onion and sweat until soft.

Pour in the milk, add the studded onion and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the bread cubes and cook over a very low heat for a further 20 minutes. Remove the studded onion and discard, then add the cream to the bread sauce and bring back to the boil. Season with salt and pepper and the nutmeg. Remove

For the bread sauce ●● 1/2 onion ●● 1 clove ●● 10g unsalted butter ●● 225ml milk ●● 25g white bread, crusts removed, cut into ●● cubes ●● 25ml double cream ●● a small pinch of freshly grated nutmeg For the grouse ●● 1 tablespoon vegetable oil ●● 2 oven-ready young grouse ●● 25g unsalted butter ●● 50g watercress, trimmed, to garnish

from the heat, cover the pan with cling film and keep warm.

To cook the grouse, heat the vegetable oil in an ovenproof frying pan until very hot, then add the grouse and seal on all sides until golden brown. Add the butter, then rest each bird on one leg. Transfer the pan to an oven preheated to 230°C/ Gas Mark 8 and roast the grouse for 4 minutes. Baste, then turn the birds on to the other leg and roast for a further 4 minutes. Baste again, then turn each bird on to its back and roast for a further 5 minutes.

Remove from the oven and leave to rest in a warm place for 10–12 minutes.

To serve, reheat the grouse in the hot oven for 2 minutes, then remove the legs and breast from the birds and place neatly on the serving plates. Garnish each serving with a small bunch of watercress and the game chips.

Serve the bread sauce separately.

Bon Appétit!

This ingredient and recipe is bought to you by Classic Fine Foods who bring you the very best from around the world. We work hard at sourcing great value, innovative and artisan products, building and maintaining our strong relationships with producers we are proud to call our partners Please don’t hesitate to contact us for more information!

Telephone: 0207 627 9666 1 sales@classicfinefoods.co.uk 1 www.classicfinefoods.co.uk 43

PCB CREATION

Christmassy pastry decorations

PCB

Creation has released its Autumn – Winter 2016 Collection and it is full of exciting products to help your Christmas creations to stand out from the crowd!

Their new Collection “Who’s afraid of the BigBadChef? And other tales…” brings you many new ideas and encourage you to be different. Boldness and chivalry, fantasy and magic, magical powers and the desire to excel, this what chefs have in common with the fairy tale characters that cradled and captivated our childhood and inspired our adult lives.

The new Collection includes a large collection of ready to use decorations. This year, don’t go for traditional dark chocolate decoration and dare to be different with new products: - blonde chocolate decorations. It is a caramelised white chocolate, delicious and creamy, combining the subtlety of salted butter caramel with a totally innovative and differentiating visual effect.

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- fruit tattoos and leathers with three exciting flavours: virgin mojito, red berries and mango passion. You will love the flexibility and softness of those products that will follow curves and angles, covering any surface like a second skin.

- Extra white decoration or Blanc de Blanc. It gives elegance and extra bright colours, allowing glowing shades and a perfect result.

The collection includes also new Christmassy designs of crumpled transfer and transfer sheets, as well as new moulds for entremets and for yule logs. And, don’t miss the new printing or fondant icing!

Most of those new items can be personalised so don’t forget the bespoke options you have for Christmas. It is perfect to enhance your brand or establishment or to have your creations matching the theme of your event.

Recipe

b y Ya n n B r y s

Ginger Choc, Meilleur Ouvrier de France Makes 3 Entremets Chocolaty sweet short crust pastry ●● 125 g Butter ●● 90 g Icing sugar ●● 40 g Whole eggs ●● 180 g All purpose flour ●● 25 g Ground almonds ●● 25 g Cocoa powder Knead the butter with the icing sugar.

Add the eggs, ground almonds, flour and cocoa powder.

Leave to rest at 4°C then roll out to a thickness of 2 mm.

Use a chablon to cut your base shape and bake between two non-stick baking sheets at 165°C for 10-12 min.

Transfer immediately to a cooling rack.

Sesame and cocoa bean nougatine ●● 53 g Cream ●● 70 g Butter ●● 77 g Glucose ●● 44 gCastor sugar 1 ●● 2.6 g Pectin NH 325 ●● 53 g Ground cocoa beans ●● 26 g White sesame seeds ●● 80 g Chopped almonds ●● 0.5 g Table salt ●● ½ Vanilla pod Heat the cream, butter, glucose, salt and vanilla to 60 °C. Mix the sugar and pectin and add to the cream. Bring to the boil. Pour this over the almonds, sesame seeds and ground cocoa beans. Spread between 2 non-stick baking sheets and leave to cool. Cut 3 cm Φ circles of the nougatine and place in 4 cm Φ silicone pans. Bake at 175 °C for around 7 minutes.

Flourless chocolate biscuit ●● 190 g Egg yolks ●● 110 g Caster sugar (1) ●● 110 g Couverture chocolate (64% cocoa) ●● 30 g Cocoa paste ●● 295 g Egg whites ●● 110 g Castor sugar (2) Melt together the chocolate and cocoa paste.

Blanch the egg yolks with the sugar (1).

Whip the egg whites with the sugar (2) until firm.

Combine the two preparations and then fold in 1/3 of the chocolate.

Incorporate the remaining chocolate and spread onto a non-stick baking sheet.

Bake at 180°C for around 20 minutes and then cut out 3.5cm Φ circles.

Illanka chocolate mousse ●● 150 g Whole milk ●● 50 g Egg yolks ●● 30 g Castor sugar ●● 160 g Illanka couverture chocolate ●● 8 g Cocoa paste ●● 230 g Whipped cream

Blackcurrant and raspberry compote ●● 375 g Blackcurrant pulp ●● 187 g Raspberry pulp ●● 90 g Castor sugar ●● 10 g Pectin NH 325 ●● 3 g Powdered fish gelatin ●● 18 g Water

Blanch the egg yolks with the sugar. Heat the milk, add the egg yolks and heat to 85 °C. Pour this over the chocolate and mix thoroughly.

Cool to 30°C before folding in the whipped cream.

Soak the gelatin in the water. .

Mix the sugar with the pectin NH. Heat the fruit pulps to 40°C, and then add the sugar and pectin.

Bring to the boil, add the soaked gelatin and then set aside at 4°C. Pipe 4 g of the mixture per insert onto the chocolate biscuit.

Intense Chocolate Cream ●● 500 g Cream ●● 70 g Egg yolks ●● 30 g Castor sugar ●● 4 g Powdered gelatin ●● 24 g Water ●● 220 g Illanka couverture chocolate Blanch the egg yolks with the sugar. Heat the cream, add the egg yolks and heat to 85 °C. Pour this over the soaked gelatin and the chocolate.

Mix thoroughly then leave to cool. Use 11g of the mixture to prepare circular inserts and freeze. Set aside the remaining mixture at 4°C to use when finishing the entremet.

Insert Assembly Prepare the insert using a layer of the sesame and cocoa bean and a layer of the flourless chocolate biscuit covered with the blackcurrant and raspberry compote completed to 90g with the intense chocolate cream.

Entremet assembly In your mold add a base layer of the chocolaty sweet short crust pastry. Add 80 g of the Illanka chocolate mousse and top with the insert. Add another 60g of the Illanka chocolate mousse and glaze with 12g of a classic dark chocolate glaze.

Ginger & vanilla cream ●● 100 g Cream ●● 25 g Ginger purée ●● 1/2 Vanilla pod ●● 25 g Egg yolks ●● 25 g Castor sugar ●● 4 g Powdered fish gelatin ●● 24 g Water ●● 230 g Whipped cream Heat the cream with the vanilla pod and leave to infuse.

Blanch the egg yolks with the sugar and add the ginger purée.

Add the cream, return to the pan and heat to 85°C. Cool to 26°C before folding in the whipped cream.

Transfer to 4 cm Φ half-sphere silicone molds.

Finishing touches Coat the Ginger and vanilla cream half spheres with PCB creation Red spray (ref. 004696) and place each on a chocolate disc. Use these and the intense chocolate cream to decorate the entremet.

Finish with chocolate snowflakes (PCB creations ref.000255) and a chocolate Christmas plaque (PCB creations ref.025060 in French or ref.025073 in English).

This ingredient and recipe is bought to you by Classic Fine Foods who bring you the very best from around the world. We work hard at sourcing great value, innovative and artisan products, building and maintaining our strong relationships with producers we are proud to call our partners Please don’t hesitate to contact us for more information!

Telephone: 0207 627 9666 1 sales@classicfinefoods.co.uk 1 www.classicfinefoods.co.uk

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Ingredient: strawberry

Strawberry Puree

C

apfruit Strawberry puree is the result of a blending of several varieties: Senga and Camarossa where the first brings an intense red colour to the blend and the other one brings a pure touch of strawberry flavour. The blending of fruit varieties is one of the specialities which Capfruit is recognized for. The strawberries are hand-picked only when at full maturity, stemmed in order to avoid any contamination with other flavours, washed and finally frozen. The puree is sweetened with 10% by weight of granulated sugar and is unpasteurized in order to retain the fresh flavour of the raw strawberries, the intense red color as well as a thicker texture.

The recipe opposite “Iced strawberry cream puff with lemon aroma” reveals the amazing flavour of Capfruit Strawberry puree

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Recipe

by Luc Debove Meilleur Ouvrier de France

cream puff with Lemon aroma CHOUX PASTRY:

INGREDIENTS 125 g milk 125 g water 5 g salt 5 g sugar 100 g butter 200 g flour 250 to 300 g whole eggs

●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●●

Photogtaph courtesy of Martin Chiffers

Total weight: 860 g

m ethod 1.

Bring to boil the milk, water, salt, sugar and butter.

