Michael Caines - Oxford Brookes...

Michael CainesA serious profession

The five senses

When Jonathan met Tom

Cook a delicious lamb dish

The magazine of Brookes Restaurant, Oxford Brookes University | Summer 2014, Issue 3

restaurant.business.brookes.ac.uk

BROOKES RESTAURANT MAGAZINE | SPRING 2014

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4 Hot off the pass All the latest news from the Restaurant

8 On order The latest menus, courses and offers from the Restaurant

10 Michael Caines The awarding winning chef pops in for a chat

14 Five star Five of our students prepare for their themed evening, The Five Senses

16 Practice makes perfect Manager Jonathan goes back to basics with Tom Kerridge at the Hand and Flowers

18 Chef’s table Lisa, our chef trainer, cooks up a fantastic lamb meal

19 Put a cork in it Our resident wine expert, James, suggests a glass to go with the dish

Editor Steve Buchanan

Associate Editor Jonathan Warhurst

Editorial Contributors Lisa Cross, James Franklin, Sue Pueschel

Design Ben Higgins

Photography Steve Buchanan, Christopher Cornwell, Mike Davies

As part of the Oxford School of Hospitality Management, within Brookes’ Faculty of Business, the Restaurant is operated by a creative, professional and passionate team of staff and students. During semester time, the Restaurant is key to the development and training of our hospitality degree students. On most evenings and weekends, it operates as a commercial restaurant, employing students to ensure a high level of service while providing a unique culinary experience for our diners.

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Hello......and a warm welcome to our third Brookes Restaurant magazine. In this edition you will find a range of stories that demonstrate the rich contribution that the Restaurant makes to the life of the School. As an educator, and previously an operator in the industry, I recognise that quality service lies at the heart of any successful business. I am hugely aware of the varying levels that can be found, and for us all here at the Restaurant, the key to this has to be about equipping students with the right tools, skills and opportunities available. I believe that the only way to master these is through solid operational training backed by support and development. To succeed you need to practise, practise and then practise again until it is perfect - I call this ‘Practise Makes Perfect’ and we actively deliver this to our students, preparing them for their work experience. We reflect on this mantra through three features that, for me, epitomise it. We were delighted to host late last year, Michael Caines MBE, who is one of our Patrons for Oxford Gastronomica, who had a chat with our students about his success and rise to the top; we also focus on the preparation and planning that goes into our students’ final year events, by hearing from one of the student groups and I go back into the ‘real world’ for the day with an ex-student of mine and now double-Michelin starred chef Tom Kerridge. We also have a delicious lamb recipe and accompanying wine for you to try, and we’ll catch you up on other news too, including winning the ‘most outstanding service’ award in the Oxfordshire Restaurant Awards for the second year running. We hope you enjoy reading the Restaurant magazine, and I always welcome your feedback, comments and suggestions.

Jonathan WarhurstBrookes Restaurant Operations Director

“As an educator, and previously an operator in the industry, I recognise that quality service lies at the heart of any successful business.”


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Hot off the pass

The latest news from the Restaurant

Still award winningEighty-two restaurants entered 2013’s Oxfordshire Restaurant Awards, the winners of which were announced at a glittering ceremony at the Manor Hotel on Weston on the Green in October. The Restaurant beat off all competition to take the award for Best Service, and came second in the Gastronomic Restaurant category. Jonathan commented, “This is an astonishing achievement. It is testament to the talent and passion of our team, and of our first year students, that the restaurant has been recognised in this way, for the second year running.”

In Earth we TrustIn September last year our Hospitality students were invited to the Earth Trust’s fundraising ‘Celebrating Our Countryside’ dinner… to cook the main course. Serving over 100 guests, our students lived up to the Restaurant’s ethos of using food sourced locally, including pork from Coopers Oxford Pork and vegetables from Cultivate from the Earth Trust’s Farm. The students also provided the excellent service throughout the evening to guests including our friend and chef Raymond Blanc, blur bassist and cheese maker Alex James and the Guardian’s environmental journalist George Monbiot.


