W
L
WIRRAL’S No.1 FREE PREMIUM LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE
JULY 2017
PAUL ASKEW
THE CULINARY
WHEN WINTER COMES,
CAN ARTIST
SPRING BE FAR BEHIND?
PROPERTY BY
• MOTORS
• FASHION
& BEAUTY
• FOOD
PAUL ASKEW,
CHEF
PATRON
OF & DRINK
THE ART SCHOOL RESTAURANT
Well the festive season is behind us for another year and
thoughts start to turn to the new Spring season.
The restaurant was wonderfully busy throughout December with
guests enjoying our new Champagne bar and our private dining
room hosting its first sittings. The year ended as it had begun
for us with another inclusion in a UK Top 100 restaurant guide.
This time it was the very well respected Harden’s Guide 2018
who positioned us at number 58 in the UK. It’s a lovely feeling
for the entire team at The Art School to see their hard work and
dedication to excellence recognised in these guides. But, as I
remind them, we are only as good as our last service so now is not
the time to rest on our laurels.
The team and I are busy creating our new dishes and improving
Art School classics in our new state of the art development
kitchen - a kitchen and preparation space in our recently opened
private dining room. Having the extra space is already making a
difference to our service, our pastry team have almost taken up
residency as our homemade bread production has increased to
meet the demand from the restaurant and Champagne bar.
The development of new dishes is something I really enjoy - in
fact I’d go as far to say it’s one of the most enjoyable aspects of the
job for me. The chance to work with the finest quality seasonal
ingredients and refine and balance the dishes before serving
them to our guests is what still motivates me today – pushing our
gastronomy offer that little bit further each year.
28 wirrallife.com
Of course there’s a balance that needs to be struck so there’s just
enough of the restaurant classics with the new. It’s no secret I love
hake, it’s a fish I use in many of my demonstrations and I used
it on my Saturday Kitchen appearance. The weeks following the
show almost every order coming in to the kitchen was for hake!
There is a variation of the dish currently on the menu and the
Saturday Kitchen version is one of 40 recipes that are contained
within my debut book –“Onwards and Upwards”. The response
to the book has been overwhelming – it’s still available from the
restaurant and online from our shop: www.theartschoolrestaurant.
co.uk/shop.
January is also a time for planning ahead. Following my
appearance on The Great British Menu last year I’ve been
fortunate enough to develop some great friendships with other
Chefs from across the country. Ellis (Barrie) and I will be cooking
in each other’s restaurants – a home and away if you like! I’ll be at
The Marram Grass on February 28th and Ellis will be at the Art
School on April 11th. Tom Brown will also be joining me at The
Art School for a very special night on March 8th.
It won’t be long until the new seasonal ingredients start to arrive
and I for one can’t wait!
Until next month. The very best to you and yours for the year
ahead.
Chef Askew