2. Off the heat add the flour and return to the heat, stirring until the water evaporates.

3. Place in a mixer with a flat beater at a low speed to release the steam.

4. Gradually incorporate the eggs until you get an even consistency.

5. Spoon into a piping bag connected to a No. 10 piping socket. Set aside for the assembly.

STRAWBERRY CONFECTIONER’S CUSTARD:

5.

INGREDIENTS

6.

When the mixture is cold, smooth and delicately mix with the whipped cream and lemon zest.

Spoon into a piping bag and fill the choux.

VANILLA SABLAGE CRYSTALS: ●● 1 kg strawberry puree ●● 200 g sugar ●● 120 g custard powder or corn starch ●● 200 g egg yolks ●● 1 l whipped cream ●● Zest of 1 lemon Total weight: 2,520 g

INGREDIENTS ●● 100 g butter ●● 125 g brown sugar ●● 125 g flour ●● 5 g house vanilla sugar Total weight: 355 g

STRAWBERRY JELLY: ●● 300 g strawberry puree ●● 30 g sugar ●● 5 g agar-agar Total weight: 335 g

m ethod m ethod

m ethod 1.

2.

3.

1.

Combine all the ingredients with a flat beater, without overworking the pastry.

Roll out between two sheets of 1 mmthick paper.

Keep in the fridge.

1.

2.

Heat up the strawberry puree.

Beat the egg yolks, sugar and custard powder.

3. Combine the two mixtures and bring to the boil.

4. Roll out on cling film and refrigerate.

Bring the strawberry puree to the boil with the sugar and agar-agar.

2. Immediately roll out on cling film at a thickness of half a millimetre.

3. Cut the choux horizontally from side to side across the centre.

4. Set aside for the assembly.

This ingredient and recipe is bought to you by Classic Fine Foods who bring you the very best from around the world. We work hard at sourcing great value, innovative and artisan products, building and maintaining our strong relationships with producers we are proud to call our partners Please don’t hesitate to contact us for more information!

Telephone: 0207 627 9666 1 sales@classicfinefoods.co.uk 1 www.classicfinefoods.co.uk 47

G anach e b y S i m o n J e n k i n s

Food Cultures 48

Through my training and the first years of my career there was a huge focus on following in the footsteps of the French style of cookery, with a lighter touch to bring it up to modern day, being trained in this way like most chefs that were put through cookery school or college in the UK was the norm and if you did not know your basics you were pretty much uneducated in the food world.

T

hrough my training and the first years of my career there was a huge focus on following in the footsteps of the French style of cookery, with a lighter touch to bring it up to modern day. Being trained in this way, like most chefs that were put through cookery school or college in the UK, it was the norm, and if you did not know your basics you were pretty much uneducated in the food world.

For sometime now the whole French style of cuisine has been giving way to a more worldly touch of cookery, with a more influenced, open minded approach to creating dishes for the ever demanding, discerning diner, mixing elegance, creativity, flair and simplicity, which is packed full of flavour and at the same time bringing a sense of emotion and connectivity to the guest.

As the French style of cookery was the main influence there was not much in the way of other dominating food cultures with the same respect, naturally certain ingredients/ products have always played a part over the years such as spices from across the tropical regions of the globe such as India, Sri Lanka, Turkey etc. and ingredients from Italy like pastas and their derivatives were also a big influence. But slowly in time we have become more accustomed with a greater diversity of ingredients, introducing new techniques to excite and wow the diners.

Possibly the last 10 years or so there has been a rapid influence and culture to introduce more types of ingredients with interesting and fantastic flavours and textures from around the world, from different types of savoury items like meats, fish, vegetable to spices which bring their own preparation technics to help build the chef’s repertoire . These ingredients are being sourced and prepped and put on a plate in fine dine to high street restaurants. This all produces some clever expertly delivered dishes which makes the UK one of the most exciting places to dine.

The Chef’s natural sense of experimentation and development and the intrigue of sourcing

new flavours and ingredients and using them to evolve into something wow and unique is ever increasing and becoming the way forward in a chef’s culinary arsenal.

Along with world travel and the intrigue of chefs wanting to work abroad and learn their trade working with exceptional and creative chefs this has extended the knowledge and demand for the exotic and this combined with the skills and knowledge of top chefs passing down their knowledge and training their up and coming chefs only enriches what is already in place today.

To coin the phrase “the world is becoming smaller” is very true when it comes to sourcing products. Nowadays since we can and have the opportunity to take produce from theoretically anywhere we wish, and with different parts of the world growing amazing ingredients which are unique to their region.

There is so much pressure on creating that ultimate dish with the best ingredient which can be found, and people will always pay high price for something truly exceptional.

The beauty of cooking, however you look at it is driven by passion. It is not a 9-5 mundane job, it is a full on, all day, creative role where alongside the day to day execution of the business of serving your guests there’s also the fun side which in most establishments plays a large role in their culinary evolution and evolvement. As well as introducing and creating new ideas and flavours that we have been exposed to through travel, or other restaurants or even through a shop window, this passion is what inspires the Chef to create a master piece on a plate or a unique presentation to show off the beauty of the product .

London and the UK is a melting pot of so many different types of restaurants and food offerings from all over the world, it gives a great insight into what is out there to be discovered, and with the abundant use of ingredients this shows how open minded the consumer has become through exposure

from the weird to the whacky which has now become the norm.

These creations have through innovation been bought to life by Chefs, this is a fantastic opportunity to capture different creations, and understand ways to approach the execution of cooking something pioneering.

Another culture hurdle we face which has not always been around but is now in demand more than ever is the demand on allergen awareness.

This is becoming such an important area that it cannot be over looked now.

Several places which I have consulted with recently now put extra emphasise on dishes which will give dietary restricted diners the ability to order straight from any menu, from gluten, diary or even egg free desserts.

These revised dishes will get built into the main dessert menu and are as good and as strong as any other dish featured and whether your client has a special dietary requirement or not the menu should appear streamline and seamless, without separation from any of the dishes..

Super foods have also been bought to the forefront - fact or fiction or whether you believe in them or not they have been stated that they can be a resourceful and healthy way to absorb certain vitamins, or reduce certain ailments, and play a vital part in keeping us healthy in the hustle and bustle of our everyday life.

Some of my favourite ingredients I have been able to source and obtain are ones which are unique and individual. For me working closely with a supplier and building a strong relationship opens doors and gets you, if you’re lucky enough to be first in line, to try new products coming on the market.

It makes it really exciting to know you could be the first experimenting and testing with something that has literally come straight off the tree or out of the ground and into your kitchen!

Never be afraid of a new ingredient !

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Recipe

by Simon Jenkins

RED FRUIT AND SPICE 4 portions 2 days in the fridge RASPBERRY PATE DE FRUIT ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●●

120g Boiron raspberry puree 38g Water ½no. Seeds vanilla pod 12g Caster sugar 33/4g Pectin jaune 85g Caster sugar 28g Glucose syrup

1. Place the puree, water, and the vanilla into a suitable saucepan, and bring to the boil.

2. Whisk the sugar / pectin mix into the puree and reboil boil for one minute.

3. Add the large amount of sugar and glucose whisk until smooth, and cook to 103°c.

4. Remove from the heat, pour onto a tray to cool.

5. Blend until smooth in a thermo mix.

6. Use as required.

SUMMER PUDDING RAVIOLLI ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●●

50g raspberry pate de fruit 33g Fresh raspberries 33g Fresh strawberries 33g Fresh blueberries 33g Fresh blackberries 15g Fresh blackcurrants 1/8 Lime zest micro planed

1. Gently mix all the berries with the zest into the pre cooked pate de fruit until smooth.

2. Fill up a dome mould with 50g of mix, then freeze.

BRIOCHE FOAM ●● ●● ●● ●● ●●

75g Toasted brioche, cut small 188g Whipping cream 188g Whole milk 112g Egg yolks 75g Caster sugar

1. Place the liquids, and the brioche into a sauce pan.

2. Heat until 50-60°c.

3. Remove from the heat and leave to soak for 10 minutes.

4. Thermo until smooth, place back into the pan, and using the sugar and yolks make an angliase cooking up to 87°c, and strain.

5. Cool over an ice bain- marie.

6. Place into the gas gun, and charge twice.

7. Shake well and reserve in the fridge.

VANILLA ICE CREAM

5. Cool quickly and pour into a paco jet container.

6. Store in the freezer at -21°c.

7. Paco as required.

SPICE CRUMBLE ●● ●● ●● ●● ●●

50g Unsalted butter 50g Ground almonds 50g Demerera sugar 50g T55 flour 7g Mixed spice

1. Place all ingredients into a bowl, and make into a loose dough.

2. Remove from th bowl, and rest for 30 minutes.

3. Break into small ish pieces and place onto a silpat.

4. Bake at 170c until golden brown.

5. Remove and cool.

TO GLAZE ●● 250g Strawberry jus ●● 12.5g Veggie gel 1. Heat all ingredients until smooth, then bring to the boil.

2. Pass through a chinois, gently reheat until just under boiling point.

3. Spike frozen fruit dome and dip in one smooth movement.

4. Place on a cling filmed tray and defrost in the fridge slowly.

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●● ●● ●● ●● ●●

500g Whole milk 150g Whipping cream 2 Vanilla pods, split and scrapped 120g Caster sugar 4no. Egg yolks

1. Place the milk, cream and vanilla into a saucepan and boil.

2. Whisk together the yolks and the sugar until smooth.

3. Make an Anglaise using the liquid, and yolk mix.

4. Remove from the heat, strain through a chinois.

SPICE FOAM ●● ●● ●● ●●

200g Carrot juice 20g Rape seed oil 100g Water 4.5g Lecithin powder

1. Place all ingredients into a tall slim container.

2. Using a hand blender mix well,then foam up the mix, take off bubbles and use.

Meet The supplier: Les vergers Boiron

A Family

Business

In the beginnings of Les vergers Boiron, there was a passion for fruit.

