One Crazy Summer !

What a great Summer its been. I have not blogged much latley so I thought I would give you a quick update on what has been one crazy Summer.......enjoy.

It's been even hotter in the kitchen this Summer and chefs have been taken to wear oven cloths as soak sweaters during painfully warm services !

If you cant beat em........join em ! ha ha !

Cool but not really ! just silly !

Working at the http://www.thedukeofwellingtoninn.co.uk near Corbridge in Northumberland I met two Hungerian chefs who were brothers. Gabor won North-east Chef of the year this year and I learned quite a lot from him. He was one real passionate Chef. He had spent time gaining experience with Rene Redzepi the man who runs one of the worlds best restaurants called Noma. Gabor was very generous with his time and teachings and even at my age you never stop learning in cooking.

His brother who's name escapes me at the moment ran service most days I was there. His english seemed to be very poor unless it was a swear word. However he was great fun to work with. His favourite saying was " Its bullshit Chris !". "This is bullshit....that is bullshit....bullshit over there.....Bullshit here....Chris !" yes for some reason he called me Chris and I thought it best not to argue with him as he went off on when of his angry rants !!! The Gastro pub is in the middle of the countryside so maybe he was just pointing out all the cow shit about in the fields I will never know ! I Hope to go back soon.

Canny View from the kitchen.

Summer Shocker......

Some of my Summer jobs were...well.....not really as I had hoped but you have to take the rough with the smooth. Being asked to cook Roast potatoes for Sunday lunch in the fryer was not my finest moment. Then setting fire to my Yorkshire puddings added a new dimension to my cooking skills as well as testing the Restaurants fire evacuation procedures.....ha ha !

Flaming Yorkies !

Surely that's what the fryers are for.....Deep fried Roast potatoes. At least I changed the fryer oil. Normally they wouldn't  which means last nights scampi could still be floating around in them will they fried.

Still there was always loads of Alcohol after service to blur the experience away.

I should have known something was wrong about the job when I received my handover from the out going Head Chef when I starting waxing culinary lyrically with him about what I was going to put on. He just starred at me shaking his head and offered me this speech.

" You don't get it Mate. This is just about a week of Culinary Chef survival mate ! Lock the kitchen door one minute after service, rip the cord out of the wall from the check printer and hope no one wants you to cook anything ! " I lost 4 chefs in 24 hours last week mate it wasn't pretty."
He left quickly using the shadows in the kitchen to avoid detection. I closed my eyes and repeated my Mercenary agency Chef Buddha chant !
" Smile and take the money......Smile and take the money......smile and take....

My beloved peaceful Newcastle Quayside job......

I must admit Ive mentioned this staff restaurant before but I love working there. One of my best mates is the Head chef there and June and Tina are two of the loveliest people you could meet and work with. The hours are great in Chef terms and the view of Tyne bridge from the restaurant is truly magnificent.
I love working with Phil. We talk and argue food all day long and always seem to try and out do each other in a childish way...much to the annoyance of the other staff. However the time with Phil helped me get through a very sad part of the year so thank you.

In picture order, Phil auditioning for a modelling job in Chef tight trouser week magazine ! pic two the lunch counter. Pulled Pork baps with Asian coleslaw, Chili Tacos, and Individual Cottage pies...it tasted just as good as it looked. Pic 3 One of Phil's creations " Mexican Celebration Brunch Open Sandwich"
Sausage and egg sandwich with salsa to you and me. Minus one slice of bread so you make you GP on the dish !! ha ha !

My equally Beloved Treehouse Restaurant, Alnwick Gardens.

When I first went to the Treehouse a few years ago now I fell in love with the place. Its quite a buzz working somewhere that is known throughout the world as a tourist attraction and telling people you have worked there. It is true to say that it is one of two places I have worked where I have come away with some truly amazing and fun memories as well as meeting some people who have become close friends.
This Summer when I went there the kitchen was changing the Head chef had gone and some of his team had gone to but Great friends like Marky Mark, Dave, Richard and Rachel in the kitchen still remained to make my stay there fun. David and The front of house team always make me welcome too.

I spent a long time trying to come up with a caption for this pic but out of respect for fellow treehouse chef Rachel I could not ! lol

I think sometimes the kitchen team don't like me taking pictures...or is it the fact while all kitchen service hell is breaking out I'm taking pics....I do like this picture of Rachel though. The way Ive managed to capture her right eye in between her two fingers is almost of professional photographer standards ! ha ha

Matfen Hall, Deepest Northumberland.

