Chef of the Month
Born in South Africa, Barry
Cooperman is something of an entrepreneur, with
fingers in a number of pies. Barry has been the owner
and (sometimes) chef of La Rioja
since the day it opened back in 19xx. It was a little
surprising to discover that La Rioja is one of the
longest standing independent restaurants in Altrincham
to be continually under the same ownership.
The opening of La Rioja in Altrincham was something
of a fluke, a resident of London at the time, Barry
was on his way to a meeting in Manchester when he
became Lost in Altrincham. Whilst driving around he
was charmed by the town and when he pulled up on the
corner of Regent Road and New Street to get his
bearings fate stepped in. Across the road a “to let”
sign in an old Chinese restaurant caught his eye. The
rest as they say is history and two months later Barry
was an Altrincham resident and La Rioja was born.
Barry is charming with a very dry sense of humour -
which occasionally gets in the way of a straight
answer. I was a little surprised therefore when the
answer to the question “what inspired you to be a
chef” elicited an all too predictable response; “Mum”.
However it turned it to be his mum for all the wrong
reasons. His mum sounds like a typical mum from a
certain generation, perhaps you too remember the days
when all vegetables were boiled for so long they had
no taste or texture?
Q. What did you find the
hardest skill to learn?
(that’s in the kitchen Barry!) You cannot create a
successful restaurant without a genuine love of food
and a good sense of taste which is something you can’t
teach. There is a skill in putting together the right
formula for your restaurant. A balance of food,
service, and welcome for your clients.
Q What ingredient couldn’t
you live without?
Whisky. Whisky I queried - surely you don’t use a lot
of whisky in mediterranean cooking? The look said it
all. “Kay, I couldn’t possibly cook without a glass of
whisky in the kitchen”.
Q Who cooks at home?
“We eat our main meal at home and I cook. Some
restaurants do sit down to an early meal before
service but we want to sit down, relax and enjoy our
meal, so even though it’s invariably very late we eat
our main meal at home after work.”
Q Favourite School Dinner?
They didn’t have school dinners in South Africa, in
Barry’s day it was all packed lunches, and we’ve
already heard about his mothers cooking. It sounds
like the tuck shop saved the day. |
Q Is there any food you won’t
eat and why?
“Puppies!” No seriously Barry, there must be something
you won’t eat? “Yes, puppies, they’re cute and they
live with you.” I’m getting desperate - to get one of
these chefs to say there is something they wouldn’t
eat and I try again, perhaps sensing the desperation I
get a straightforward heartfelt answer. “Pre-prepared
microwavable meals”, and if Barry didn’t cook at home
apparently that’s what he’d get.
Q What is the worst dish you
ever cooked? A good chef is not going to
cook a bad dish, it’s all about taste, but Barry’s
being a good sport and trying to come up with an
answer for me, and I don’t know about you but “Life is
too short to stuff a mushroom” made me smile.
Q What piece of kitchen
equipment did you really want then never use once
you’d bought it?
You don’t need gadgets to cook.
Q Is there any food you won’t
cook and why?
“Puppies”. Sigh. No seriously Barry, what about
ethically, don’t you have any problems with modern
farming methods or techniques? This actually provoked
a serious response. “The best tasting food will have
been ethically produced, a chef is only as good as his
ingredients - you’d be surprised what I pay for a
lettuce.” - I was!
Q Who would you most like to
cook a meal for?
“Gordon Ramsey”. Apparently the redoubtable Mr Ramsey
wouldn’t last 5 minutes in Barry’s kitchen.
Q If you weren’t a chef, what
job would you most like to do?
Sorry, we can’t print the answer as we’re afraid of
being sued! If you want to know you need to visit La
Rioja and ask Barry yourself.
Recipe: Tortilla
Espanola |