The Boiron family, originally from the Ardèche region of France, started a fruit trading company. A few years later, business took off and the Boiron Frères company rapidly developed. It followed the move from Les Halles in Paris to the Rungis market in 1969.

51

P

ierre Boiron, the founder’s son, then launched a major innovation. Dessert and pastry chefs were looking for practical and consistent use of products all year round. He then created a fruit processing activity - heat-treated specifically to each fruit, then deep frozen - which is the best technique, even today, to keep flavour, texture and freshness of the fruit intact. Professionals enthusiastically welcomed these ready-touse fruit puree. To satisfy their needs and set themselves apart from competitors arriving on this new market, Pierre Boiron developed new

52

M e e t T h e suppl i e r : L e s v e r g e r s B o i r o n

fruit references - red fruit, exotic fruit - as well as innovative packaging such as the thermoformed tray or bottle with pourer.

In 2005, Alain Boiron, Pierre’s son, took over at Les vergers Boiron. To build on the family heritage, the quality standards were reinforced, thus obtaining ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and FSCC 22000 (in 2015) certifications.

The Les vergers Boiron Mission To contribute to the success of food professionals, in savoury, sweet and beverage

applications, with a product line constantly tailored to their requirements.

Driven by this mission, we select the best ingredients, in the best localities, worldwide.

Experts assemble these fruits and vegetables, harvested at maturity, using techniques inherited from the champagne sector.

Their know-how guarantees authentic and consistent taste, colour and texture.

For each fruit and vegetable they have developed a specific process to ensure that

the original qualities are respected. These qualities are then protected by deep freezing that allows a long use-by date and thus guarantees professionals availability of our products all year round.

Having perfected the production process we then take care to listen to food professionals’ requirements and assist our distributors and importers worldwide and with15 sales technicians working around the World Les vergers Boiron are able to react to cultural and culinary specifics

In 2010, to extend and establish themselves durably in their environment, Les vergers Boiron grouped together their headquarters and production plant at a new site in Valence, France. This was a key step in the company’s development, representing a property investment of €13 million and giving the possibility of doubling production capacity.

On this 6-hectare site, at the heart of one of the largest orchards in France and right next to road and rail infrastructure, the quality standards of Les vergers Boiron are higher than ever.

100% TASTE Exceptional and authentic flavor, color and texture, as close as possible to fresh fruit and vegetables.

100% NATURAL ORIGIN Colouring-, thickening- and preservativefree. No artifice: the unbelievable subtlety of fruit and vegetables.

100% SURE Products with consistent and organoleptic qualities and guaranteed physico-chemical and microbiologic qualities. Available all year round.

100% CONVENIENT No more washing, peeling, deseeding, blending and loss of matter. Professionals save labour time and control their costs with ready-to-use and simple products.

Packaging is designed to satisfy the requirements of each profession.

The fruit and vegetables are refined, sieved and subjected to specific heat treatment, before being immediately deep frozen to maintain their typical flavour. Packaging into trays, buckets or bottles guarantees optimal food safety.

The whole process is subjected to ultraprecise traceability and strict controls to ensure Les vergers Boiron product users perfect quality and safety.

Innovation The new site has a genuine R&D laboratory.

For the different harvests, the fruit and vegetables are studied, tested and tasted with the aim of providing solutions to professionals that uphold the brand’s quality requirements.

One of the first HEQ sites Already ISO 9001 certified for quality management and ISO 14001 for their environmental management. With this state-of-the-art technology site, they are the first in the sector to have adopted the HEQ (High Environmental Quality) approach for their installations which are strictly regulated.

53

Who’s Opening where

Shaun Rankin

opens at Flemings Mayfair

54

If you’re ever tempted to complain about your commute to work, spare a thought for Shaun Rankin. Based in Jersey where he owns the Michelin-starred Ormer restaurant, Don Street Deli and his own SR Catering company, Rankin also runs the restaurant at the Hay Hill business club in Mayfair and has just launched a second Ormer restaurant in the nearby Fleming’s hotel.

But the acclaimed chef, his shoulder length curly locks and soft northern tones familiar from appearances on the Great British Menu and Saturday Kitchen, has got used to making life difficult for himself. Since leaving Jersey’s landmark Bohemia restaurant in early 2013, where he spent nine years as head chef winning the island’s first star from Michelin and first AA four rosette rating, Rankin has not been dragging his feet.

‘I

t’s been a hard three years, because the projects themselves have been hard.

Ormer was a massive refurbishment, we took every wall, floor and ceiling out.

That was a huge undertaking and I project managed that, so from a chef’s point of view you learn so much through that process,’ says Rankin, looking relaxed and unruffled by the

experience as he sips a coffee in Fleming’s stylish lounge.

Launching Hay Hill in 2015 was the first time Rankin had returned to London to work since his apprentice days at the Ritz and Savoy in the early 90’s. ‘I was 19 when I left and I’m 43 now so it was quite a long time ago. I didn’t have any base here so I

worked out of a coffee shop in Dover Street for the first four months while Hay Hill was a building site, just getting the project going and doing recruitment, so it was challenging. The whole market’s changed, rents have gone through the roof people can’t afford to operate, they’re moving out whereas before they were moving in’.

55

Rankin says he’s not ‘enthusiastic’ about foams and gels and cooks in a more ‘direct’ way, but refutes the notion that he’s a classical cook. ‘We’re not reinventing the wheel anymore are we, it’s been done, but we refine our approach to our cooking. So if we use pasta its the best pasta, if we make a ravioli its the best ravioli. There’s some Asian influences and we lighten things up a bit so it’s not fundamental classic, it’s modern British/European food’.

Consequently, Rankin says that the 85 cover, Art Deco inspired Ormer at Flemings with its dark wood and green leather interior (created by interior designers Tully Filmer as part of a £14million refurbishment of the Georgian property) won’t be a fine dining operation, but one that offers ‘affordable luxury’. ‘It’s going to be relaxed. There’ll be tasting menu of course but a la carte and set lunch menu too and very reasonably priced.

We’re in a competitive market so we need to understand where we are’.

One of the luxuries on offer is the range of Jersey produce on the menu, something that is very close to Rankin’s heart. ‘The produce is amazing. I first worked in Jersey at Longueville Manor when I was 21. I stayed there a year and then went travelling, working abroad to broaden my horizons. When I came back I decided Jersey was for me. I was in my mid-twenties and it all started to click. I became intrigued about ingredients, how they’re grown, the philosophy and the people behind them and their stories.

That really captured my heart in Jersey because I had the ability to talk to the distributor, the grower, the fisherman, the scallop diver, all the people that bring the ingredients to your doorstep, and that’s what I found fascinating’.

Diners can expect to see Ormer classics featuring Jersey products including lobster 56

W h o ’ s Op e n i ng w h e r e

ravioli with crab and lemongrass bisque or linguini with oysters and beluga caviar. ‘Our USP is bringing Jersey to Mayfair which I think is very important. We’ve already done it for Hay Hill and logistically we have very good partners on board, we can get everything here pretty fresh. A lot of good chefs in the UK use south west products, Cornwall and all that kind of stuff. It’s been done but that’s what they rely on, whereas mine’s a little bit different. The shellfish is a lot sweeter and the oysters are definitely different. I have my own forager, he’s worked with me the next part of seven years.

Every chef uses foraged herbs but the beauty of ours is that its visually a better product’.

Rankin’s passion for ingredients was first sparked during his time with the late Charlie Trotter, the legendary Chicagoan chef and restaurateur who introduced the concept of tasting menus to America. ‘Charlie Trotter opened my eyes to excellent produce in a massive way. The restaurant had the ability and power to bring in an amazing array of produce from around the world. You were dealing with the first maitake mushrooms, the first Japanese beef; Alba truffles the size of babies heads coming in the door, pillar box red mullet from the Med all the same size.

And that’s what I base my cooking on, simply the best ingredients and try and respect it and appreciate them’.

Rankin also takes a more modern approach when it comes to the art of restaurateuring.

‘I made a statement when I opened Ormer with the principle of stripping back the tablecloths, stripping back the service a little and offering something to eat on the table while you were having an aperitif and read the menu. I serve two different types of bread, but good bread and homemade butter rather than seven different types of bread and two different types of butter.

You’re not going to be bombarded with canapés and amuse bouche and predessert because I think they’ve gone. I just thought it got too complicated and too fussy. And you could see the whole thing changing, the market changed. People weren’t spending and when you’ve got your own restaurants it’s business, you have to stay in business so that’s why I made those decisions and it worked, people like it’.

With a top team working with him at Flemings including general manager Henrik Muehle (formerly of the five-star St James’s Hotel and Club) and restaurant manager Agnieszka Josko who has joined from the two Michelin-starred The Greenhouse and previously worked for Rankin at Bohemia as a commis waitress a decade ago, Ormer is set to make quite a splash on the London restaurant scene, especially one where chef-led openings have become something of a rarity. So could this be the beginnings of an award winning empire in London?

‘It’s a start!,’ says Rankin with a hearty laugh. ‘We’ll pitch it at a three rosette one star level, that’s where we are and where we’re comfortable being and that’s where we’ll set out our stall to be, in that sort of area. Not over fussy not too complicated just a good product. The important thing is having a successful business but if we do our jobs properly with the service and the food then I’m sure we’ll get our just desserts.

Cha Chaan Teng

The Four Sisters Townhouse

Balans Soho Society, Seven Dials

The local haunts of Hong Kong’s buzzing streets have been transported to London with the arrival of Cha Chaan Teng in Holborn, a reinvention of the hugely popular 1950’s cha chaan teng cafés. Acclaimed TV chef and School of Wok founder Jeremy Pang has been enlisted to take cha chaan teng classics and give them a modern reworking – think bao burgers, macaroni soups and whole crispy sea bream with sha cha sauce.