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Literary delightsThis year’s Oxford Literary Festival was held in March and we were delighted to announce that some of our supporters and patrons spoke at the festival, with the Restaurant hosting a lunch for our guests during the week. Speakers at this year’s festival included Professor Jessica Harris, Madhur Jaffrey and Claudia Roden.

Get qualified!Since January 2013 the restaurant has offered two Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) qualifications at level 1 and 2, attracting people both from industry and those members of the public with a passion for wine. Owen Farr, one of our ex-students and who took part said, “The sheer amount of knowledge and passion [from teachers] was evident.” We have had great success already and the qualifications have been very well supported, with an amazing 100 per cent pass rate since we began. New dates will run again during 2014. For more details or to book a space please visit our website.

Time for supperWe shall be re-launching our very popular Supper Club from June, bringing you a selection of inspirational speakers to come and dine with. From local business people, artisan producers, entrepreneurial individuals and the odd Olympic medallist (rower Tim Foster, pictured), join us for an evening of good food, fine wine and great conversation with an educational twist. You can enjoy a seasonal two-course supper with a great wine and relax with a group of growing friends. All evenings will start at 6.30pm and will finish at approximately 8.30pm.

Dates for your calendar are:

Tuesday 1 July

Wednesday 6 August Thursday 2 October

Thursday 6 November


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Training daysThe Restaurant has developed a wide range of accredited and non-accredited training courses for our industry. Our Brookes Restaurant Industry Training (BRIT) has been designed to help support all aspects of the business. The courses can be run in house or here at Brookes and Jonathan is delighted with the immediate uptake from local companies, as well as two enquiries from overseas. In order to complement and facilitate BRIT training, a group of us from the Restaurant came together and trained towards EAT! (CIEH Level 3 Award in Education and Training), and therefore becoming one of the first in the country to take part in this new training course. To find out more, visit our website and click on industry training.

Quick snack?Soda BreadThis is delicious bread is made without using yeast and is great to serve up with a rich pate, as a sandwich or simply on its own with jam and butter.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Combine all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Mix together the honey, black treacle and the buttermilk then add this to the bowl. Mix well, the dough will feel quite wet but don’t worry, this is fine. Mould the dough into a round and dust with some more oats. Bake for about 50 minutes at 190oC. Take out, leave to cool and eat – as we say, delicious.

Plain flour 125gWholemeal flour 125g

Oats 80gBicarbonate of soda 1tsp

Cream of Tartar ½tsp Salt ½tsp

Honey 1tbsBlack treacle 1tbsButtermilk 250ml

Brookes RestaurantIndustry Training


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20%off!Get 20 per cent off your bill (not including drinks) when you dine at the Restaurant. Simply cut out (or print if you’re reading us online) and show this

voucher when ordering.

This offer is available from 02/06/2014 to 08/08/14.One voucher per table, valid for up to 6 guests.

This code cannot be accepted in conjunction with any other offer or voucher.


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On orderAll the latest menus,

courses and offers from the Restaurant

We operate 40 weeks per year, our main focus on lunch service, Monday to Friday. We revise our menus on a monthly basis to ensure we maintain our ethos of seasonality and integrity, this ensures we give you the best possible produce there is. In addition to the menu there are weekly changing blackboard specials available to choose from.

We are still here!Although we haven’t moved, there are many amazing changes happening here on the Gipsy Lane campus, with the arrival the new John Henry Brookes Building. Why not pop up and take a look for yourself and swing by us for lunch, we’d love to see you! And don’t forget we are still open until Friday 8 August, so take a look at our summer menus and remember there’s always our weekly blackboard specials to choose from.

Lunch for £6? Done.

2 courses £13.95

3 courses £15.95


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Check out our websiteSince we last published Brookes Restaurant magazine, we’ve also revamped and relaunched our website with a new look. With a cleaner booking system, all of our courses, classes and forthcoming events, and some superb images of the food we serve, it’s worth a look at brookes.restaurant.business.ac.uk

JuneStarting Monday 2 June

Duck croquettes carrot and orange soup – honey liquor

Crab timbale pink grapefruit – chilli and mint

Cotswold tomato and chive risotto spring onion crisp

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Chargrilled skirt steak Lyonnaise cake – courgette béarnaise

