WW L L INTERVIEW
AN INTERVIEW WITH PAUL ASKEW
Wirral Life talk to Paul Askew- Celebrity Chef and owner of The Art School Restaurant in Liverpool- about his life, career and TV appearances.
Paul Askew grew up in a small terrace house in Cleveland Road, Sunderland in the North East of England. His father was a Captain in the Merchant Navy, working for Blue Star Line, whose main office was located in Liverpool. Many of Paul’ s early years were spent travelling the world, from London to Dubai, where he went to school for 2 years- he then spent some time in Singapore and then back to the Wirral. Paul puts it down to the spice and fish markets of Dubai and Singapore that ignited his passion for the culinary arts. Paul moved to the Wirral when he was 4, which remains his home today. He studied at the Grammar school and following his A-Levels went on to study catering at the local college( Wirral Metroplitan) before following a career in the industry that has seen him work on both sides of the Atlantic. Paul is the owner of the famous Art School Restaurant in Liverpool, and has appeared on Saturday Kitchen and more recently, Great British Menu. He is also the current Chairman of The Royal Academy of Culinary Arts in the North of England. Here we talk to Paul in a fascinating and exclusive interview.
It’ s only a few weeks since we last saw you on TV competing in the North West heat of Great British Menu, so obviously our readers will want to hear all about your experience on the show.
Firstly, let’ s talk about the low score Daniel Clifford gave for your starter, which must be really hard for a Chef of your calibre and experience to take- why put yourself through that pressure? Ha ha, I thought you might want to ask about that! I loved the show it was one of the best and toughest challenges of my career. I felt, as you can imagine, very surprised and a little puzzled as I had the dish on at the restaurant in the run up to filming and it was universally endorsed as a popular Art School favourite. With Claremont Farm asparagus and summer truffles, I was sure the connection with the Wirral’ s own Lottie Dodd, the 5 times Wimbledon winner would be absolutely in-line with the brief. Lottie was known as the Little Wonder and asparagus is something of a little wonder, growing up-to 5-6cm overnight. Daniel obviously saw it differently, and as he is a two star chef
who has a lot of experience on the show you have to take that feedback. I say the same to the brigade in the kitchen and I expect a dignified response from them. I’ m not sure if in his own little way he wanted to give me a little kick, maybe in his eyes to get the best out of me – or maybe he just doesn’ t like duck eggs! Either way I enjoy the pressure and feel I am at my best when it’ s at its most intense. Chefs of my era and calibre know how to react to challenges and opinions, so I didn’ t let it get to me and I was determined to get to the final day to cook for the judges. Probably the most important thing for me was to represent Liverpool as a city, to my knowledge I was the first chef running a restaurant in the city to appear on the show. I wanted to bring some focus on the dining scene that’ s happening in the city and the show was a great platform to do it.
You bounced back brilliantly later in the week with a stunning main course of hogget served four ways, called“ Summer Memories with Marjorie” this scored a perfect ten from Daniel- how did that make you feel? It was very emotional. The dish was invented for my mother who was sadly terminally ill at the time of filming and passed before the show was aired. Although we are sworn to secrecy by the production team I was able to share with her. So at the time it wasn’ t about the show, or proving anything to Daniel it was about me doing the best dish I could, to honour my mother and show off some of the best rare breed meat that the North West can produce. It was massively emotional and thankfully satisfying and I guess as far as the show goes it put me right back in the competition and helped me cook for the judges in the regional final on the Friday. Clearly it’ s now a signature dish at the Art School and features on our current excellence menu, guests are served it in exactly the same style as the show, complete with Hebridean Hogget Horn Jus jug. My mum would have loved not just the taste of the lamb but also the ceremony of the presentation.
I would imagine that appearing on both Saturday Kitchen and Great British Menu has been good for business- would you say that this is the case, and if so which show has made the biggest difference? wirrallife. com 17