The Four Sisters Townhouse is reminiscent of a secretive Victorian gentleman’s club. Step off the grey streets and descend into a mysterious hideaway where cares are left at the door and adventures can begin. Inventive, weeklychanging cocktails, beers, spirits, wines and delicious food capture the true essence of ‘Old London Town’ in elegantly dark surroundings

www.thefoursistersbar.co.uk

From brunch to after-dark dining, let your bohemian side out to play with the latest arrival from Balans Soho Society. Located in the old-world of Seven Dials, Balans Soho Society is the place to indulge with an enticing seasonal menu, Porn Star Martinis and a decadent wine list. Café, restaurant, bar, members’ establishment, call it what you will; Balans Soho Society Seven Dials welcomes fellow dreamers, rascals and rogues, offering an escape from the mundane every day.

www.balans.co.uk/restaurant/seven-dials/

Just Opened: Foundry 39

Samarkand

Foundry 39 has officially opened its doors on Edinburgh’s Queensferry Street and is set to become one of the summer’s hottest openings. Expect a heady mix of cocktails mixed and muddled by some of the city’s most creative bartenders, alongside a range of craft beers and a menu of sourdough pizzas and big flavour burgers to match.

Gem of the East, Samarkand, is Charlotte Street’s latest addition offering Uzbek cuisine evocative of the Silk Road for the first time in the capital. Serving traditional dishes with a contemporary touch, diners can enjoy favourites such as Jiz Biz (lamb chops with sautéed potatoes) Fatirnon (a flaky, buttery bread) and Samarkand’s signature Plov - a classic Uzbekistan dish of steamed rice served with lamb, beef and vegetables.

Samarkand are offering 50% off. Reservations are now open and can be made by phone on 0203 871 4969 or via www.samarkand.london though walk-ins will also be accepted.

www.chachaantenguk.co.uk

MK by Muriel’s Kitchen

Always on the move? Dashing to work, running around all day, rushing back home – no time to cook or shop?

Let MK by Muriel’s Kitchen take the strain. Whether it’s a nutritious breakfast, lunch al desko or a comforting takeaway supper, MK by Muriel’s Kitchen on Putney High Street offers the best of British home cooking no matter the time of day. www.murielskitchen.co.uk/mk

www.foundryproject.com

Who’s Opening where Who’s Ope

Who’s Opening where

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ng where Who’s Opening where

Who’s Opening where

58

Eneko at One Aldwych

Carve

The Lost & Found, Leeds

The sunshine flavours of Basque cuisine are perfectly suited to any late-summer feast. Introducing Eneko at One Aldwych; the highly-anticipated informal Basque restaurant from Eneko Atxa. Opening on the 1st of September, with a 50% of food soft launch offer through August, the restaurant will bring Atxa’s three Michelin-starred Azurmendi in Bilbao right into the heart of the London food scene with an informal twist.

Look forward to simple yet exquisite dishes that use the finest ingredients in a relaxed setting.

www.eneko.london

Opening on Tooley Street on the 22nd of August, Carve is bringing our much-loved British carvery into the 21st century. Offering high-protein dishes, from breakfast through to dinner, creative combinations include smoked pork leg with apple slaw, crème fraiche, piquillo peppers and pineapple ketchup; and salmon gravadlax with leeks, fennel, radish, chopped egg, dill and mustard.

Catering to the ever-accelerating pace of London life, Carve utilises a unique tap, grab-and-go ordering system.

One price, one-screen: from pot selection to payment every order is completed in a matter of seconds.

www.carvecity.co.uk

Whisperings of a new, Victorian botanical hideaway opening on the 19th of August are causing a stir in Leeds. Discover The Lost & Found: an avant-garde, allday bar and restaurant, recalling the glamour of bygone eras, where great drinks and good food with old and new friends in the comfort of beautiful surroundings was the order of the day.

The Commission

Brook Green Hotel

Lass O’Richmond in Richmond

Start your world adventures on a high at The Commission, the new bar & restaurant by Drake & Morgan, opening airside at Heathrow Terminal 4 this month. Cruise on through for drinks and dining that offer the best of British produce and seasonal ingredients, from dawn-to-dusk. Whether you’re in need of a coffee to wake you up from auto-pilot, a business breakfast, a refreshing lunch or dinner en famille, The Commission will ensure you jet off satisfied.

www.drakeandmorgan.co.uk

The Brook Green Hotel has freshly refurbished its pub and dining room, adding a charming contemporary edge to the historic building. The menu boasts refined British classics with a modern twist, executed to a high standard and delectable desserts for those with a sweet tooth. Take a trip to the downstairs bar Smith’s to enjoy ice cold Sipsmith gin – perfect for after work get-togethers.

www.brookgreenhotel.co.uk

Situated in the leafy London Borough of Richmond on Thames, The Lass O’Richmond Hill has been newly refurbished to showcase its rustic charm. An idyllic retreat, it’s the perfect destination for al fresco lunches on the terrace, cosy dinners by the fireplaces, Sunday roasts with friends and family, or pick up a picnic for Richmond Park.

www.lassorichmondhill.co.uk

www.the-lostandfound.co.uk

Bluebird

Absurd Bird

Rum Kitchen

This August, Chelsea’s finest bar and restaurant, Bluebird will be getting a glamorous new makeover, ready to reopen in September. With beautiful décor and inviting new menus celebrating the best of British cuisine, the iconic King’s Road establishment will once again be the destination to be spotted in.

Absurd Bird, the American South inspired chicken restaurant, is opening a second site in Soho. The new site is located on Peter Street, opposite Ber-wick Street Market.

The 40-cover, has an open kitchen as well as an intimate basement bar and serves a range of Southern-inspired chicken dishes, using only ethically-sourced, additive and hormone-free chickens.

“Our second London site, while different in many ways from our flagship in Commercial Street still retains its eclectic Southern menu with an interior exuding some old school Southern charm and we are confident it will trade well. Autumn launches planned for Exeter and Bath represent excellent regional opportunities for Absurd Bird, with prime locations in new dining quarters within high footfall shopping centres.’’ Mark Hall, Group Operations Director.

Rum Kitchen, London’s very own slice of the Caribbean, will be opening its doors to Brix-ton. The third site will be situated at No. 437 Coldharbour Lane, dishing up a modern ap-proach to classic Island cooking with a hefty cocktail and rare rum selection to boot, including the exclusively bottled RK x 25-Year-Old Plantation Rum from Trinidad.

The ground level restaurant will seat 110 covers inside and a small outside terrace area for 20 covers and a large counter bar, perfect for working your way through their extensive rum selection! The restaurant also boasts two Bertha charcoal and wood-fired ovens in an open theatre kitchen, with views of the chefs dishing out their Caribbean fare!

www.bluebird-restaurant.co.uk

JIKONI

Galvin brothers to open restaurant at Centurion Club, St Albans

Award winning food writer and cook Ravinder Bhogal will launch her debut restaurant on Marylebone’s Blandford Street. Jikoni, meaning ‘kitchen’ in Swahili, will draw on Ravinder's mixed heritage and travels, with flavours and culinary traditions from Britain, East Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Two of the UK’s most esteemed restaurateurs, Chris and Jeff Galvin, are set to launch their first venture in the Home Counties at the impressive Centurion Club. Opening early September, Galvin at Centurion Club will showcase the classic cuisine and timeless dining experience for which the brothers are renowned.

Ravinder is passionate about preserving her inheritance of nourishing and soothing recipes, the restaurant is dedicated to ‘the maternal figures who made my world safe with their food’. Jikoni will honour the legacy of the many brilliant women who have shared their kitchen wisdom with her, and for whom the joy of eating, and eating well was paramount.

‘The food at Jikoni is simply the kind of food I love to cook and eat with friends and family at home’

The 84 cover Galvin at Centurion restaurant, which is open to the public, will stay true to the signature Galvin experience.

The cooking will be ingredient-led, with simplicity, passion and seasonality. Signature dishes include lasagne of Dorset crab with beurre Nantais and roast rump of Herdwick lamb, grilled Provençale vegetables & black olives together with well-balanced desserts such as Provence apricot & Valrhona chocolate soufflé.

Inspired to embark on this latest project by his love of golf, Jeff Galvin comments, “I was initially introduced to Centurion Club a few years ago through my passion for golf. The club itself has a relaxed, family friendly feel without compromising on detail or quality which echoes our own ethos at Galvin Restaurants. Very soon after meeting the owners I realised how ambitious their plan was; simply to create an exceptional, yet accessible and good value restaurant that would complement their already world-class golf facility. Over the last 2 years we have been planning Galvin at Centurion Club and are very excited by the result. We look forward to welcoming the public as well as Centurion Club members.”

Who’s Opening where Who’s Ope

Who’s Opening where

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Good Food Guide reveals Nation’s best restaurants

No. 1 restaurant

serves up five years

of perfect tens Unusual gourmet locations include a motorway service station with top trucker tucker, a restaurant in a yurt and a bike shop café.

The nation’s best desserts uncovered The Good Food Guide has announced its top eateries and award winners today. Alongside the finest dining establishments in the country the guide celebrates some more unusual discoveries including a café located in a motorway service station, another in a bike shop, and a restaurant in a yurt. And, for the first time, The Good Food Guide has revealed where the nation’s best dessert menus can be found.

