Ludlow Lifestyle Mar - Apr 2020

More documents

Recommendations

Info

"I think when Fishworks failed…well it gives you plenty of time to reflect on what’s really important to you and what’s not" So I made a phone call to my agent who was on the train on the way up. He was mortified! All I could say to everyone was that 'I’m sorry, I just don’t want to do it'. Financially it was suicide as it was a very well paid job but it was prime time television and all the things that go with it and I didn’t want to be known as a guy on telly. I wanted to build my reputation as a restaurateur and a chef which is what I actually really enjoy. I think when Fishworks failed…well it gives you plenty of time to reflect on what’s really important to you and what’s not and allowed me to make my own choices, not get swept along with ‘this is a great idea’. It was a great idea, it was magnificent. The TV show would have been great but it just wasn’t for me. So the answer is I am regularly asked to do television bits and I will 99% of the time turn them down and occasionally I might do the odd thing but I don’t wake up thinking ‘I’d like to do more television’. 18 for, how can we have a really amazing strategy over five years that gives people top pay, freedom, how can we create a development programme so that people can develop in the organisation.’ I tend to think of the restaurants like a community now. Everybody who works for us belongs to the community. We talk a lot about family but of course family are hard to get rid of and communities are made up of people all contributing, so when people don’t contribute they move out of the community and new people move in. One thing I didn’t realise is that you made significant changes to your menu with regards to being gluten-free. That must have been a big change? Yes! About ten years ago we set about rebuilding all of cooking ranges and changing all of our practices so that offer everything gluten-free. We committed to the business being gluten-free, not just by saying ‘here’s a gluten-free menu’. Everything we do is gluten-free. If we have to swap a bun for a gluten-free bun we do, and it basically means that the whole menu is available to somebody with a gluten intolerance rather than them feeling in a minority and only being able to choose from say five things on the menu. Going back, I first met you at the beginning of the century! 2000, a long, long time ago! Since then you’ve appeared on TV, most notably with Matt Dawson, the rugby player, but do you find yourself too busy to make room to do any shows as of late? The television career took off back around 2008/09. The series Mitch and Matt’s Big Fish became very successful and Denham Productions and the BBC wanted to do series two. So there was a lot of euphoria and excitement from Matt and the team, and they were on their way to London to sign the deal. We had agreed it, gone through it all and I started to get cold feet. I was sat in the restaurant having a brandy and a coffee and I was just thinking to myself ‘I don’t actually want to be a television chef, I want to be in this restaurant cooking’. Surely your heart has to be in it if it’s what you are going to do? I think you are either on telly to drive people to your restaurants, well I’ve been there when you are in a restaurant and so many people want to talk to you because they’ve seen you on telly but never for the right reasons, and the thought that somebody comes to the restaurant just to catch a glimpse of the person they’ve seen on telly is just the wrong motivation. I want people to restaurants because they are really great places socially to go and they have importance in the community and they like your food and that it’s somewhere they want to come to celebrate birthdays and all of that stuff! Absolutely, and you’ve done so, I mean The Seahorse is just brilliant I’ve got to be honest. It’s just delightful the minute you walk in there, it’s such a lovely place to be and I absolutely love coming down there and hopefully when the weather brightens up I’ll be back. One last question; are you doing Salcombe Crab Festival this May? I’m still not sure if I’m going to do it this year. I didn’t do it last year, but I did the year before, but I am hoping to do a fish festival in Brixton, a crab festival in Dartmouth which we always do, and also Dartmouth Food Festival in October which is always great. www.mitchtonks.co.uk
EASTEr eats The next big cooking fest after the festive feast, we think cooking for Easter should be easy. So we've gathered some seasonal favourites with minimal fuss, all from the fantastic cooking app cookwithmands.com GRIDDLED ASPARAGUS with citrus hollandaise The perfect starter, light and delicious - it also lets seasonal hero asparagus shine! Prep: 10 mins | Cook: 20 mins Serves: 4 INGREDIENTS 450g asparagus 1 lemon 1 dash olive oil For the hollandaise: 2 large egg yolks 1 tbsp fresh orange juice half a lemon 2 tsp lemon zest 125g cold butter METHOD Juice the half lemon, grate the lemon zest from the whole lemon, then cut that lemon into slices. Dice the cold butter. To make the hollandaise, in a medium heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, orange and lemon juice, lemon zest, and some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sit the bowl over (but not touching) a pan of gently simmering water and add 2 or 3 pieces of butter, whisking continuously until melted. Continue adding the remaining butter in this way, whisking until the sauce is thick and smooth. Remove from the heat. Heat a griddle pan until hot. Drizzle the asparagus and lemon wedges with a little olive oil and griddle for 2-3 minutes each side, until just tender. Season with salt and pepper, and arrange on a platter. Drizzle with the hollandaise to serve. CHEDDAR & ONION seeded rolls Something about Easter makes baking feel right. This is great for the main meal or as a sandwich with any leftover lamb. Prep: 65 mins | Cook: 15 mins Makes: 10 INGREDIENTS 3 tsp black onion seeds 375g seeded bread mix (from M&S) 200g mature Cheddar 180ml lukewarm water flour, for dusting olive oil METHOD Heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the onion seeds. Move them around the pan for 1 minute, until they produce an oniony aroma. Set aside. Tip the bread mix into a large bowl. Stir in three-quarters of the cheese, two-thirds of the onion seeds and the lukewarm water. Mix to form a ball of dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until soft and elastic. Shape into rolls, then put on oiled baking sheets, well apart. With a knife, slash the tops of the rolls. Loosely cover each sheet with lightly oiled cling-film and leave in a warm place for 40 minutes, until the dough has almost doubled in size. Heat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7 (200°C for fan ovens). Once the rolls have risen, scatter them with the reserved cheese and onion seeds. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden and hollow-sounding when tapped underneath. Delicious served warm with butter. 19
Page 2 and 3: THIS SEASON THIS SEASON AT THE COUR
Page 4 and 5: EVENTS GUIDE Finally, the days are
Page 6 and 7: and contemporary re - imagining of
Page 8: Mazda CX-30 compact SUV Motoring Jo
Page 12: The importance of preparing student
Page 15 and 16: ICED EASTER BISCUITS Makes about 25
Page 17: THE CHEF that rocks Famed for his g
Page 21 and 22: seeds and return to the oven for a
Page 23 and 24: When it comes to traveling, shockin
Page 25 and 26: Glorious walks from the Highbullen
Page 27 and 28: soak in the views at THE HIGHBULLEN
Page 29 and 30: Roof Lanterns and Skylights Compare
Page 31 and 32: THE BATHROOM & TILE GUIDE A roundup
Page 33 and 34: THE DOOR KNOCKER COMPANY Twojays Co
Page 35 and 36: Do you want to make money while hea
Page 37 and 38: ADVERTISING FEATURE The Detective!
Page 40 and 41: Children: getting them interested i
Page 42: ADVERTISING FEATURE ask the experts
Page 45: ROF ROF S'N S'N OSNIKRAP OSNIKRAP o

Ludlow Lifestyle Mar - Apr 2020

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?