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GOOD THINGS COME IN THREES!
BY PAUL ASKEW, CHEF PATRON OF
THE ART SCHOOL RESTAURANT
Wow! Those of you who know me well will know that
it’s not very often I’m lost for words. As I sit to write
this month’s column, I find myself in that predicament.
The last four weeks have been a heady blur of incredible
moments.
The success of the inaugural Wirral Food & Drink
Festival surpassed even my own expectations. Blessed
by wonderful weather, fantastic producers & growers
and entertained by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Orchestra, Lightning Seeds, The Christians & China
Crisis, the weekend was an overwhelming success. So
much so that discussions and plans have already taken
place for next year’s Festival. These include the addition
of a third evening of festivities. I’m so proud of what we
have been able to achieve and hope that a genuine legacy
is created from our Wirral Borough of Culture year.
Our birthday celebrations at the beginning of September
were made extra special by coinciding with a hat-trick of
awards from Michelin’s Bookatable site to accompany our
listing in the UK Top 100 Restaurants from the highly
regarded Square Meal review website. Our awards saw
us win “Best Romantic Restaurant” in the UK and being
shortlisted in the “Best Restaurant” and “Best British
Restaurant” in the UK categories. I’m also delighted,
once again, to appear in the Good Food Guide, with a
food score of 5 one of only two establishments in the city
to achieve the score, which represents “Exact cooking
techniques, balance and depth of flavour”.
34 wirrallife.com
We have also welcomed in a new season, having created
a seasonal menu of Autumnal culinary delights and we’ll
be welcoming the game season with open arms at the
restaurant. We have a trio of new game dishes for you to
enjoy including pigeon, grouse and quail to tantalise your
tastebuds.
And finally, the response to our ever-popular upcoming
Champagne winemaker evenings, with multi-award
winning Champagne house, Charles Heidsieck, has been
wonderful with a limited number still available on each
evening. This year we have two dates to choose from
and, in-keeping with our commitment to raise the bar
and deliver capital city culinary experiences, we’ll be
presenting one of the first opportunities in the UK to
taste the Vintage 2008 which is due for release later this
month. The evenings take place on Wednesday, 16th and
Thursday, 17th October, more details can be found on our
brand new website (theartschoolrestaurant.co.uk) where
you’ll also find our festive menus which will be introduced
from Thursday 25th November and are available through
to New Year’s Eve.
Until next month!
Chef Askew