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Photo by Brian Roberts
THE ART SCHOOL RESTAURANT
by Carl Housbey
In the February issue of Wirral Life magazine, we held a competition
to win a pair of tickets to a special dinner held on 8th March at The
Art School Restaurant, where Chef Patron Paul Askew collaborated
with fellow Great British Menu competitor Chef Tom Brown to
create a stunning six course menu consisting of three innovative
dishes from each chef.
The lucky competition winner was Alison Kent who brought along her
Dad John for the evening, and when chatting to them in the Art School
Cellars afterwards it was clear they had both had a fantastic time. For
the many thousands of you that entered but didn’t win, here is a brief
rundown of what you missed.
Tom Brown, originally from Cornwall, has spent the past two years as
Head Chef of Michelin starred Nathan Outlaws at The Capital, and is
about to open his own restaurant called Cornerstone, in Hackney Wick.
I do not need to introduce you to local legend and fellow columnist Paul
Askew as he has been a firm favourite of North West foodies for over
20 years.
Both chefs are passionate about the use of the very best local and seasonal
produce available, so I knew we were going to be in for a fantastic night,
and by the sound of the excited chatter whilst we enjoyed Champagne
and canapés it was clear the rest of the dining room were of the same
opinion.
We began our feast with chef ’s snacks of prawn and crab cakes with
muscatel dressing, and an amuse bouche of white onion velouté and
crispy shallots, both of which were delicious. Tom’s first course was cured
Cornish monkfish, almonds, grapes & sherry vinegar that showcased
the quality of fish available from his homeland, with wonderfully the
firm flesh of the fish complemented by a mouth-watering citrusy tang
that you associate with a ceviche.
Our next course was also from Tom, which was an outstanding rarebit
tart made with natural smoked haddock, Ormskirk leek & Montgomery
cheddar. This was one of my favourite dishes of the night, it had superbly
balanced flavours, great textures with the creamy rarebit encased in a
thin crisp pastry case.
38 wirrallife.com
Paul then wowed us with his pepper crusted breast of corn fed
Goosnargh duck with golden beetroot, sweet potato charred chicory &
Tales of the Orient red tea sauce. Once again, a dish packed with well-
balanced flavours, the duck was perfectly cooked and just melted in the
mouth – I am sure Reg Johnson would have been proud.
If the night had ended now we wouldn’t have gone home hungry,
but we still had a main course from each chef to come. First up was
Tom with a risotto of black faced Suffolk lamb neck, pickled cockles,
clams, and parsley dressing, the sharp pickle flavours acting as a superb
counterpoint to the sweet fatty lamb. Paul decided to weave his meaty
magic once again, this time with a sirloin of Heswall Galloway beef, leek
ash, ox cheek, pearl barley & Celeriac. This was another of my favourites,
as everything was packed with flavour and expertly cooked by a chef at
the top of his game, from the tender sirloin to the unctuous ox cheek
and finally the sticky but still al dente pearl barley.
The pre-dessert of lychee sorbet was a great choice to refresh the palate
after all the rich and amazing flavours from our previous dishes so that
we could fully appreciate the excellent dessert of coconut pannacotta
with Guanaja crémeux, spice cake, raspberry foam & chocolate soil that
was thankfully nice and light as we were all absolutely stuffed full with
tremendous food by this stage, and I don’t think anybody managed the
optional cheese course.
After dinner we all returned to the Art School Cellars for a few beers
and the chance for our competition winners to have their photos taken
with the chefs, including one of the other guests on the night who was
none other than the party animal extraordinair e Chef Andrew Nutter.
All in all it was an excellent event, and a real pleasure to eat superb
food prepared by such talented chefs who had both showcased the
outstanding ingredients available from their home regions.
If this has caught your attention then don’t forget the food and service at
the Art School Restaurant is always excellent, and they have many more
special events planned in 2018, so don’t miss out, make a reservation
now by clicking on www.theartschoolrestaurant.co.uk or by telephone
on 0151 230 8600.
To see what else I get up to, why not follow me on Twitter @carlhousbey