Perfect 10s

Chef Simon Rogan’s restaurant L’Enclume, in the historic village of Cartmel in Cumbria, has been crowned “number one restaurant” for the fourth year running, also securing five years of perfect tens. The Good Food Guide (GFG) awarded the restaurant top billing due to the “soaring sophistication of Mr Rogan’s cooking”, highlighting the 17-course tasting menu which offers “clever elements of technical wizardry to keep the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ going,” with “the cooking forever breaking new ground”. Many ingredients are local and grown on L’Enclume’s own 12-acre farm.

Rogan said, “It’s amazing news to be number one for the fourth year running. I’m really 60

grateful to The Good Food Guide for their faith in awarding us top spot once more, and appreciative for the enormous effect it has on our business. It’s a huge achievement but could not happen without a massive team effort. For me, it’s a privilege to lead this outstanding group of people. There’s no doubt that L’Enclume is approaching the most creative period in its history, and achieving the quality I dreamed of when I first opened its doors.”

The guide has also announced a brand new ‘perfect 10’ in the form of Restaurant Nathan Outlaw in Port Isaac, Cornwall, which appears at no. 2 in the Top 50.

Editor Elizabeth Carter praises his seafood restaurant as “a role model of its kind – no pretensions or gimmicks, just first-class food and knowledgeable, welcoming service – and there is no doubt in my mind that Restaurant Nathan Outlaw deserves its place as one of the best restaurants in the country.”

Responding to news of the accolade, chef Nathan Outlaw said, “I honestly thought I was dreaming when I found out. Over those years of continuously cooking and serving our customers we have always tried our hardest to do our best and when you get recognised like this it means the world to us all.”

Unusual eateries

The GFG, along with its team of anonymous inspectors and loyal readers, also uncovered a range of foodie finds in unconventional settings and structures.

The foodie bible features three restaurants housed in shipping containers: Cook House in Newcastle; Craftworks Street Kitchen in Truro, Cornwall; and Kricket in Brixton, London.

Then there’s a “modern marvel” in a service station - Gloucester Services on the M5 is an “independently run motorway pit-stop” with a gourmet café that is “committed to locally sourced food”.

Also new to the GFG this year is a reader discovery, Shuck’s at the Yurt, a restaurant housed in a quirky tent in Norfolk. The yurt eatery is located in a beautiful orchard and run by husband and wife team Phillip (Head Chef) and Beth Milner.

And in Bristol, you’ll find a brilliant brunch menu and tasty tapas at Spoke and Stringer, a seriously cool café which is part of a bike and surf shop.

Elizabeth Carter, who is celebrating ten years as Consultant Editor of the Waitrose Good Food Guide, said: “From yurts to campsites, bike shops to shipping containers, the vessel in which a good restaurant sails is no barrier to entry in our guide. We look for great food wherever we can find it - and that’s sometimes in highly unusual places.

With an army of Good Food Guide readers

on the ground, and our inspectors scouring the length and breadth of the UK, we check out as many recommendations as we can to make sure that no stone is unturned and no good eating opportunity missed; and this year we’ve found some excellent cooking in some very unexpected places, giving even greater choice to our readers.”

Beth Milner, joint owner of Shuck’s at the Yurt, said: “We are absolutely delighted and overwhelmed to be featured in the Good Food Guide through recommendation from our customers. As a new business it means so much to be recognised for our great food. We hope to go from strength to strength and have exciting new plans for 2017 from our unique setting in the beautiful Drove Orchards.”

Kristian Crews, owner of Spoke and Stringer, said: “It’s exciting to be a part of The Good Food Guide as we are still a start-up business and it gives us an opportunity to share our amazing food, venue and identity with a wider audience.

We have a very active, lifestyle-orientated menu which lots of people stop by for to enjoy after the gym, with our evening menu also popular with cyclists.”

Sarah Dunning, CEO of The Westmorland Family, which owns Gloucester Services says, “What an honour to be featured in this guide. Our motorway service areas champion interesting food from their locality and beyond and we are lucky to be able to connect many small, local food producers with the British travelling public. Good food is very important to us and it’s great to be recognised for what we do.”

Editors’ Awards

Waitrose has also announced the Editors’ Awards from the 2017 Good Food Guide.

These awards recognise restaurants and chefs who have shown excellence in their field. This year, Chef of the Year has been awarded to James Close from the Raby Hunt in Darlington, Durham.

Restaurant of the Year has been named as Orwells in Shiplake, Oxfordshire and Best New Restaurant Entry is Forest Side in Grasmere, Cumbria. A new award for this year is Best Front-of-House, which celebrates the best restaurant customer service in the UK. This has been awarded to Jason Atherton’s Pollen Street Social in London.

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Just Desserts

For some, dessert is the best course on the menu and for the first time the GFG has revealed where the nation can tuck into the very best puddings.

Top recommendations were awarded to the North of the Border Tart, which can be found at The Whitehouse, Lochaline, also winner of Scotland’s Local Restaurant of the Year. The tart is “filled with dried fruits, cherries, nuts and whisky. Nothing fancy, no towers, or twirls or crisps, just a really comforting pud.”

The unusual Warm Blood-orange, Sheep’s Milk Yoghurt and Wild Fennel Granita can be found at the Clove Club, London. The inspector noted it “came with shards of dehydrated milk-froth – like eating a crisp, malty cloud.

The whole thing was seriously delicious.”

The Waitrose Good Food Guide 2017 Editors’ Awards Chef of the Year James Close The Raby Hunt, Durham Chef to Watch Ben Murphy The Woodford, South Woodford, London Restaurant of the Year Orwells Oxfordshire Best New Entry Forest Side Cumbria Best Front-of-House Pollen Street Social London Best Small Group Dishoom London Local Restaurant of the Year Wine & Brine Moira, Armagh 62

Sometimes traditional is best.

At the Village Pub in Barnsley diners can find the “finest sticky toffee pudding”, described as “a dark, moist, treacly sponge swimming in a runny toffee sauce, and rich as muscovado, with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream.”

The exceptional dessert menu at Orwells in Oxfordshire may be why it won Restaurant of the Year in the guide’s Editors’ Awards.

Its take on caramel apples, “a cylinder of chopped, braised apple encased in a wafer of pastry, itself wrapped in a thin layer of apple jelly” with “salted-caramel and a milk ice cream” was described by one inspector as “extraordinary.”

A golden era for restaurants

This year, the GFG also celebrates the tenth year of editor Elizabeth Carter at the helm. Carter said of the last decade:”I’ve certainly seen changes in the UK restaurant scene in my ten years as consultant editor – what a golden era for restaurants it has been. London will always have an extraordinary wealth of top restaurants and chefs but I love the fact that the restaurant scene is flourishing beyond the capital; more affordable start-up costs outside of London have made our great regional cities viable dining destinations.

“At the same time, dining out everywhere has become less structured, less formal, with more flexible opening times and menus, and with a much broader choice of quality venues in the lower price bracket. It means we’ve all had to come to terms with exposed ductwork, hard seats, small plates and communal tables – but well worth it when you consider the all-day eateries, cafés, pizzerias, seafood shacks and pubs of genuine high quality offering everyday eating at everyday prices.”

Good Food Guide reveals Nation’s best restaurants

Top 50 Restaurants The Good Food Guide’s annual Top 50 restaurant ranking is highly regarded by chefs and restaurant-goers alike, with particular attention paid to those chefs and restaurants who make it into the Top 10. The Top 50 recognises the very best talent in the country; a place on the list represents a huge achievement, with each position earned by its score in The Good Food Guide, editor appraisal and strength of reader feedback. A top score of 10 means “Just perfect dishes, showing faultless technique at every service; extremely rare, and the highest accolade the Guide can give.The order in which the restaurant appears in each number category determines the overall quality of the experience. i.e. Restaurant Sat Bains at the top of score 9 was according to the judges a better overall occasion than Restaurant Gordon Ramsay at the bottom of score 9 Score 10 1. L’Enclume, Cumbria 2. Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Cornwall Score 9 3. Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottinghamshire 4. Pollen Street Social, London 5. Hibiscus, London 6. The Fat Duck, Berkshire 7. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, London Score 8 8. Hedone, London 9. Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Tayside 10. Fraiche, Merseyside 11. The Ledbury, London 12. Midsummer House, Cambridgeshire 13. Le Champignon Sauvage, Gloucestershire 14. Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, London 15. Fera at Claridges, London 16. Le Gavroche, London 17. Marcus, London 18. The French, Manchester 19. André Garrett at Cliveden, Berkshire 20. The Peat Inn, Fife 21. 21 Whatley Manor, The Dining Room, Wiltshire Score 7 22. Castle Terrace, Edinburgh New to the top 50 this year 23. The Kitchin, Edinburgh 24. Bohemia, Jersey

25. The Greenhouse, London New to the top 50 this year 26. The Waterside Inn, Berkshire 27. Casamia, Bristol 28. Paul Ainsworth at No. 6, Cornwall 29. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London 30. Artichoke, Buckinghamshire 31. Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Oxfordshire 32. Restaurant Story, London 33. Gidleigh Park, Devon 34. Restaurant James Sommerin, Glamorgan 35. Simpsons, Birmingham New to the top 50 this year 36. Sketch, London 37. Forest Side, Cumbria New to the top 50 this year 38. Murano, London 39. Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh 40. Ynyshir, Powys 41. Adam’s, Birmingham 42. The Raby Hunt, Durham 43. Freemasons at Wiswell, Lancashire 44. Orwells, Oxfordshire New to the top 50 this year 45. Restaurant Marianne, London New to the top 50 this year 46. Hambleton Hall, Rutland 47. The Whitebrook, Gwent New to the top 50 this year 48. Llangoed Hall, Powys Score 6 49. Lake Road Kitchen, Cumbria 50. 50 The Dairy, London

F r o nt o f H o u s e

by Jean Smullen

South African Wine

The modern South African wine industry began just over 20 years ago when Mandela walked to freedom. Fast forward to the present day and much has changed in terms of where South Africa is now positioned. South Africa is now the sixth most popular country of origin on the UK market; the country’s appeal has been its ability to produce everything from good entry level wine to top quality wines.

