ginger chef

it is quite a touchy subject at some establishments and at times i have even had to buy my own ingredients and i have a full set of my own kitchen equipment that is portable to minimise disruption when i go and compete. i have been fortunate at cotswold house and my employers are 100% behind the scholarship as they see the pr and good business it brings in. at present we are finalising dates for my sous chefs to come over to san sebastian to visit me on my stage and get something out of it for themselves . i have never competed in work time and all prizes have been taken as holiday.the major problem i get is jealousy from other members of staff not kitchen but front of house and management. the chefs love it as they can aspire to what i am doing and most of my brigade compete also and i train and take them through the process . my guys winning medals makes me alot prouder than me actully winning the medals. some chefs have major sponsors who pay for everything, ingredients,plates,travel etc. the way we practise is by testing on the paying public. we dont do any dishes that are beyond our capabilities and are not suitable for restaurant service. some chefs cook food they dont do on a daily basis and they struggle on the stage.dishes we do would have been cooked forty times and been paid for and comments returned. once we are happy with the dish we go through the competition set up and how to wow the judges and feel confident on the stage

competitions are something i have grown up with, my father who is also a chef has competed for as long as i have known, when i was a little un he competed against a main rival of achef called freddie jones who was at the time at selsdon park hotel in croydon and his son was working for my father at the imperial in torquay, so with all things cheffy i was carted off to croydon to work for freddie. this is were i got my first taste of competitions at the age of 16 competeing at hotelolympia ( i got a bronze) the thing that i got out of the competition more than anything was meeting other chefs and the real feeling of being in a club, i was competing against paul gaylers chefs and chefs from the ritz and savoy and at the time these were the big boys before ramsay moved in. all competitions were practised in our own time and only those who were at a certain grade were allowed to even represent the hotel as chefs reputations were on the line. i have since gone on to enter literally hundreds of competitions with a pretty good sucess rate.

the dishes were a variety from the foie gras amuse which was a cold mousse to a seabass poached dish which was the main and the worst culprit it was seriously over seasoned and unfortunately we didnt complain as being in the trade sometimes it is best not to . but it has stopped me going back and all the good reports i have read mean nothing to me as my expectations were not met. i have read reviews in catering magazines that shane works the pass at all times and tastes everything. so the consistency i see was coming from the pass. unfortunate but true and in my eyes very disappointing for a two star.

i have eaten at petrus three times and have found it one of the best meals i have eaten. i have had no problems with the seasoning and i have even sent staff there on stages and they have come back enlightened. one restaurant that i did have a problem with seasoning was pied a terre. out of the six dishes i ate three were overly seasoned and one dish my partners was almost inedible almost cured. this for a two star restaurant is not what i expect . a restaurant that gets the seasoning and balance right is le champignon sauvage and is well worthy of its two stars . i will look forward to eating at the berkeley in july

the orrery or one of those conran ones

only went the once and unfortunately only went for lunch before we were leaving. the food was very rich and without the menu in front of me which i will get it is hard to remember. i do know i had pigs ear bread as a canape which was tasteless really and then my starter was the signatue dish of cantal cheese, foie gras and pork rillette, very tasty but presentation was lacking. know i come to think of it we were actually looked down on by all the staff whilst dining there which made me feel quite uncomfortable. my main i cant remember but my dessert was fantastic a hot chocolate fondant style dessert with praline ice cream, i will get the menu tonight when i get home as well as all the menus from the other restaurants, i had a realy good meal at la rotonde , but the two highlights were chapel where the food was consistent throughout with fantastic service and auberge de l'ille which was very modern and the chef is also the host and spends his time in the restaurant finishing the dishes that come to the table and explaining the techniques, the menu is a seven course set menu. the reason for this is one/ consistency, two/ the size of his kitchen and the space for the other three chefs and three/ he has unfortunately only one arm due to a car acccident. the one thing i did enjoy about lyon was how welcoming and friendly all the chefs were and all gave me a tour of their kitchens, signed menus and books etc, i stayed at the tour rose next door to the hotel which this year got a star and was top in the guide millau last year which i didnt know and actually the menu didnt appeal to me. maybe next time. i will post the menus next time as well as my trip to champagne g c

I went to lyon at the beginning of the month and had some fantastic meals all were of a different class , i went to bocuse, auberge de l ille , rotonde, leon de lyon , alexandarin , alain chapel and guy laussausaie off all the restaurants the only one i didnt enjoy particularly was bocuse, yes the flavours were great but the whole restaurant was more of a shrine to him. if you need any info on any of these , i will be more than happy, incidently i went to boyers in reims and le grand cerf and auberge de relais around champagne last week if you need any info

sorry about the capitals , at work at present and quickly sent the mail out, the boss is being very supportive of the stage but obviously i will have to commit myself to the establishment for a while on my return. i have no problem reporting on my stage whilst i am out there and if i can get the info from el nino i will know alot more on my eating habits. realy looking forward to it though. gc

i have known the chef at the black pig for quite a few years now and he quite literally was the driving force in the kitchens at lords and the vineyard, john campbell is very interested in the fat duck philosophy but i know nathan has his own style and his food will reflect what he has learnt but he has also worked at the seafood restaurant before jc and he knows what sort of food will sell, yes it will have twists but this is his first venture and he will soon learn what people want in the quieter months of the season down in cornwall. i for one wish him goodluck and we will hear a lot about him gc

YES PLEASE COULD YOU FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MB FOR ME I WANT TO BE AS PREPARED AS POSSIBLE AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS GO A LONG WAY. WHAT HOURS DID HE WORK (THE HOURS DONT CONCERN ME BUT IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE AN IDEA) AND DAYS OFF , HE IS LISTED AS SUNDAY NIGHT AND ALL DAY MONDAY TUESDAY IS THIS THE SAME DAYS THAT THE CHEFS HAVE OFF, AS I WAS HOPING TUESDAY WOULD BE MY EAT OUT DAY AS EVERYWHERE ELSE IS CLOSED SUN/MON. I DONT HAVE ANY SPANISH KNOWLEDGE BUT I AM SLOWLY READING MY WAY THROUGH PHRASE BOOKS BUT WE ALL KNOW READING IS ALOT DIFFERENT TO ACTUALLY BEING BAWLED AT ACROSS THE KITCHEN. ANYTHING THAT CAN HELP ME WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. KIND REGARDS GC

cheers guys i will look forward to going out there even though i am more confused than ever on the language now. i will keep you all informed on whats going on and where i have eaten. off to boyers in champagne now for a munch. regards g c

was it the 3month stage or the ginger chef bit that gave it away. yes i have been lucky enough to secure my stage in san sebastian and with the closure dates at berasatagui i get to eat at all the restaurants in and around san sebastian. which is a bonus with so many good establishments around and it is also good to break the mould and a scholar to go out of france and train. el bulli would not benefit my establishment and really probably not myself. berasatagui was chosen over arzak mainly due to the closure on a tuesday . leaving only my placement restaurant that i will have to work around to eat at. has anybody worked in this restaurant as i am slightly worried about the language barrier, do the spanish use french for culinary terms like the brits. regards g.c

i'm off to work at martin berasateguis for three months anybody got any info about him and his style and have you eaten there? ginger chef ( new boy)