Chefsdiary resurfaces in Newcastle….

Just a quick note to let those interested know how I am getting on over here in Newcastle at Terry Laybourne’s flagship restaurant “Jesmond Dene House”.

It’s now been almost 1 month (remember that I’m here for 3 months) and I am now pretty well integrated into the Meat section within the team. There are 3 of us on this section and I am working as the commis chef preparing the different garnishes for the various meat dishes for the lunch and evening menus. Our lunch menu changes every 2 weeks and the dinner menu every season (3 months).

So far so good…..even though I’m a commis, I do all of the cooking for the garnishes for the meat dishes when the orders come in….so I’m finally au fourneau / at the hot plate, and it’s fantastic !! I work 5 days per week, split shifts every one of those days (8h30 – 15h and 17h30 – 11h).

I’ve been out to meet one or 2 of the local suppliers (Steve Ramshaw with his organic beef / lamb / pork, and Anne and Hugh of Ravenshaw Farm with their magnificent middlewhite pigs), but more visits are planned (flour mill, lobster diver, Jersey Dairy cows….amongst others).

I’ll be back soon with a film of where I work so that you can see what a typical day is over here…..but one thing that I can say is that the guys that I work with are passionate about their food / cooking, and the quality is atleast as good here as I saw in Paris.