Chef


forward to the judging of the Menu of the


Year Catey sponsored by Quorn


All Menuwatches go


Chamberlain’s H


Chamberlain’s restaurant in the City of London boasts contemporary cooking with a classical background from chef Andrew Jones. Janie Manzoori-Stamford paid a visit


oused in the historic Leadenhall Market and surrounded by an ever-increasing number of steel and glass towers in the City of London, Chamberlain’s restaurant epitomises the juxtaposition of its location. Its menu, devised by executive chef Andrew Jones, features dishes best summed up as con- temporary cookery with classical roots. Given his culinary background, that’s no surprise. An apprenticeship at Claridge’s led to 13 years at the iconic hotel, during which Jones worked under Mario Lesnik, John Williams and Martyn Nail. After being named the 2004 Roux Scholar, Jones completed a stage at three- Michelin-starred Michel Bras in Laguiole, France, and executive chef roles at the Westbury hotel and Artisan, both in Mayfair. He joined Chamberlain’s in 2011, later expanding his responsibilities to include the company’s thriving event catering arm, while being made a shareholder of the business. Since then, he’s worked hard to refine the food offer, both in the three-storey main restaurant and the relaxed basement brasserie, so that the menus reflect his aspirations to


50 | The Caterer | 20 March 2015


“If you’ve got quality ingredients, you don’t need to do a lot to them” Andrew Jones


serve “proper cooking”. “I don’t want all my meat going in the water bath,” he says. “When it’s game season, we serve traditionally roasted game. That’s how I learned as a commis and that’s how I feel it’s best to cook it.” Steaks are served with the same approach,


cooked in a pan, with butter, thyme and garlic because, for this chef, it’s all about flavour. “If you’ve got quality ingredients, you don’t need to do a lot to make them taste good. If the quality is poor, that’s when you have to work hard to get flavour into your dish,” he says. For that reason, Jones has lined up a bevy of suppliers – including Finclass for meat and Golden Fruit for fruit and veg – that under- stand his needs. They also match the quality of produce that comes from Chamberlain and Thelwell, the Billingsgate premium seafood wholesaler run by brothers Ray and Jeff Stead- man, who founded Chamberlain’s as a fish restaurant in 2001. Indeed, it is some of the fish dishes that have proved so popular that it’s likely they will never leave the menu, such as lobster bisque scented with Armagnac (£9.75), Dover sole (grilled or pan fried, £39.75)


www.thecaterer.com


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