You’ve got to hand it to him - he’s one of the region’s most talented chefs - and I took this opportunity to find out was just how Andrew manages to be so busy and brilliant, and to have a balanced lifestyle at the same time. With the many demands of my job at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival (which returns this month, 1st - 11th October, see
www.foodanddrinkfestival.com for details), work/life balance is something that I’m constantly trying (and often failing!) to achieve, so I wanted to find out how Andrew gets it right.
Working with relatives (his dad is Nutters’ Maitre’d) and the public, Andrew has learnt to be flexible over the years, but one thing that he isn’t willing to change is his schedule.
The Savoy-trained chef tells me that since opening his own restaurant back in 1994, he’s spent six days a week in the kitchen, crafting new recipes and shifting his culinary focus from French bistro food to more contemporary British dishes.
If the stacks of articles about Nutters are anything to go by, the chef has been rewarded by food critics, authors and customers alike. So is life at the top really as glamourous as the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver make it seem?
Andrew admits that “its not a bad at all, but there are things about the job that people find challenging. One thing is that it’s hard to take holidays. I almost never take a holiday. What I do instead is try to enjoy the spontaneous things that I can do.
“The problems of my job aren’t huge, they just tend to be loads of little things to deal with; sick staff, last minute bookings and if I’ve got something like a Robbie Williams concert in my diary that I’m really looking forward to, I’ll often have to cancel it.
“Instead of being something really good, it’ll turn into something that has negative connotations for me - and that’s not a holiday, or a break, is it?”
I know how he feels. The Food and Drink Festival enters its 13th year this year and during my time in the job, I’ve discovered that during busy periods, you have to wave goodbye to your social and family life. It goes some way towards explaining why Andrew prefers the bachelor lifestyle.
“I live on my own, I don’t have a wife, or any kids, so I can do what I like when I like,” he says. “Because of my independence, I’m never letting anyone down. Instead, I just try to take advantage of random, fun things that are happening around me. I’m a flexible person and it takes me no time to get excited about a big night out after work, or to head off on a fishing trip to Rhyl with a gang of mates.”
Andrew makes an effort to enjoy everything he does - work or play - and cites a recent trip to South Africa as a once-in-a-lifetime highlight. He also enjoys presenting shows on the UK’s burgeoning festival scene. This year had what he describes as ‘the best day of my entire life so far’ at Vintage at Goodwood Festival in August.
“It was just so random and brilliant,” he says. “I was there, giving a demonstration for Kenwood. I was woken up by two Spitfires doing a loop- the-loop over my head and the day just got better from there.”
In fact, making the most of work and play comes naturally to Andrew. His CV reveals that he’s been in the food and drink business since he was just 13, with a huge number of awards to his name, from Daily Mail cooking awards to praise from the Michelin Guide.
I ask him which of the many trophies and prizes lining the hall of Nutters’ Restaurant he is most proud of.
“The Good Food Guide’s North West Restaurant of the Year 2010 was a good one, and I’m incredibly proud of being given the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Manchester Food and Drink Awards last year too.”
He’s published two warmly-received cook books too; ‘Utter Nutter’ (1997) and ‘Nuts about Food: The Art of Seriously Good Cooking’ (2009) which appears in The Independent newspaper’s forthcoming guide to the 50 Best Cook Books.
As a chef and author, he is used to coming top of the game. That’s all well and good, but I wonder how he copes when life doesn’t go quite to plan. I ask him if critics are best ignored or whether he thinks that the odd bit of criticism can be constructive.
“I try to ignore the critics,” he says firmly, “but sometimes things get written, particularly in the age of the internet, which I find hard to deal with.
“A while back for example, a writer called me ‘Manchester’s laziest chef’, simply because I like to enjoy myself on my day off, which is a Monday, and he always sees me on a Monday. That really annoyed me and I said something about it to him, because I know - and he knows - that I work my bollocks off.”
It’s a down-to-earth way of explaining his ethos, but what I come away from our meeting with is a sense of just what it takes to be a top chef in today’s climate.
...there are things about the job that people find challenging. One thing is that it’s hard to take holidays. I almost never take a holiday. What I do instead is try to enjoy the spontaneous things that I can do...
...continued overleaf
LIFE - 27
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