Roast fillet of salmon crayfish bisque – summer vegetables

Courgette and tarragon tart Jersey royals – wild rocket dressing

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Strawberry flavours clotted cream ice cream – lavender shortcake

Tiramisu hazelnut pralines

Brookes ice creams and sorbets

British cheeses oat cakes and homemade chutney

JulyStarting Monday 30 June

Kelmscott ham hock rillettes gooseberry relish

British seafood platter marinated prawns, crispy squid and whitebait

Baked onion seed goats cheese minted pea broth – thyme cream

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Gloucestershire free range chicken smoked bacon – parsley crumble –

potato, rocket and bean salad

Fillet of sea bass roasted fennel – orange and dill butter sauce – samphire

Somerset cheddar and apple patties baked beets – summer slaw – iced horseradish cream

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Traditional raspberry trifle

Slow roasted peach buttermilk pannacotta – basil sorbet – granola crisp

Brookes ice creams and sorbets

British cheeses oat cakes and homemade chutney

Stay loyalWe are just about to launch our new loyalty card scheme and for every £1 you spend you gain one loyalty point. Claim back loyalty points on a range of food, drinks, our specials, and our cookery and wine school classes. All are redeemable at lunch time on food and drink. For more details on terms and conditions, please visit our website.

We know it may seem a long way ahead, especially when we’ve only just started to enjoy the sunshine, but we are already taking bookings for Christmas 2014 lunch and dinner, see online for more details.

Christmas is coming (soon!)


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“You have to put

something back.”

We were fortunate enough to have celebrated double Michelin starred chef Michael Caines MBE visit the Restaurant late last year to share his insight

and give an inspirational talk about how he developed a passion for gastronomy.


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For over 20 years now, Michael has been at the top of his game. Head Chef of the two Michelin star Gidleigh Park in Devon, he also has deft entrepreneurial skills, and together with his business partner, he runs six hotels nationwide, as well as a chain of successful restaurants. Born in Exeter, he was adopted into a family where his mother nurtured his love of cooking. After leaving college, he experienced three influential years under his mentor Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons and then went on to become Head Chef at Gidleigh. So, in between running his empire and just before he jets off to cook for the Williams Formula One team, we find out how his passion for food was strongly influenced by his own upbringing and education. “You have to put something back,” he enthuses, “You really do, and Oxford Brookes has got a fantastic reputation of turning out fantastic graduates, and the pedigree of students that are coming through, with the qualities they have to offer in this industry, are well-renowned.” Working with Don Sloan the Head of Brookes’ Oxford School of Hospitality for many years now, Michael is a patron of Oxford Gastronomica. “I’ve been helping Don with his programme for a long time now; we’ve taken many students down to Devon over the years. Myself and Marc (Millon) take them out to meet local suppliers and producers to get idea of the industry. Coming up here today, and looking at what they’re doing, gives you a chance to communicate what it’s like to be in the business today.”

Michael understands the importance of education but he nearly opted for military life, “I thought I was going to be in the marines or paras, I never really thought I’d become a chef.” I liken the work ethic of the military to that of being in the kitchen, regimented, hierarchical, and disciplined, “There are parallels. I was not particularly academically minded but I was certainly no fool. I had to grow up at college and I had to be disciplined. In the first year, I nearly got kicked out but I had ability and in the second year, I realised this is my future, and I was made student of the year.” After college, Michael went to the legendary Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, “It was incredible. I describe my years with Raymond like going through puberty, it’s a once in a lifetime thing - you can’t do that twice! Raymond was, and still is, a mentor and a dear friend. His passion for food is unequalled to anybody I’ve met.” Michael’s similarities with Raymond are striking - if you remember from our last edition, Raymond spoke of how his earliest memory of food was gathering around the table with his family, “We would get together and really enjoy