The door is also now opening for a new generation of South African producers who are fast establishing themselves; these millenial’s are making superb quality wines from emerging regions such as Swartland.

Swartland is the new kid on the block. Uber cool, this emerging wine region is where many of the younger generation are sourcing their fruit. No longer tied to the old rules, they are buying from existing growers in the area and creating some fantastic new wines and wine styles. They are using old bush vines and virus free plant stock to make magnificent “new

style” South African wine from varietals such as Chenin Blanc, Sémillon, Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault. This is where South Africa is finding its mojo and most important of all, this is where there are HUGE opportunities for the on-trade to embrace South African wine.

South Africa is the world’s seventh largest wine producer; they export their wines to over 140 countries. The quality vineyards of South Africa are widely dispersed through the Western and Northern Cape strung between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The climate is Mediterranean which gives long hot summers from November to May moderated by cold, wet, blustery winters.

South Africa grows an enormously diverse range of both red and white grapes. From Chenin Blanc to Touriga Nacional (a grape indigenous to Portugal), in the last decade the quality of their wines have improved enormously. Many of the top wineries are

less than 20 years old. The industry today is marked by innovation and a new generation of wine makers. Another key development in the last decade is virus free vineyards. Because of massive replanting with better quality vine stock, the days of that the dusty dry medicinal style of South African wines infected by the leaf roll virus are well and truly over.

Chenin Blanc is by far the most widely planted white variety with 18.3% of all plantings. It is also the grape variety that produces the most outstanding white wines coming out of South Africa today in terms of quality. There has also been a marked increase in the plantings of Chardonnay which now accounts for 7.4% of total plantings.

I recently judged Chardonnay for four days at the 20th anniversary of the International Michelangelo Wine & Spirit Awards in Stellenbosch. I tasted my way through 60 Chardonnay a day for four days and I have to 63

say the new style of South African Chardonnay came as a complete and utter revelation.

Semillon too is starting to make its mark here; Sauvignon Blanc of course, is also outstanding especially when it is grown along the cooler coastal regions.

Cabernet Sauvignon is South Africa’s most planted red variety with 11.4% of all plantings, Syrah though is becoming South Africa’s real star; it now accounts for 10.4% of the red varietals planted and Syrah is the red grape growing enormously in popularity.

The quality of the wine being made from Syrah is very good; the key is regionality and the fact that the producers are making an “old world” Rhone style of Syrah. Grenache, Merlot, Mourvèdre and Cinsault are also rising through the ranks and many producers are making some fantastic Rhone style wines. The Cape Blends too should not be ignored; many of these Bordeaux style blends are making a huge impact and having tasted quite a few at Michelangelo, after five days of tasting it became clear that the quality of the Cape Blends have also come ahead in leaps and bounds.

South Africa wine is now a must list by any restaurant or hotel who is serious about developing their wine list. A look now at a few producers to watch out for: Bouchard Findlayson Very close to the southernmost tip of Africa lies a small valley called Hemel-en-Aarde (Heaven and Earth). In 1989, Peter Finlayson decided to put down roots here and make wine. The vineyard is situated about 90 minutes’ drive from Capetown, in the Walker Bay Region near Hermanus.

Bouchard Finlayson was bought in 2013 by Red Carnation Hotels which is owned and run by the South African, Tollman Family, owners of the Red Carnation Hotel group.

Red Carnation was founded in 1950 by Bea Tollman who built her global business of family owned and run four and five star hotels from a small hotel business in South Africa.

In 1975 the Tollman family expanded into the United Kingdom and today the Red Carnation group runs 16 five star boutique luxury hotels in Africa, USA and Europe.

I tasted the 2013 Bouchard Finlayson Sans Barrique Overberg Chardonnay at a dinner in Co Mayo earlier this year. This is a young fresh 64

Chardonnay made without wood influence.

It has lush tropical fruit flavours and a lovely mineral character. This Chardonnay is grown at 750 metres above sea level. Lia Poveda the Bouchard Finlayson brand ambassador gave us the low down on their range at a dinner at Wilde’s Restaurant at the Lodge at Ashford Castle in Co Mayo, now owned by the Tolleman Family. The wine was matched with potato risotto with truffle, artichoke and chicken croquette and the layer of ripe fruit worked well particularly well with the range of flavours in the dish.

Kaapzicht Wine Estate Kaapzicht are known for their good value for money, quality range of wines, having earned a multitude of local and international awards.

The Steytler Family has been running their 190 hectare large estate for three generations now. Brothers Danie and George are the winemaker and viticulturist respectively.

This beautiful estate in the Bottelary Hills celebrated its 60th anniversary as a family farm in 2006. The family invited the Michelangelo group to a wonderful Braai at their farm. August is wintertime so we enjoyed homemade Gembox sausage (a South African deer slightly larger than Springbox with straight antlers) made by Danie and tasted our way through their range of wines.

A few of their standout wines included the 2015 The 1947 Chenin Blanc, made from 68 year old vines, which are the second oldest in this area. This is “new style” South Africa Chenin, a natural wine fermented with wild yeasts and made without sulphur (except at bottling). It was fresh and lively with a lovely honied character. The 2010 Steytler Vision Cape Blend is a five star wine in the Platter Guide and a Silver Medal winner at the 2013 Michelangelo competition. Made from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec this was a big powerhouse of a wine, smoky with a full on weight of tannin and fruit in the mouth, still a baby, in time it will evolve into a stunning wine. Their 2012 Steytler Pinotage is made from fruit grown in the Bottelary Hills was named in honour of George Steytler the 4th generation of the family to farm Pinotage, this had lovely black fruit and a smoky savoury finish. Perfect served with any sort of game.

De Morgenzon When you mention De Morgenzon in South Africa, two things always come up, the name means morning sun because of the position of the vineyards and the fact they play baroque music to the vines because they believe that the power of music positively influences the ripening process.

The winery is based in Stellenbosch and the wine is made from Old bush vine vineyards grown on weathered granite and sandstone in cool areas of Stellenbosch with a good exposure to cooling sea breezes. The Dutch Governor, Simon van der Stel, founded Stellenbosch in 1679. De Morgenzon was originally a section of Uiterwyk, one of the oldest farms in South Africa. Today the Estate is owned by Wendy and Hylton Appelbaum who bought De Morgenzon in 2003.

2015 is considered to be an outstanding vintage in South Africa, some are even saying one of the greatest and the quality of the fruit reflects this.

The wine is made by Carl Van Der Merwe, who joined De Morgenzon in July 2010 after an 8 year stint at Quoin Rock Winery in Stellenbosch where he established himself as one of South African’s top young winemakers. The 2015 De Morgenzon Chenin Blanc is another fine example of good quality South African Chenin. This is a grape you could happily recommend to your customers who love Sauvignon Blanc.

Chenin is another acidic grape variety but with a lot more nuance than Sauvignon and ideal with fish.

Bouchard Finlayson, Kaapzicht and De Morgenzon are distributed in the UK by Seckford Agencies www.seckfordagencies.co.uk Mullineux & Leeu The fastest rising star of the Swartland - young winemakers, Chris and Andrea Mullineux, are making sensational wines in this area of old bush vines and dry land farming. Chenin and Syrah are the dominant grapes supported by other southern Rhone and Mediterranean varietals. They are founding members of the Swartland Independent Producers - a group of like-minded winemakers in the area.

Andrea Mullineux is a very dynamic young winemaker with a great future ahead of her.

Originally from San Francisco, Andrea studied Viticulture and Oenology at UC Davis before working at Cakebread, Viader and El Molino wineries in the Napa Valley. She first came to South Africa in 2004 to work a 6 month stint at Waterford, and then moved on to Chateauneuf du Pape where, on the same trip, she met her husband Chris Mullineux.

In 2007 they set up their Swartland based winery, Mullineux Family Wines. Andrea’s focus is on dry farmed Mediterranean varieties produced as naturally and classically as possible. Kloof Street Rouge, a blend of Southern Rhone varieties just bursts from the glass with juicy fruit, liquorice and coffee flavours. This is a food friendly yet still quite a serious wine. Medium to full bodied with firm but approachable tannins. The wine is a blend, 72% Syrah, 13% Mourvèdre, 11% Cinsault, 4% Carignan; the fruit is sourced from 14 - 45 year old vines over five different vineyard parcels in the Swartland. Mullineux wines are distributed in the UK by Fields Morris and Verdin www.fmv.co.uk

Rhebokskloof Wine Estate We met the unstoppable Francoise Naude winemaker at Rhebokskloof in Paarl. The estate was recently bought over in 2016 and the new owners are in the process of a major replanting programme. Chardonnay and Shiraz are the grapes they are currently focussing on, although their Chenin Blanc and Pinotage is also very good. Francoise feels that blending is coming back in a big way and the wines we tasted with him reflected this.

Their entry level the 2015 Hillside White was a blend of Viogner, Chenin, Chardonnay, Rousanne and Grenache Blanc; off dry with a lovely fresh acidity this would make a really great house wine.

Their premium wine the 2013 The Rhebok is another blended powerhouse. A mix of Shiraz, Pinotage and Mourvèdre, this wine won the Perold Trophy with its first vintage. A Perold Wine has to have a minimum 30% Pinotage in the blend. Francoise Naude is one of South Africa’s legendary wine makers. Rhebokskloof wines are available in the UK through Corney & Barrow. www.corneyandbarrow.com The Michelangelo International Wine & Spirit Awards The Michelangelo International Wine and Spirits Awards were established in 1997 as the only international wine competition in South Africa. The competition is unique in that all judges are handpicked wine experts, representing all seven continents around the globe. Since the start of the Michelangelo, more than 165 different judges from 43 countries have served on the panels.

