W
L
RARING TO GO!
BY PAUL ASKEW, CHEF PATRON OF
THE ART SCHOOL RESTAURANT
It’s been a very busy start for the year for us at the restaurant.
We’ve hosted three sell-out Celebrity Master Chef evenings; our
first wedding of the year (a couple whose first date had been in the
restaurant 4 years ago) and I’ve squeezed in another appearance
on the small screen - this time on Granada News for the Friday
night Fakeaway.
February took me out on the road checking in with local producers
as we head towards Spring! My good friend and fellow Great
British Menu competitor, Ellis Barrie from The Marram Grass, and
I attended the third food and drink festival at Gordale. Whenever
we’re together we have lots of fun and it seemed from feedback
over the two days that the audience enjoyed our demonstrations
too! I enjoyed preparing a red mullet dish, one of forty recipes
from my book “Onwards and Upwards” which is available from the
restaurant, Gordale (and, of course, Amazon).
Earlier in the month, the local Further Education Colleges joined
with businesses and schools across the region to host Visitor
Economy Week. The initiative, led by the Local Enterprise
Partnership, saw more than 500 school children attend a launch
exhibition at Liverpool FC and thousands more attended over 60
different events which took place.
For my own part I supported the launch event - the gala dinner - but
the highlight was a return to where it all began for me as I went back
to my old catering college, Wirral Met College, for a demonstration
event with their catering students.
The fact that all of the Further Education Colleges in the city region
are collaborating on this is pretty unique, and it does a really good
job of showcasing the careers available in the Visitor Economy,
which is vital for the economic growth of our region. It has a value
42 wirrallife.com
of over £4bn a year and supports over 50,000 jobs across our region
and it's even more important given the current uncertainty over
Brexit!
It promises to be another incredibly busy year, both for me
personally, and for the restaurant, our Moriarty private dining
room and Cellars. I have also recently taken on the role of Chair of
the Visitor Economy for Wirral. This year Wirral is the Borough of
Culture, an initiative from the Combined Authority that will shine
the cultural spotlight on each of the Borough's in the city region and
a series of events and initiatives are planned.
Our Borough of Culture plans on Wirral are well developed and
were recently revealed for this year's ambitious programme of
events.
A new family festival, a "spell-binding" outdoor spectacle in three
locations and the first of an annual music festival are some of the
highlights of a year that promises to be the most exciting cultural
time for the peninsula yet.
We start with Animated Square Revisited, the breathtaking
projection show by award-winning Illuminos onto Birkenhead
Town Hall, as seen as part of Wirral’s Tall Ships celebrations. This
extraordinary show will be accompanied by a family festival for all
to enjoy in Hamilton Square.
I would urge you to get involved, support and enjoy everything the
peninsula has to offer this year!
Until next month.
Chef Askew