What you might have missed on The Caterer this week

Not selling out

This week The Caterer met chef Tom Sellers and asked him to define success: “If you’d have asked me what perfect looks like 10 years ago, I would have said three Michelin stars. I think now I would say it’s not about the accolades, it’s about the relationship you have with yourself, your peers and your loved ones. It’s knowing when you look in the mirror you did everything you could not to let them down.”

The newly introspective Sellers has clearly moved on from the ‘bad boy’ image the press loved to label him with in his youth, and his restaurants have moved on too. He is now at the helm of the fine dining Restaurant Story and the more casual Story Cellar, serving dishes such as dry-aged pork chop with brandy pickled dates and a “superlative” bread and butter pudding, according to the Evening Standard’s Jimi Famurewa. But, as Seller says, his image never matched his ambition and he wasn’t interested in being a flash in the pan; rather setting himself – and his staff – up for a lifelong career.

He adds: “In its infancy people sometimes asked if [Restaurant Story] was a gimmick; if it would be here today and gone tomorrow. I was very careful about making sure there was substance behind what we did and that we constantly evolved and progressed.”

Cheap as chips

We went back to the noughties to take a look at how discounting in the casual dining space seems to have reared it head again in the face of the cost of living crisis and the fight for those diners who can afford to venture out for a meal. PizzaExpress, once known for rarely serving a pizza at full price, has re-partnered with Tastecard and the Gourmet Society on a discount spree, and other chains such as Café Rouge and BrewDog have paired up with Tesco’s Clubcard scheme.

Although there’s a not so fine line between offering an enticing price advantage to sway a diners’ decision and cutting prices because you’re desperate to keep the lights on, the trend seems to be swaying towards loyalty schemes rather than price cutting, with the accompanying advantages of tailored marketing and rewards after repeat visits. Whichever way you go, it looks like this year the price cuts will be all over the high street.

Can you dig it?

Finally this week we joined the chefs who are getting out of the kitchen and into the garden, growing vegetables that are in a different league in terms of flavour from your average supplier. We spoke to chefs at three restaurants who, whether through curiosity or a desire to take up horticulture, had started a substantial plot, growing heirloom tomatoes, unusual vegetables such as celtuce, or partnering with established farmers on superior breeds such as Dexter beef. 

Root in Bristol lives up to its name with an array of spankingly fresh produce grown by one of its chefs in the beds at veg supplier Wilding. The chef, John, goes there once a week to weed, harvest and help out; the restaurant gets to use the veg; the supplier has some ’free’ labour. Root chef-patron Rob Howell says: “We slowly learned that if you’ve got amazing produce, you don’t have to do too much to it. We’re used to pretty naff vegetables in this country.”

One thing all three restaurants were hazy on was whether growing your own is an economic advantage. But even after all the sowing, reaping, manuring and harvesting, they do all agree that the flavour makes it all worthwhile. 

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