The competition annually receives between 1700 and 1800 wine, brandy and liqueur entries from both South Africa and international producers around the globe. These are judged blind by panels of 5 judges, using the 100-point international OIV system. http://michelangeloawards.com 65

T ri e d an d T e st e d by Andrew Scott

The Art is: using the correct crockery

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So a new month and a new review, Chef mag got in contact and asked if I’d heard of the tableware supplier that is Artis ….I said no initially, but then thought I feel like I have, they were in last month’s edition and I’d read the article but not put two and two together! Must be doing too many hours in the Restaurant 56 kitchen!

S

o the brief was to receive some choice samples and basically give them a spin by plating up my food on them, flicking through the glossy Tafelestern and Bauscher brochures I could tell that this tableware was going to be class. Bauscher is Artis’s other premium brand that they import, both coming from Germany. So when you think German you think reliable, sturdy, and efficient which ticks the box on the delight collection.

They are made from fine noble china and are pleasing to the eye and feel quality with their silky glaze. Beautifully white and going well in a grand backdrop of clothed tables in a fine restaurant. They sat very well in Restaurant 56 not looking out of place at all. To me they seemed to rival Villeroy and Boch and I don’t think they are far off that price bracket either.

So when it comes to buying this caliber of tableware you may after reading this consider Tafelestern and not just go to the same brand like usual. I plated a few dishes on some of the samples I’d been sent and being pure white with no design they suit any food making it look elegant. I find as well that the white plates don’t really go out of fashion or look old quickly like a lot of ranges out there do. These plates will ware well as the glaze is good and you can tell by the craftmenship that they will last which is good to know when investing a lot of money.

But I was looking for something a bit more modern so I grabbed the brochure again and ordered in some different styles that Tafelestern do.

I was really impressed, nothing to in your face just nice subtle modern designs on the noble china. A good choice for all tastes and styles depending on whether you want to mix it up and have a plain or subtle design or go with either or.

So by now I was like a kid in a sweet shop surrounded by loads of new plates looking forward to doing the photo shoot, I actually started to think of new dishes and ways in which we could serve them. Some lovely pieces I’d ordered for myself that I wanted for a couple of new dishes and new canape service (which I’ve failed to tell the general manager about!), that’s the thing with being in this industry you can’t sit still and just be happy with what you’ve got you need to constantly evolve, or else you will be over taken.

The day arrived and we set up in the middle of a normal dinner service and plated some elements of our 3 menus on the Tafelestern Delight range, everything looked really good and went side by side my Villeroy and Boch pieces the colour being almost the same. Everything looked very elegant and the delight range complimented and framed the food without stealing the glory.

Afterwards we put all the pieces through the normal process of going through the potwash, being dried off and then into the still area for polishing. They came out as you would expect and polished up perfectly.

Writing this tried and tested has opened my eyes up to artis who aren’t a new company but one I’ve just discovered from being blinkered by the other giants on the market. I can’t make you buy these but you should definitely not turn a blind eye as I think you’ll be seeing a lot more of Tafelestern & Bauscher in the near future.

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Cooking the books: Pierre Koffmann

Legendary chef

Pierre Koffmann celebrates 50 years in the kitchen with his new book Classic Koffmann

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A few Quotes about Pierre Koffmann from his fellow Chefs ‘Pierre Koffmann influenced me on the plate, like no other chef I have ever worked with.’

Marco Pierre White

‘Pierre is a workhorse. Unbelievably efficient in his movement, in his work skills. For me, he is the complete chef.’

Michel Roux Jr

‘From the start, Chef inspired me like no other chef. Working for him was one of the hardest, most gruelling things I’ve ever experienced but I wouldn’t be the chef I am today had I not done all those years with him. He’s also been incredibly supportive throughout... Pierre not only taught me the foundations of cooking, he also taught me to believe in myself and my passion, which is something I now try to pass on to all my chefs.’

Tom Kitchin

P

ierre Koffmann came to London for a short stint aged 22 because he wanted ‘to watch England vs France at Twickenham’.

He worked in the Roux brothers’ kitchen at Le Gavroche and before long they made him Head Chef at The Waterside Inn, where he achieved two Michelin stars. Three more Michelin stars followed at his own restaurant La Tante Claire – a career-defining restaurant for the most renowned chefs working today, who trained under Chef Koffmann and became his protégés.

There is no doubt that Pierre Koffmann is the ‘chef of chefs’ and ‘the chef all other chefs look up to’.

It’s only right that now, in his 50th year in the kitchen, Pierre has been persuaded to write his first new book for 25 years.

CLASSIC KOFFMANN features over 100 recipes spanning his career, from signature dishes (pig’s trotter and pistachio soufflé) to the modern classics he serves today. The recipes range from entrées to desserts – and everything in between – each one stunningly photographed by David Loftus. What’s more, Pierre’s protégés, from Marco Pierre White to Tom Kitchin, have added their own special stories of training with Chef, the nuggets they learned from him, and their personal praise for the man who set them on their path to become culinary luminaries in their own right. CLASSIC KOFFMANN offers a masterclass in the best of the French culinary tradition, by the master. It is a worthy successor to his first book, Memories of Gascony.

Awards include: Lifetime Achievement, National Restaurant Awards 2016 Lifetime Achievement, Tatler Restaurant Awards 2014 Chefs’ Chef of the Year, AA Awards 2012 Special Achievement, Craft Guild of Chefs 2010 PIERRE KOFFMANN arrived in the UK in 1970, expecting to stay a few months. His kitchens include Le Gavroche, The Waterside Inn, La Tante Claire, Koffmann’s at The Berkeley and a ten-day pop-up on the roof of Selfridges that lasted two months. His TV credits include The Taste, Masterchef and he will be head judge on BBC’s Yes, Chef starting in September. He lives in London.

To pre order your copy of Classic Koffmann go to

www.chefpublishing.com

1 years free subscription to Chef magazine when you buy this very special book by Pierre Koffmann

‘ After 50 years, Pierre’s love of the profession still shines through every time he enters the kitchen. He’s a complete star and an inspiration to future generations of chefs.’

Bruno Loubet

‘I learned speed of service, prep and, of course, great classic French cooking from Pierre. I was one of the lucky chefs who were there when La Tante Claire went from two to three Michelin stars. I’ve kept all the press clippings. You never forget these things; they’re stamped in your mind and on your heart, and you feel so proud to have been a part of it.’

Tom Aikens

‘From being Pierre’s commis chef to his head chef was a hard journey but what was amazing was his continuous mentoring.’

Helena Poulakka ‘Working for the Chef was like moving from go-karting to Formula 1. It was pure cooking. Absolutely everything was made from scratch...You had to use all your knowledge – and then some!’

Eric Chavot

‘Great cooking requires discipline, attention to detail, patience and respect for ingredients. Pierre taught all of this, every single day.’

Richard H Turner

‘ My time with Chef was a long journey of discovery... That journey has made me into the chef I am today and also the chef I aspire to be.’

Raphael Duntoye

‘Koffmann was always full of surprises... But having this work ethic has given me the strength to build my own company up from nothing.’

Paul Rhodes

‘Pierre’s philosophy has been inherited by all who’ve worked in his kitchen. He has truly ‘passed on the baton’. His legacy is the next generation.’

William Curley

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NEWS Leading names in the food industry call on Khan to outlaw the use of polystyrene packaging products in London London: 23 August, 2016: A group of influential chefs and food experts have written to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to urge him to implement a London-wide ban on polystyrene packaging, citing environmental and health concerns.

Leading names in the food industry including chefs Ed Baines (the founder of Soho seafood restaurant Randall & Aubin’s), Hugh FearnleyWhittingstall, Theo Randall, Mark Hix, and food critic William Sitwell call on Khan to outlaw the use of polystyrene packaging products in London.

Addressing the Mayor, the chefs claim that the current widespread use of polystyrene packaging contributes to London’s abysmal recycling performance, as demonstrated by the mountains of polystyrene waste that fill up the capital’s restaurants and streets. The chefs also outline their concerns about the “damaging” impact that the non-biodegradable material has on the environment.

Polystyrene is extremely difficult and expensive to recycle, which means that millions of tonnes of the material ends up in landfill sites every year. Packaging made from polystyrene never biodegrades, pollutes waterways, and is manufactured from harmful chemicals like styrene that have been linked to cancer. When the material pollutes waterways and oceans, it is ingested by fish, which makes the issue a particular concern to chefs like Ed Baines, who runs a wellrespected seafood restaurant in Soho.

The call to action from Baines and his fellow chefs comes amid global pressure to address the huge environmental and health problems linked to the use of polystyrene packaging. In late June, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously voted 70

to ban many commonly used polystyrene products, including the food packaging, coffee cups, and meat and fish trays used by restaurants and cafes.

Similar bans have previously been enacted in cities such as New York, Seattle, and Washington D.C. Recyclable, paper-based alternatives to polystyrene such as solid board packaging have increasingly been adopted by chefs and suppliers throughout the UK and Europe seeking to improve their environmental performance, in anticipation of similar legislation to that seen in the US. Commenting on the letter, Ed Baines said: “As a chef committed to sustainability and food provenance, I am very concerned about the use of harmful packaging materials such as polystyrene throughout London. Not only are the mountains of polystyrene waste environmentally damaging and unsightly, it has also been shown to be harmful to health!

We should be doing everything we can to get Londoners to use safer, environmentally friendly, recyclable packaging.”

Sadiq Khan’s mayoral election manifesto emphasised his commitment to reducing London’s waste footprint, and outlined his promises to get the city on track to hit the target of 65% recycled waste by 2030.