eating. There was always interaction between us helping my father out in the garden, where he grew his own fruit and veg, and my mother in the kitchen, who turned the fruit and veg into lovely meals.” This early provenance shaped Michael’s ethos; he was laying the foundations for his own passion for food, “I think it cemented it. It’s not like we went to all the great restaurants, it wasn’t like that at all. I cooked with my mum, I started baking when I quite young and that led to my interest in the kitchen, because in those days there weren’t many celebrity chefs on the TV to inspire you!” It’s an interesting point, and aware that he has made TV appearances himself, I ask him if the rise of the celebrity chef is a good thing for gastronomy? “It is a good thing. Take Jamie Oliver for example, when he arrived on the scene, he had the banter and the cheeky chappie persona but he very quickly used his profile to raise issues that he felt mattered. He took on the establishment and the big companies and accused them of over feeding children, and this was based on good evidence and good reason.” I ask him what he thinks about shows like Bake Off, “That’s different, it’s just a popular movement, but what Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood have done is romanticise and bring back to life what my mum used to do every Sunday, and that’s to bake. It’s good that we’ve used TV and the characters involved, and that it’s brought back to life these values that were lost.” It would be fair to say that Michael positively uses his ‘celebrity’ and is now seen as being the primary champion

of promoting Devon as a culinary destination, “I have been championing my ethos for 20 years now; that it’s all aboutusing regional and local resources but now there are so many voices saying it. The good thing is that those whoknow me recognise that I was the pioneer, and that, over time, I’ve consistently delivered that message. I guess being a top chef, I was given the opportunity to be the lead voice, to speak on behalf of a community and ultimately become the patron of it.” We draw to a close as Michael has to go and prepare for a busy evening giving a talk to fellow Gastronomica colleagues but before he leaves, I was curious to know how he continues to maintain such high standards? “You need a great team and you have to have a vision of what it is you want to be. You have to have the appetite to be the best, and understand who and what the competition is. Each year brings its own challenge and life’s not meant to be easy but you have to enjoy what you do. If you don’t have the belief or desire to be the best, then success won’t happen.”

“Oxford Brookes has got a fantastic reputation of turning out fantastic graduates, and the qualities they have to offer in this industry, are well-renowned.”


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Do you work in the hospitality industry?

Then come and join us on one of our Brookes Restaurant Industry Training courses. Fully accredited and delivered by professionally licensed trainers,

our courses are affordable, creative and up to date.

Our flexible and adaptable approach means we can work with you to design bespoke training to meet the specific requirements of your business.

Brookes RestaurantIndustry Training

Our courses include: Managing Your Team | Engaging With CustomersAspects of Food and Drink Service | Sales and Event Management

Focus your knowledge and skills now, by visiting restaurant.business.brookes.ac.uk/training


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Five star

Paddy Christa Will Lydia Megan


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As part of their final year, our students participate in a module where they’re able to apply everything they’ve learnt within a realistic working environment... the Restaurant.

How we do this? We ask our students to gather themselves into groups and then randomly pull an event theme out of a hat! Well it’s a little bit more sophisticated than that. After our students have received their chosen theme, they’re expected to bring together everything they have learned over their four years of study and deliver a successful event. The themes have been developed to allow students to engage with contemporary hospitality ideas such as trends, global food issues, as well as exploring the role of food in cultures. Paddy, Will, Christa, Megan and Lydia are a final year group who have just embarked on this amazing module, “It was a lucky dip, so we pulled out the Five Senses, which focuses on sensory dining - it’s what we wanted!” shares Paddy. Before they embarked on this challenge, all the students underwent a year in industry, plying their trades and putting into action what they’ve learnt. “This is the module where all of your other modules come together; all the practice, all the prep and all the marketing, you do wonder what it means on its own but now you can actually see how it all falls into place.” ‘The Five Senses’, was an evening where all the senses - so, sight, smell, sound, touch and taste - were heightened through the food and dining experience. “There are several chefs who are expert in sensory dining but none more so than Heston Blumenthal, so we found the guy that works with Heston, emailed him and he replied within an hour and he was really keen to help. “We met up with him and he shared his thoughts with us, which was fantastic. His style is that you heighten every level of your sense, so you can alter people’s perceptions using visual aids, such as pictures and projections, sounds, touch, aromatherapy and so on until every sense is heightened.” Says Megan. Although all the preparation and the intense learning our students have received over their four years will help, there is still a lot of work needed to go into an event. Each team member assigned themselves a role: Paddy was chef, Will was service, Lydia was finance, Megan was marketing and Christa was HR.

