Connaissez-vous les St Jacques pêchées en plongée ?
L’été dernière, au restaurant de Terry Laybourne “Jesmond Dene House” à Newcastle en Angleterre, j’ai travaillé pour la première fois avec les St Jacques que l’on avait pêché en plongée (en Ecosse, en l’occurrence). Non seulement c’était un produit d’une taille impressionnante (entre 80 et 110g la noix), avec la finesse et le goût à […]
Summer in Newcastle – Get out there and buy more rare breed pork……
Rare breed pigs…..don’t you just love ’em !!! Just to be clear on one thing before going any further – I am not an expert on rare breed pork, far from it. However, having tasted rare breed pork from 2 different farmers in the North East, I can certainly say that the pork is magnificent […]
Conversion from Consultant to Chef : phase 2
It’s almost 1 year to the day since this incredible, crazy, passionate and sometimes stressfull conversion process began. The first step was my “Initiation” – 1 CAP Cuisine (infact my actual diploma only arrived this morning !), 6 restaurants / caterers, umpteen cookery / chef books (of which my latest is a true gem – […]
Next steps for Chefsdiary….
Yesterday I had a much needed discussion with my wife (whilst the kids were jumping around in a softplay castle with hundreds of other little Geordies) about the next step after the end of my time here in Newcastle. There’s a bit more than 1 and a half months to go here in Newcastle before […]
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 […]
it’s official – 80% for my CAP Cuisine
On the day of my departure for 3 months work at Terry Laybourne’s “Jesmond Dene House” in Newcastle, I received my official CAP Cuisine results. Overall, a decent mark, but I’m disappointed with the practical exam score (15 out of 20). Anyway, it’s all pretty academic, as we say….the main thing now is the real […]
Je pars pour Newcastle….le prochain chapitre
Mardi soir et je commence à m’organiser pour mon départ pour Newcastle Upon Tyne….j’ai commencé avec mes livres de cuisine, mes couteaux et mes “trucs” gastronomiques (que mon papa n’aura absoluement pas) comme mon syphon, une mandoline….. J’ai hâte de commencer dans la cuisine de Terry Laybourne, de travailler avec les produits de ma région […]
One step for Chefsdiary, a giant step for the Family Quirke….
Yep, I’m nearly there….the end of my CAP Cuisine will be upon me in 3 weeks exactly !! That’ll be the end of the first step towards my own restaurant. Well the first bit of news is that I’m not stopping there. The overriding aim of me spending 8 months doing this CAP was to […]
big break for chef’s diary…
Quite some time since my last post, and since there’s been a few difficult moments, burns, cuts and even managed to stab myself (purely by accident, I might add) ! So, in today’s post I will cover 3rd period at La Fontaine, and end of Le Zephyr trip to London doubts – where I’m at […]
Preparing for the “Next Steps” – looking for a “Mentor” & visits to Newcastle
2008 hardly started and I have had 2 trips back home already to see my family in Newcastle Upon Tyne. One visit was for pleasure, the other for more personal and painful reasons (which I will cover in another post when the time is right). During this extended time in Newcastle I have been able […]