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Juniper Restaurant

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malcolmwilliamson

malcolmwilliamson

Posted
Posted

Paul Kitching and his partner and Juniper manager, Katie O’Brien, are set to leave "in order to pursue more Michelin stars."

Other subscriber's to Juniper's email updates will doubtless also have received the information. There's no mention of where the two of them are looking/moving to, nor who'll replace them.

Perhaps I should have gone to Juniper instead of the Modern on Tuesday :angry: .

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RDB

RDB

Posted
Posted
Doh! It better not be London, thats just what London needs, another ace chef!!!

Not surprised and indeed they will achieve those stars, they know what to do. Now if he does does move out of the North West, and with such poor 'results' for this are in Michelin, both star (entry and demotion) and bib, it is surely looking grim up North. Did someone mention something about the culinary wheels of Manchester moving.......... :wink:

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Andy Lynes

Andy Lynes

Posted
Posted
An interesting reason for leaving a restaurant. The pursuit of michelin stars!

I thought it should be about pleasing your customers and making money??

I don't think the two are incompatable at all, especially for an experienced, mature chef like Paul Kitching who I imagine won't be chasing his tail but has a pretty clear idea of how he wants to try and achieve the accolade. Chefs give so much of themselves to their trade that its not unreasonable for them to want something back in return.

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nikkib

nikkib

Posted
Posted

but as the chef why would him leaving get him more michelin stars? Surely its about staying put and working that bit harder wowing the guests/inspectors and the accolades will follow? All sounds rather impatient and oddly thought out - unless he is going to be the new head chef at a big london hotel... Have they got someone at the connaught yet?

"Experience is something you gain just after you needed it" ....A Wise man

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wackychef

wackychef

Posted
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but as the chef why would him leaving get him more michelin stars? Surely its about staying put and working that bit harder wowing the guests/inspectors and the accolades will follow? All sounds rather impatient and oddly thought out

Couldn't have put it better myself...If he ,and the place were worth 2* stars he would have achieved it by now.Just moving to a new restaurant doesn't intitle you to gaining accolades.

Never trust a skinny Chef

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wackychef

wackychef

Posted
Posted
impatient? Hes been there 12  years for fucks sake! 

Anybody here been in the same job 12 years?

Raymond blanc over 20 years,still hasn't got his 3rd* ...maybe he should relocate??

To Tokyo?

yeah thats a good idea they hand out stars over there like there goin outta fashion!

Never trust a skinny Chef

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Infrasonic

Infrasonic

Posted
Posted

I think maybe the issue was getting investors onboard prepared to splash the cash on the current site, even though they have faith in Pauls ability.

Perhaps they didn't think Alty is a prime location for a two * restaurant?

Mebbe Pauls going to look at a site with a catchment area that could get some of the southern foodies/tourists (even if it's a bit of a trek like Cheltenham)

Pure speculation on my part...

I

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thom

thom

Posted
Posted
impatient? Hes been there 12  years for fucks sake! 

Anybody here been in the same job 12 years?

To be fair he's not just an employee, he's a shareholder in the company, Soups Ltd, which owns the business. I don't know many people who've stayed in a job for twelve years but I know plenty of people who have run their own companies for twelve years where they have been shareholders.

I'm not sure if Altrincham is a natural place for a two star restaurant but equally you could have said the same thing about Winteringham Fields (hinterlands of North Lincs/outskirts of Hull). "If you build it they will come"! Possibly...

Interestingly the Manchester Evening news had a (none) story today that because Matthew Tompkinson started his career in Altrincham and had said he would love to bring a star to the city he could be lined up as the next chef. Probably nothing more than the typical Evening News "2+2=hatstand" approach to journalism.

That said, come on Matthew, take the plunge! Brown sauce on your bacon butties, proper kebabs, Red Chilli, all the cow-heel and tripe you can eat! Follow your heart to the grim North!

Cheers

Thom

It's all true... I admit to being the MD of Holden Media, organisers of the Northern Restaurant and Bar exhibition, the Northern Hospitality Awards and other Northern based events too numerous to mention.

I don't post here as frequently as I once did, but to hear me regularly rambling on about bollocks - much of it food and restaurant-related - in a bite-size fashion then add me on twitter as "thomhetheringto".

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Kropotkin

Kropotkin

Posted
Posted

I hope Paul K stays up North somewhere. If he's after someone else putting up more of the money in the push for stars (and I don't blame him at all for this), then there are a couple of well-founded, established restaurants in the market for new chefs at the moment... Would he fancy a move to the wilds of Lincolnshire, or, perhaps, to working for the landowning class at Bolton Abbey? Or indeed, would they fancy his idiosyncratic food?

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BertieWooster

BertieWooster

Posted
Posted
The great man himself adds his views on the Mancheter food scene and rules himself out of moving to the city centre.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/new..._for_star_award

Not quite what he was saying this time last year.

But I note...

"The problem here is that a great new restaurant will open up and hire a chef from a brasserie around the corner - it's a bit of a merry-go-round in chef terms."

*ouch*.

I was wondering about the Dev too Kropotkin, but surely that would be a no-goer, that has to be fine country house hotel cooking, the Duke and Duchess (who would ultimately appoint) wouldn't stand for all this fancy nonsense.

It no longer exists, but it was lovely.

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  • 4 weeks later...
RDB

RDB

Posted
Posted

Word on the street has it, that my favourite restaurant Juniper, is heading North rather than South, in fact quite North to the great city of Edinburgh. Good choice IMO!!!

Some great events happening in the run down to their closure in April, available on their website.

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Gary Marshall

Gary Marshall

Posted
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i wish them all the best but wonder if edinburgh will prove to be an out of the frying pan into the fire type situation as they're undoubtedly plenty of money up there but it doesn't appear to be being spent on dining out from what locals tell me. school fees seems to be the biggest spend for the monied.

you don't win friends with salad

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RDB

RDB

Posted
Posted
Word on the street has it, that my favourite restaurant Juniper, is heading North rather than South, in fact quite North to the great city of Edinburgh. Good choice IMO!!!

As RDB predicted, the

move north is confirmed.

Six days after me announcing the destination, the great food writers at the MEN finally report on it. Considering Juniper was always the trump card they used in reflecting their seriousness as a food reviewing authority, you would have thought they would have reported this a lot quicker. Do they not read Egullet? :smile:

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PS

PS

Posted
Posted

And there's an article in the Edinburgh Evening News today:

Linkety-link

To be fair, the top-end dining market in Edinburgh is picking up compared to where we were 5 or 6 years ago (based on the difficulty I've been having of getting into The Kitchin at less than a week's notice, at least). Stick a hotel into the mix to cover some costs and he should be doing alright.

PS

Edinburgh

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