In today’s letter, the chefs call on Khan to live up to these promises and “take us one step closer to a zero waste, clean, green London”.

We very much support this initiative at Chef magazine.

Whilst the success of all restaurants is paramount this cannot continuously be at the expense of the very fragile world that we live in and if there is an alternative way of delivering the produce it must be used.

Peter Marshall

The letter in full:

Dear Sadiq,

Soho is one of the liveliest and most exciting places in London and has been home to my restaurant for the last 18 years.

Over this time, the area has got busier and more congested as new restaurants, bars and nightclubs open. Great as this is, there are some serious issues that Soho and its inhabitants have to contend with, and immense amounts of waste is one of them.

I see more waste in the streets of Soho than ever before. This waste is filling up the small amounts of space we have at the restaurants and spilling out on to the streets, every day. Much of this waste consists of excessive packaging that is not biodegradable or recyclable. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is polystyrene which is delivered in its truck loads, delivering produce that could just as easily be packaged using more environmentally friendly materials.

In my restaurant alone, mountains of polystyrene containers are delivered every year! Following delivery, these containers are emptied and then broken up and left to be collected at a cost. Polystyrene containers can only be used once.

The problems that come with polystyrene are not exclusive to London. It is estimated that globally around 80 billion polystyrene coffee cups are thrown away each year.

Polystyrene makes up a large amount of the debris in our oceans, seas and rivers contaminating fish stocks.

Polystyrene acts like a sponge so picks up pollutants in the ocean which can then be ingested by fish. These are the same fish which end up on your plate!

Therefore, with my fellow signatories, I feel an obligation to take the lead from more progressive cities of the world such as San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC and call on you as the Mayor of London to introduce a ban on this unsightly and environmentally damaging method of packaging.

In London, recycling rates are lower than the UK average. As an industry and as residents of bustling Soho, we should be doing everything we can to encourage London’s bars, hotels, restaurants and shops to re-use and recycle more.

This white foamy material might seem harmless, but it’s not – it is the scourge of Soho! This move could really make a difference so the signatories of this letter would encourage you and the rest of London to help support this cause, and take us one step closer to a zero waste, clean, green London!

Yours sincerely, Ed Baines Co-signed by: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Mark Hix Theo Randall William Sitwell

NEWS Pilsner Urquell still brewed the original way

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ilsner Urquell, the original Pilsner, still brewed the original way, is continuing to drive expansion of its fresh, unpasteurised Tank Beer across the UK as it delivers its latest Tank Beer bar at the much anticipated opening of Manchester Smokehouse & Cellar on 18 August 2016.

As deliciously smoked food is cooked on a live fire, the Manchester Smokehouse & Cellar will make a main feature of the brewery fresh unpasteurised beer and house five Pilsner Urquell tanks. The venue will feature dedicated copper tanks – where guests can enjoy a pint of the original golden lager whilst listening to live DJ’s, bands and be entertained late into the evening.

Located next to Manchester Town Hall, the Smokehouse & Cellar is set to become a real destination for quality food and drink.

The world-renowned Czech beer, made using Saaz Hops, Moravian Barley and Plzeň water, will be delivered direct from the brewery in Plzeň every week in temperature-controlled trucks, ensuring that guests can enjoy the fresh beer as if they were at the brewery.

Reinvigorating pub culture in the UK and showcasing true brewing craftsmanship,

Pilsner Urquell is seeing new consumers enter the category and use Tank Venues as a destination for a quality and authentic drinking experience, with 18% of consumers stating they enter a Tank venue because of the striking copper tanks.

John Rennie, owner of Manchester Smokehouse & Cellar commented, “We’re thrilled to work with Pilsner Urquell in

launching Tank beer at our restaurant.

The whole process of the brewing, delivery and service to the customer is second to none and it’s an exciting proposition to be offering our customers. The flavours of our Smokehouse style food are very important to us and following that same attention to the beverage offering, it was clear that Pilsner Urquell Tank Beer was the only choice for us.”

Philadelphia Press Release –Aug 2016

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hiladelphia are excited to launch their new away from home campaign endorsed by celebrity Michelin Star Chef, Simon Hulstone.

Appealing to hard working, creative chefs who want to get the best quality out of their dishes, the new campaign highlights the many benefits of using the iconic cream cheese brand.

In the same way that chefs have to earn their place in the kitchen, so does an ingredient.

Philadelphia has proven its place as a key component in any kitchen. Philadelphia works (almost) as hard as you do.

Throughout the entire food service, Philadelphia works hard. If you don’t believe it from us – brand ambassador Simon Hulstone raves about the benefits of the cream cheese. Simon has represented the country over 20 times at world cooking events, and has held his Michelin Star since 2004. Simon has been working

with Philadelphia to create some inspiring, contemporary and delicious recipes; including the Philadelphia vanilla rice pudding with balsamic roasted strawberries and lemon thyme crumble.

Philadelphia’s versatility makes it a staple ingredient. It’s delicious, rich flavour compliments other ingredients really well and its creamy, smooth texture gives dishes that little extra.

It has a much higher boiling point than other cream cheese brands* and will never split, so put Philadelphia to work, it can handle it.

Whether you’re catering from a street food van, a country pub, or a top restaurant, Philadelphia’s versatility, passion and commitment shines through. When any component in your kitchen works this hard, it makes your job that little bit easier.

We give you Philadelphia, a hardworking partner in the kitchen.

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NEWS NEW CULINARY EXPERIENCES SET TO DEBUT ON QM2 REMASTERED OVER 100 NEW DISHES SPECIALLY CREATED

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he proven combination of Altro WhiterockTM hygienic wall cladding and Altro Stronghold 30TM safety flooring has been so successful in the kitchen at one of the world’s oldest schools, that after 15 years of service it’s been chosen again for a total refurbishment.

The King’s School in Ely, Cambridgeshire, is a co-educational independent day and boarding school. It was founded in 970 AD. Fifteen years ago, the school’s ‘monastic barn’ kitchen was fitted with Altro Whiterock White and Altro Stronghold 30 to provide a high level of safety, hygiene and aesthetics. More recently, in 2014, Altro Whiterock was installed around the lift shaft of a dumb waiter in the kitchen.

The school has been so happy with the long term performance of Altro Whiterock and Altro Stronghold 30 together that there was no hesitation in selecting the integrated system of compatible hygienic wall cladding and safety flooring again when the entire kitchen recently underwent a refit. As the system is fully integrated, it fits together perfectly to provide a hygienic, watertight solution for commercial kitchens.

Shirley Jolly, the school’s catering manager, says: “This is a busy commercial kitchen, which produces 1,600 meals per day with three sittings, so the flooring and wall cladding has to be hygienic, tough, durable, practical, easy to clean and have superb safety credentials. Plus of course it needs to be suitable for use in a very old building — our kitchen dates back to 970 AD. “Fifteen years ago we had Altro Whiterock installed three quarters of the way up the kitchen walls, and we have been delighted with it over that time. It’s hygienic and has been very easy to maintain, just needing a regular wipe down. It’s proven to be ideal for our busy commercial kitchen. For us it’s a tried and tested product.

“So we definitely wanted to use it again for the refurbishment, but this time we wanted it floor to ceiling — giving total encapsulation.

This meant that we could cover all the hard-to reach places around the doors and windows - and there are some tricky areas as this is a very old structure - to make cleaning as easy as possible and further improve hygiene.”

Altro’s integrated floor and hygienic wall cladding system offers the best possible protection against bacteria, bugs and vermin.

It makes cleaning easier too. Designed to address the issues commonly found in

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kitchens – slips, contamination, cleaning and maintenance, the Altro system doesn’t just protect the people who use it; it also protects the environment and those responsible for the health and safety of employees and visitors.

The Altro wall cladding and flooring for the refurbishment were installed by Altro Whiterock Premier Installer Elite Interiors.

Contracts co-ordinator Dave Barnard, says: “This school kitchen is the perfect example of how Altro Whiterock and Altro Stronghold 30 work together to create a long-lasting, safe and hygienic environment in commercial applications.

“These products have really stood the test of time here at the King’s School, which is partly due to their quality, but also testament to the school’s excellent maintenance regime. After consulting with both Altro and the client, we all agreed that for the refurbishment these products were still the best choice.”

Altro Whiterock White is the hygienic alternative to tiles that’s impact resistant, grout-free and easy to clean. Its smooth white surface and classical purity make it a timeless choice for any interior. The product is Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) approved and is made from a high-quality, food-safe PVCu polymer that can handle temperatures up to 60°C. It meets all current European Union (EU) Directives on health and hygiene. This makes it particularly suitable for use in commercial kitchens especially combined with Altro Stronghold 30.

“The installation of the wall cladding presented some challenges, specifically because of the age of the building,” adds Dave Barnard. “The walls especially had no flat or true surfaces, and the church-style windows with 1ft-deep recesses meant very skilled fitting of the Altro Whiterock. We had a very tight three-week window in the summer in which to complete the installation of both flooring and wall cladding. Even though the school was in recess, there were a number of students who stayed behind for summer school, so the kitchen couldn’t close for any length of time.

Shirley Jolly comments: “The new kitchen looks fantastic, and we are so pleased with the results. The whole area looks brighter, cleaner and fresher, and it’s taken our catering operation to a whole new level.

“The Altro Whiterock wall cladding is so easy to maintain that the kitchen staff can take care of it themselves, with just a regular wipe down. The flooring is cleaned with a combination of a small rotary scrubber that can go up and down the aisles, and special mop — and it comes up like new every time.

“I think the test of a happy environment is whether the staff are taking care of it, and that is certainly true here. They are thrilled with their new kitchen and very proud to be working there.”