There’s nothing like a snow day when you’re a kid, or when you’re an adult actually, and we’ve had two so far. It’s great to get out with Thomas and enjoy it – though the MINI can’t handle it so getting into work on the bus has been interesting.
In the restaurant, things are going really well. In my last column I talked about wild garlic and leeks, and while we did get a few in before the snow, it may be a while before we see them again.
Though we’re still a little way from the height of spring, a lot of our produce is coming on really well. We’re getting some beautiful wild sea bass in from Hodgson’s in Hartlepool at the moment and it’s fantastic served with salt-baked khol rabi, mussels and fennel.
I’ve always been one for developing how we do things and that goes right down to the little things, including my most recent challenge, changing how we do our bread.
Instead of the little white loaves we’ve done for a while, there will be a lovely bit of sourdough at the beginning of the night served with our quality whipped butter. Then halfway through we’ll be serving some incredible tiny cheeseburgers in brioche as an amuse bouche – something really different which I hope people won’t be expecting but will love to see and eat.
The team are proving themselves week-in week-out and it’s great to see young waiter Luke stepping up to a trainee supervisor. My junior sous chefs, Simon and Hugo, have also moved up to senior sous chefs in the last couple of weeks. They both have a lot of talent and in the last two years have proved they get what we do at Peace and Loaf, I can’t wait to see them develop onto the next level.
With the snow falling outside the kitchen door again, I can’t wait to head off to Benidorm for a cheesy family holiday. Laura and I have been watching the TV show non-stop since we booked the holiday and we’re absolutely addicted. I can’t wait to get out there and see some sunshine! See you soon.
