W
L
LOVIN' SUMMER!
BY PAUL ASKEW, CHEF PATRON OF
THE ART SCHOOL RESTAURANT
Wow, what a start to June. The weekend of 31st May, 1st & 2nd of June
will live long in the memory and for all of the right reasons.
It was my honour to deliver a gala dinner at the stunning Concert Room
at St George’s Hall to officially launch proceedings for the award winning
Bordeaux Wine Festival.
The festival itself, held on the very beautiful, if, at times, slightly windy
Pier Head, and, of course, part of the truly inspiring River Festival, was
a phenomenal success. Not even moments of the traditional British
Summer could dampen the spirits of the weekend and this truly
wonderful gastronomic event. My hope is that the festival will continue
to go from strength to strength over the coming years and I’m very
proud to have been a part of it from the outset with the team at Culture
Liverpool.
I was delighted to host the Chef demonstrations and bring some of what I
regard as the very best of new culinary talent, and friends, including Tom
Parker (The White Swan at Fence & Michelin star holder), Tom Brown
(Cornerstone, Hackney Wick), Ellis Barrie (Marram Grass) along with
one of my great friends Nigel Haworth (Northcote, Michelin star holder
& Winner of BBC’s Great British Menu 2009) for a truly memorable
weekend.
The festival followed the inaugural Sommelier competition, which was
fiercely competed by some of the region’s top Sommeliers. The weekend
had the added ingredients of a certain Champion’s League Final which
just so happened to have coincided with my son, Harry’s 19th Birthday.
Harry has been working with me over the last nine months and was,
once again, by my side at the Gala dinner and over the weekend of the
festival, while he, as yet, shows no desire to follow me into the kitchen,
his technical skills are a real asset to the business!
Of course a certain result in Madrid saw an estimated three quarters of
a million descend on the City to celebrate the homecoming and so the
festival drew to a triumphant close late Sunday afternoon and the teams,
from the Art School Restaurant and Cellars and I got a well-deserved
rest, of sorts! The events of early June follow a very busy and rewarding
May. I very much enjoyed my second appearance on Channel 4’s Sunday
Brunch, where I was delighted to officially bestow the title of Wirral
Borough of Culture Ambassador on fellow Wirralalian, Simon Rimmer.
The show was closely followed by the final of the North West Young Chef
of the Year Competition. Two of my brigade had made it through to the 6
Chef North West final, Beth Disley-Jones, 17 our apprentice Pastry Chef,
42 wirrallife.com
who’d come into the final having won her semi-final heat and Chef de
Partie, Edwin Kuk, 20. After a very competitive final, featuring some of
the rising stars from across the whole of the North West, I was absolutely
thrilled for Ed who scooped the top award and is the North West Young
Chef of the Year. Ed will go on to compete in the national semi-finals
and is the third winner of the award from the restaurant since we opened
nearly 5 years ago.
Our culinary events calendar shows no let-up in June. First up its Take
6 Colleges Fundraising Dinner on Friday 21st June 2019 at Anfield, the
home of the newly crowned European Champions. At this black tie event
I’ll be joined by some of the UK's best chefs for a very special charity
evening to support the Adopt a Scho ol Trust, The Royal Academy of
Culinary Arts. The event will see the top talent from the regions catering
schools working alongside some of the country’s top chefs.
The line-up includes: Hrishkesh Desai - Executive Chef, Gilpin Hotel,
Gary Jones - Executive Chef, Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons,
Lisa Goodwin Allen - Executive Chef, Northcote, Steven Doherty MCA,
Chris Marshall - Executive Chef, Liverpool FC and James Holden -
Adopt a School Regional Chef and of course, myself.
Then on Wednesday 26th June, we’ll host German Winemaker Oliver
Zeter, for the latest in the series of our hugely popular Wine Makers
evenings. Oliver will be joining us personally on the evening, for the
latest ticket availability please contact the restaurant on 0151 230 8600.
One last note for your diary: Social Sunday July 7th, in aid of Hospitality
Action. The lunch hosted at The Art School, sees the return of the three
North West Great British Menu series 13 Chefs. It will be the first time
the three of us, Tom Parker, Ellis Barrie and myself will cook together
since the show for this very worthy cause. Tickets are priced at just £65
and will be limited to 48 seats with profits going to Hospitality Action.
My involvement in these events, dinners and competitions, is all part of
a personal commitment to raise the gastronomic bar in the region. I feel
we’re making real progress and, as each event is delivered to the highest
standard, the message that this region has some of the finest ingredients
and top culinary talent is continuing to gather pace.
Those fantastic ingredients will, of course, form an integral part of our
new Summer menu that will be launching in the restaurant shortly!
Until next month! Chef Askew