Chef of the Month
The Fat Loaf in
Altrincham is a modern bistro offering some of the
best food in the north. Sister hotel to ‘The Fat Loaf’
in Sale, the restaurants are run by partners Paul and
Tim. Paul Taylor works
alongside Executive chef Matt in the Altrincham
restaurant going to great lengths to ensure that all
the ingredients are locally sourced and of the very
best quality. The service is friendly, the food
excellent.
Q: What inspired you to
become a chef?
At 14 I started a part time job in the evenings and
weekends working in a restaurant in Knutsford. I was
inspired by the head chef, he was firm, fair & very
passionate. Looking back the food was nothing out of
the ordinary but where others would have cut corners
he made everything fresh, and he would never waste
produce, which is the sign of a good chef.
Q: What did you find the
hardest skill to learn?
The hardest skill to learn is managing people in my
every day kitchen, every chef is different and it is
hard to keep everybody motivated.
Q: What ingredient couldn’t
you live without? I couldn’t live without
shallots & butter
Q: Who cooks at home?
I don’t eat at home a lot, but when I do I like to
throw quick things together or if I am lucky then my
wife will cook Turkish food for me.
Q: What is the best dish you
have ever cooked?
The best dish that I have ever cooked is a turbot dish
with tomatoes on the vine, spinach, asparagus and a
meat jus, simplicity but by sourcing the best
ingredients at the right time of year, it was an
absolute dream to eat.
Q: What piece of kitchen
equipment did you really want then never use once
you’d bought?
I rarely use my pasta maker but it was well worth the
buy because when I do use it, it is great fun! |
Q: Is there any food you won’t
eat and why?
I will try anything at all!
Q: Is there any food you
won’t cook and why?
I will cook absolutely anything.
Q: What was your favourite
School Dinner?
Steak pie, mash & cabbage
Q Who would you most like to
cook a meal for?
I would most like to cook a meal for my whole family,
extended family so about 50 or so people and see what
they all thought.
Q: If you hadn’t been a chef
what would you have been?
I cant imagine my life without cooking or hospitality,
perhaps something like a wine waiter/sommelier, I am
really interested in wines too.
Fat Loaf Altrincham have recently opened a bar
called Morte Subite beneath the restaurant in a space
which was formerly the morgue for Altrincham Hospital.
For more information on the restaurants and the new
bar visit.
www.thefatloaf.co.uk
Fat Loaf recipe:
Banana & Weihenstephaner baked Cheesecake |