I didn't spend much time here but again it was nice to work somewhere where the food was great and meeting a chef who had worked at some of Britain top eating places made the job very interesting. Adam the senior sous Chef there had worked for a Culinary hero of mine Nigel Haworth he of Great British Menu fame and Adam was kind enough to share some of his kitchen tales with me. Obviously I am unable to discuss them because they were as us Journalist's say...."off the record"...ha ha !
On my first day I got speaking to one of the Chefs after 6 hours (!!!!) and he had told me about a young lad who had come to work there on the Monday at 10.00am and by 12.00 pm had gone !
"What happened I asked ?"
"He asked if he could make himself a sandwich on larder and go for a tab break"
Seems fine to me.
"what happened next ?"
"He proceeded to make the biggest most expensive f@*k off sandwich he could and then we never saw him again"
I laughed. The Staff Chef did not. I couldn't help but admire the young want away chef. Its a tough Job and does not suit everyone but like most jobs you only get out of a job what you put into it and sometimes it takes a few months to get used to kitchen life. Matfen is a bit out in the sticks and I couldn't get the picture out of my head of this Young lad walking back to Newcastle munching his energy sandwich while smoking his roll ups ! ha ha !
I spent most of my days helping prep garnish and veg for main course and during service my job was to send out the 'Amuse Bouche' which is basically a pre meal taster for the dinners before they start eating there starters.
Today it was Sushi with Washbi and two types of Caviar ! Well I know there is only one caviar but the second type was tomato caviar which had been made with cold tomato consume and a bit of Chef creative skill and licence !

Matfen had some absolutely stunning produce arriving everyday and I have to say that I thought the food look fabulous. Not too pretentious but bursting with taste !

http://www.matfenhall.com

A lovely venue in my favourite part of the world....Northumberland.

Kelvin Gallagher when he was Head Chef at the Treehouse in Alnwick pretty much re-ignited my love of cooking and being a chef and if it were not for him I would not have taken up a Head Chef job at a Hotel last year. Although this job at the Hotel in the end didn't work out (on some levels anyway) it did give me a massive insight into what its like being a head chef. From dealing with expectant owners, to waking up at 2.00am and realising you had not ordered your lamb and rapidly grabbing you mobile so you could place the order on the butchers answer machine hoping they would get the order, to trying to inspire up and coming junior Chefs that being a chef was a hard but in the long term a rewarding job. The biggest thing I learned being a Head Chef or being in charge was that no matter how much stress you were under the tone you set in the kitchen was the tone the chefs working under you adhere to. If you went in with the weight of the world on your shoulders and made it obvious to everyone around you then they worked in a stressful and unhappy way. If you went in and were happy and joking and talking about the x-factor then the kitchen environment was a happy place too.
Being in charge is tough. You either have it or you don't. You need a real single minded son of a bitch attitude. If it all goes tits up then at least you have made the decisions yourself so you can sleep soundly...eventually.
I remember working at a posh private school in Newcastle under a Chef Manager there and he had been working in catering a long, long time. Nothing seemed to phase him. He was very particular about the way things are done. There was no margin either way while working for him. You either did it his way or as they say you were on the highway ! He was quite intimidating sometimes but you knew exactly everyday what you were doing. It was a bit Machine like if I'm honest.
I remember one day one of the dinner ladies came up to him and said,
"We have a problem X but I didn't want to tell you incase you started to worry X"
X just looked at her and said,
"That's what I get paid for. To worry."
Sounds rubbish but having spent time in charge that is what its all about being a Head Chef. You are paid to worry.
Anyway Ive gone off on one again but back to the assignment.


Kelvin left the Treehouse earlier this year and is the main man at http://www.newton-hall.com in Northumberland.
They had a wedding a day starting in August for 6 Weeks and he asked if I would like to come and work for him during this time.
Whenever I have worked for Kelvin in the past I always have learned things. Whether its just simply working in a more controlled way to being fortunate enough for him to share some of his recipes that he has gathered over the many years he as worked as a chef. So I jumped at the chance and it was a great to work for some old friends and make some new ones too !

Borrowing recipes !

Newton Hall has some interesting statues floating about.

some spooky ones to !

And some interesting details too !

A few smudges from my time there !

The Legend that is Billy B ! Never have and never will again meet a Chef like him !

"So Young Ashley tell me how much bench space do you need to make a couple of Cheesecakes ?"
"All of it Kev ! "
"Ok but how did you get it onto Red Pepper prep ? "

Lee another Legend. Champion Breakfast Chef to the stars !

Sometimes its easier to text each other rather than talk to each other in the kitchen !

Twice baked souffles x 60....nightmare..luckily I was on carrot peeling duty that day ! ha ha ha !

When Pot washers go mad ! I only asked him to empty my bin ! ha ha ! Believe it or not Pot Technician Brian played an Ewok in Return of the Jedi !

"When waitresses go mad ! "
Poor Kyrie was buried under an avalanche of burger buns ! she had to eat her way out poor thing !

"Rather Childish LJ don't you think ! "

Another adventure ends !

Not all work.

A trip to the Ashes at Durham with me mate John. A great day.

A game called feed the snake kept the crowd of drunken sports lovers entertained !

And then there was the food show in London with Alan !

Parting Shot !

The horrible condition known as Chefs arse ! I am thinking about starting a charity to help find a cure for this horrible condition but it will probably involve giving up beer and chips so I don't think Ill bother !