“It kept developing each week, and we had to stay on top of it. We decided it would be five courses for the five senses, we’ve marketed the menu, did practice days - which meant deciding on the menu and knowing exactly what to do - costed it and then tested it, and that was tough.” Says Will. So how did they do? “We felt as though the whole event was a huge success.” Says Christa, “We were fully booked which was fantastic; in fact we even had to turn some people away due to space!” “The food came out exactly as we had planned, and the special effects that came alongside each course really enhanced the guests’ senses; the stinging nettle soup got every ones lips tingling, the hickory smoked salmon came out ‘smoked’ and the miracle berries worked to perfection, maybe a bit too well as the wine ended up tasting like Ribena! Thankfully the guests found it quite comical!” Says Lydia. That’s it for this year, and what a success; the team did brilliantly. Next year will see another cohort join us to find out if they’ve got what it takes, but I’ll leave you with thoughts of Paddy on this whole experience, “In my first year, the fourth year students were doing their events and it was always a really big thing. You have to go and see it, you have experience and see how it works and how they do it, and you guys will be doing this down the line, so all the way through, the staff make it a big thing, it’s your chance to show that we have picked up everything we’ve been taught and then take it outside the university.” I think this sums up the fantastic learning opportunities you receive at the Restaurant perfectly; it’s practice that will make perfect.

Our themed evenings will be back from February 2015, please visit our website to find out more.

Paddy Christa Will Lydia Megan


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Practice makes perfect

StudentsFloraandBecky,withJonathan


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It was a great privilege to be invited over to work at the Hand and Flowers for the day and get my hands dirty. I had an amazing time with the young front of house team, they were so enthusiastic. They offer such a relaxed but highly professional and knowledgeable service. I got to spend some time in the kitchen and I really got to appreciate the level of skill, the quality of food and the time it takes to create the dishes that makes Tom so famous. I’ve known Tom for over 20 years; he was one of my students when I taught at the Cheltenham Hospitality College. I’m sure every group in every year have their characters but Tom really stood out from the crowd. All the staff realised he had great potential, especially in the kitchen and it is wonderful to see your students leave for the industry and mature into hospitality professionals. I’ve always loved the hospitality industry, I guess being born and brought up in Blackpool, had something to do with it. The seven mile stretch of golden sands along the Fylde coast boasted an array of large hotels. And of course not forgetting the famous piers and pleasure beach. I got my first job at 15 at the Dalmeny, which was, and still is, one of the largest private hotels in St Annes. I was offered a Saturday job as a porter, meeting and greeting guests and carrying their luggage; I made a fortune on tips. I worked my way up and by the time I was 17, I was in the reception on a Saturday. I was also enrolled at Blackpool College, which at the time was the leading catering school in the UK. During my time at the Dalmeny, I developed my passion for hospitality and it’s almost certainly where I learned to be organised! I left college in 1984 and for the next ten years I worked my way up through a variety of roles to finally become general manager of two hotels in Bristol and Tewkesbury.

Whilst in Tewkesbury, I met the then head of school of Cheltenham. He asked me to look into the possibility of securing external funding to develop a bar/bistro next to the training restaurant within the college. I approached Whitbread’s, their head office was in town, and they agreed to a £70,000 investment - a month later I joined the college as a full-time member of staff. It was here that I discovered my other passion, teaching. I had the opportunity to work with school leavers who had so much passion and energy you needed to be young to keep up with them. You had to cultivate their interest and develop their knowledge, whilst giving them the skills and the opportunities before they entered the world of hospitality. It is funny, but taking some time out at the Hand and Flowers has given me me fresh ideas but to also reinforce something that I feel very strongly about and that is practice makes perfect. I guess through my own experience, this is a philosophy that has been with me right from the beginning. I use this mantra in our first year module and, along with the Brookes Restaurant team, we try and ensure that our students recognise the importance of it. It also allows our students to reflect on their training and their skills development, which is especially important when they move in to their placement year and are studying to be the leaders of the future. You really have to appreciate that basic skills have to be repeated until perfection, no matter what the job, from pot-washing through to front of house service. And when you gain these skills along with the management studies, they will gain a well-balanced outlook to allow them to leave as great leaders, strong communicators and a genuine understanding that hospitality is a truly global business which will allow them to succeed wherever they wish to go. Right, now for to the washing up!”

