3 April 2015 East Kilbride Post
FOOD
food
www.eastkilbridepost.co.uk/food Focus
17
Peter’s Seafood, Grill and Bar Richard Young, Head Chef p FOTO: EK_POST
He May Not Be Ramsay, But For Local Chef, Thats Perfect
Head chef and father of two Richard Young moved to Scotland in his twenties and has been serving up Scottish fair ever since. Richard lives in St Lenords and brings a touch of fine dining everyday to East Kilbride at Peter's Seafood, Grill and Bar.
editorial@eastkilbridepost.co.uk
lCan you walk me through how you pick the menu? lI’m really quite unpredictable in a lot of things that I do becau- se I’m a lot older than a lot of the kind of up and coming chefs. I’m a bit more traditional but try to put a modern twist on it. There’s things that you can’t change- things like monkfish and bacon- that go together and always has done. The only thing you can re- ally do is put a little twist on the side, like the satay sauce that I did tonight. We tend to stick wi- th the season. I change the me- nu probably far too often, it dri- ves them bonkers actually but we have to because we get a lot of regular customers who co- me in all the time. The last thing you want them to do is come in and have a look at the laminated menu that has been the same for the last six months.
lHow did you get into coo- king? lWell my brother was a chef but I can’t honestly say that it
was a direct kind of ‘my brothers a chef I want to be a chef’. See how kids go to university now and they don’t really know what they want to do, one of mine in- cluded, in those days catering college was a place you went when you didn’t really know what you wanted to do. I’m not going to kid on cooking was a mad passion, it wasn’t.
lSo what kind of thing is in season right now? lThings like scallops and monkfish- real cold water stu- ff. Veg-wise you have things li- ke purple sprouts and broccoli. Seasonal is okay up to a point, you have to write menus that are actually going to sell.
lTell me about the gourmet night that you put on. lFor the gourmet nights, the customers don’t know what they’re getting. I don’t know exactly what they are getting un- til around 5 O’clock that night. We haven’t got the luxury of be- ing able to try a dish 10 times before we actually serve it. Abo- ut 75% of people who come to the gourmet night have been before, the rest is fresh blood and that’s what you want. Peo- ple are quite happy to not know what they are going to be served cause they know it’s not going to turn their stomach. They quite enjoy the fact that they can gu- ess what is in their meal. I’m not saying it’s mundane to just do the normal thing all the time, but this gives us a chance to shake
it up a bit. I learned a long time ago that you can’t always ple- ase everybody. All you can do is use the best quality products and try your best. You can’t le- gislate for everybody’s tastes. I don’t make ice cream because that’s a logistical nightmare but everything else is made comple- tely from fresh.
lWhat is the hardest thing to cook? lEvery chef says fish but that’s a load of rubbish. The hardest thing to cook is a steak, I wo- uld say. For fish, although they are all different textures, they’ve got the same kind of mass abo- ut them. Monkfish and cod, they take slightly different times but the technique is the same. The problem with steak is that what I would call medium rare isn’t the same as what you would call medium rare when you order it. That’s why it’s difficult- not tech- nically difficult but trying to ple- ase everyone. I’m not a preten- tious chef either, if you order yo- ur steak well done I’m not going to say ‘I’m not doing a steak well done,” if you’re paying £20 for it I’ll dance round it if you want.
lWhat golden rule would you share with cooks at home? lThe first thing is the ingre- dient; you should always buy the best ingredient that you can afford. Don’t scrimp on yo- ur main ingredient, whether its beef or fish, buy the best you can afford. See, without good qua- lity ingredients, there’s no point.
I’m not going to say ‘I’m not doing a steak well done,” if you’re paying £20 for it I’ll dance round it if you want.
Richard Young
You can’t make a silk purse out a sow’s ear- that’s a fact. That is mirrored in a professional kit- chen too. We can’t afford the best of the bet of Aberdeen An- gus beef- we buy great beef but we buy the best we can afford. And we charge accordingly.
lWhy do you enjoy your job so much? lWell I like cooking, over the years I’ve been offered jobs in bigger places but I don’t like to be hands off. I had my own wee business for eight years where I had a place not mu- ch bigger than this. A chef Pa- tron type thing and I liked that because I like to be responsi- ble for everything. I don’t like delegation. I like cooking. I ha- ve a standing joke with one of my friends that when we are 70 we will be making crepes over a stove for someone- cau- se it’s in your blood. It’s all con- suming. Legislation is impor- tant but it has taken the shine off of things, there’s a lot of pa- perwork involved now.
llPeter’s Seafood, Grill and Bar in the Village holds the number one place on Tripa- dvisor for the best restaurant in East Kilbride and boasts of extravagant Gourmet ni- ghts and seasonal food to tingle your taste buds. Peo- ple of East Kilbride shouldn’t be dissuaded by the thought of having to tackle tricky fish dishes though: “I think peo- ple think they will be met wi- th a huge tank full of fish…” Judi Lee, manager of Peter’s laughed, “when in reality the menu is about 50/50 me- at and fish.” Mrs. Lee explai- ned how they strive to provide a full package food experien- ce for every customer who di- nes at Peter’s. Mrs. Lee went on to explain about their go- urmet evening: “It is a food jo- urney and a learning experi- ence.” With six courses, whi- ch are a complete surprise for the customer, the menu is made up of seasonal cour-
ses hand picked by head chef Richard Young. The exclusi- ve night is only held 4 times a year and sells out in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, we missed out on this season’s night but there is a Ladies Luncheon on April 16th and a Male Melody Night on May 16th. Peter’s strives to ma- ke each visit to the restaurant unique and memorable. For exclusive deals on wine and food, subscribe to the websi- te at
petersseafoodek.co.uk
OUR MEAL: Starter
Wild mushrooms on toasted brioche. Main
Cod with ragout, olive oil mash and a white wine sauce. Desert
Strawberry cheesecake. WHERE:
Peter's Seafood, Grill and Bar, 38 Kirkton Park, East Kilbride, Glasgow G74 4HX, Tel: 01355 222088,
Petersseafoodek.co.uk
Competition
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