Elite Chef Recruitment

Platinum Recruitment – Feature of the Month Each month the team at Platinum Elite Chefs bring you an industry specific feature from one of the UK’s finest establishments. This Month’s feature: David Campbell – Head Chef – The Royal Crescent Hotel – Bath 5 Star ***** - Relais & Châteaux The Royal Crescent Hotel an impressively located luxury hotel in the World Heritage City of Bath, occupying the two central buildings of the world famous Royal Crescent. The hotel boasts 45 unique rooms offering guests the ultimate luxury accommodation and the stunning fine dining restaurant, The Dower House, the restaurant is headed up by Head Chef David Campbell previously of Pennyhill park. Find out about David in our 60 seconds on the clock feature......... Chris Where in the world are you from? Scotland, Helensburgh, small seaside town 20miles North of Glasgow Describe a typical day as head Chef at The Royal Crescent A typical day starts at 9, check deliveries are ok, check on the team, Sort out any supplier issues and then onto a section, Normally Sauce or larder, I like to be in the Kitchen, I’m not at all office based and never wish to be, I normally do a section for service, but will often do the pass, especially on a Friday or Saturday night Which chef influenced you the most? Michael Wignall and Marc Wilkinson, Watching them was a massive learning curve in terms of The attention to detail, focus and dedication you need to succeed, I’m not at their level, but if a little of what I learned from them rubs off then happy days. What / where was your best ever meal? Best ever meal, two stand out, Marco at the Oak room in 99, He was at his peak then, flawless cooking and service that I have not seen bettered since, more recently had the 10 course menu at Roganic, stunning food and really love what Simon Rogan does, he’s Britain’s Version of Rene Redzepi, inspirational What’s your favourite cookbook? Favourite cookbook is a tossup between The French laundry cookbook and Quay by Peter Gilmore, Visually both brilliant, The French laundry really gets across Keller’s Holistic approach to Cooking What is the next restaurant you want to visit? Next Restaurant to visit is Tom Aitkens, His new style looks Great, Very Natural broken style of food in understated room. What’s your favourite produce to cook with? Herb’s, I love herb’s, they give dishes real punch in flavour, we use a lot of Herb puree’s at the crescent to give dishes flavour kicks, also to finish things off, but they have to be appropriate to the dish and not just there for colour, We do a Basil Quinoa With a Bass dish at moment which is typical of where we use herbs to add real depth in flavour to a dish. Where would you go on a stage? Stage would love to go to L’enclume, Simon Rogan ticks all the boxes at the moment, Natural, innovative, lots of Vegetables and herbs and he seems a lovely guy too If you weren’t a chef what would you be? Would have gone into personal training, I love weight training, cycling and gym work, not much time for it at moment, but that’s what I would have done had I not become a chef What would be your advice to anyone looking to get into the industry? Work hard, start in as good a kitchen as possible, listen, respect the ingredients and eat in as many restaurants as you can afford to see what others are doing. For more information on David Campbell and The Royal Crescent Hotel, check out the hotel’s website www.royalcrescent.co.uk Follow David on Twitter @Royalcreschef Follow The Royal Crescent Hotel on Twitter @royalcrescent David thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy day to take part in our recipe feature and good luck for the future. Why not try and recreate David’s stunning Goat’s Cheese and Vanilla Cream dish Enjoy, See you next month Andy Goat’s Cheese and Vanilla Cream, Pickled Vegetables, Spiced Pastry, Toasted nuts and Seed’s Goat’s cheese cream • 300 grams Sussex slip cote • I x vanilla pod • 5g spice of angels • 50g Philadelphia • 150mils double cream • 1tbsp maple syrup Place Slip cote, vanilla, maple syrup and spice of angels in chilled robot coupe bowl and pulse for approx 1 min, be careful not too overwork or it may split! Scrape the sides down and then quickly incorporate the double cream on a high speed, check consistency and adjust if necessary, mix should spread but hold its shape on a plate! Vegetables • Candy beetroot x 3 • Stripy beetroot x1 • Shimeji mushrooms 1 x punnet • Butternut squash x 1 • Baby carrots x 8 • Radish x 2 • Baby Nave x 4 • Swede x 1 Pickle liquor • 200 mgs cold water • 200grams chardonnay vinegar • 50 grams castor sugar • 3g each white peppercorns • Fennel seeds • Coriander seeds • Star anise • 1 x bay leaf • 1 x red chilli split Place all ingredients in a pan, bring to the boil, cook for 3 mins then leave to cool, pass once cooled and store as required. To Prep vegetables, Trim all too desired shape or size, blanch and refresh in boiling salted water till al Dente, pickle individually using the pickle liquor for maximum of 2 hours, drain and Reserve for service Pastry • Feuille de Brick x 3 sheets • 30 g clarified butter • Maple syrup • Pinch of Mace Defrost Pastry, add 1 tbsp. to clarified butter and season with a pinch of mace, using a pastry brush carefully brush on the butter mix to the pastry sheets, layering up till you have a triple layer, place a sheet of silicone paper on either side and press between heavy baking sheets. Cook at 180C for 8/9 mins till pastry is crisp, golden brown and evenly cooked. Nuts and Seed’s • Black onion seeds • Caraway seeds • Poppy seeds • Cracked Almonds • Fennel seeds • Cracked Hazelnuts. Roast all for 2 minutes in a hot oven Service Place dollop of Goat’s Cheese on Centre of a plate, evenly work into a disc using the back of a small step palate knife, Sprinkle the various Nuts and seeds evenly on to the cheese, Season the vegetables with a touch of Hazelnut oil, salt and pepper and carefully assemble on top of the Goat’s Cheese, be careful to get different height points for presentation, once all vegetables are on carefully snap the Brick pastry sheet into shards, slide the shards into wherever there is gaps, garnish with Nasturtium, Red vein sorrel, Coriander cress, Navelwort, Viola’s and any other suitable leaf or Herb. Dress lightly with small amount of Hazelnut oil and serve. If you’re interested in working alongside top quality chefs such as David Campbell send your CV to andy.sinclair@p-r-c.co.uk or call 01202 203150.

Click here to download a PDF