For over 30 years now, Operations Director for Brookes Restaurant, Jonathan Warhurst has built a reputation as one of the leading exponents of training in the industry. But, even the boss needs to go back to training... We recently sent Jonathan off to two Michelin star restaurant The Hand and Flowers for a day’s work experience as one of his students was chef proprioriter Tom Kerridge.

StudentsFloraandBecky,withJonathan

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Griddled rump of lamb with confit breast and a red wine and mint jus(Serves 4)

Ingredients

Two trimmed rumps of lamb

One half breast of lamb

200g chopped root vegetables (carrots, turnips and parsnips would be ideal)

150mls red wine

One litre lamb stock

Red wine and mint jus

50mls red wine vinegar

50g Demerara sugar

50mls red wine

One tsp of mint

50mls rapeseed oil

Rosemary and thyme for flavour

Methods Breast of lambPre heat oven to 170°c (gas mark 3). Chop the root vegetables into cubes and place in a deep baking tray, then season the lamb breast and place on top. Cover the breast and the vegetables with the lamb stock and the red wine, and then braise in the oven for approximately two hours, remove and shred whilst still hot.

Lamb rumps Now it’s time for the rumps. Turn your oven up to 200°c (gas mark 6) and very simply, roast the rumps to your own liking, so, rare, medium or well done. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before slicing ready to serve.

Red wine jusAdd the vinegar and sugar together in a pan and reduce down by half, then add the red wine and reduce by half again. Allow to cool and whisk in the oil and mint.

This showstopper of a lamb course is an absolute must to impress family and friends. Straight from the Restaurant’s menu, this is a simple dish to cook. We use local Lechlade lamb for this; however, any good, organic lamb would be ideal. Try it for a Sunday roast.

Chef’s tablewith Lisa Cross


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Put a cork in it with James FranklinThe lamb was a visual delight when the chefs plated and knowing I had to deliver a drink of equal quality, I got the grey matter working overtime on what would complement this great dish. The heady flavours of rosemary and thyme soften during the cooking process and therefore don’t dominate at the end. This allows us to think about mostly red wines that can display big ripe fruit elements or wines with a bit more tannin and acidity. A strange sounding grape, Nebbiolo can be found as stand-alone and relatively inexpensive, but can also show itself in the forms of Barbaresco or Barolo wines, the latter being the big daddy in all sense of the word. The Nebbiolo will enhance a natural sweetness found in lamb and work amazingly well due to a good level of acidity found in the wine.

This is not light and will normally be found in the upper 13-14 per cent ABV range, but the suitability of it is just perfect. The aromas of violet and rose along with the earthy truffle and liquorice palate make this great for lamb. The alternative brew? An excellent accompaniment to this dish, and brewed very close to where I was brought up, is Greene King’s Old Speckled Hen. It was first brewed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the MG car factory in Abingdon and it is regarded as one of the company’s flag ship brews. It has a delicate nose with hints of toffee and an almost smoky nose and bitter edge, along with the wine; it is an excellent matching partner.

Adult Classes

Flat breadsSaturday 31 May

ThaiSaturday 28 June

Classic breadsSaturday 5 July

Saturday 18 October

VegetarianSaturday 12 July

Taste of Spain Saturday 13 September

Festive breads Saturday 22 November

10 week cookery course

17 September to 19 November

Junior ClassesOur Junior Classes are suitable

for ages 8 to 14.

A taste of Christmas Wednesday 29 October

Brookes Restaurant Wine School

WSET Level 1 – Foundation certificate in wineSaturday 11 October

Level 2 – Looking behind the label

5, 12 and 19 November, all Wednesday (these are full days)

Brookes Restaurant Cookery and wine School 2014

Now recognised as one of the county’s top cookery and wine schools, we offer a wide range of courses suitable for adults and children and for all

levels of ability. Why not consider giving a course as a gift for friends and family? We also supply registrations in an attractive gift format.

For all details of the courses and to book a place, please call 01865 483803, email [email protected] or visit our website

Please note, all events are subject to change

To enquire about alternative formats, please contact 01865 484848 or email [email protected]

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