‘There’s no sense that anyone involved has eaten in an ambitious restaurant outside Liverpool since the turn of the century’
Everybody I speak to in the business tells me that Paul Askew is the loveliest of men, a chef garlanded with plaudits and the acclaim of his peers. And I love Liverpool, so I’m delighted that his new restaurant has been met with gibbering approbation from local diners. But after dinner here, instead of rushing off to spread the word, all I want to do is apologise.
The Art School, Askew’s first independent restaurant (he was formerly chef of The London Carriage Works around the corner), was making all the right “reaching for the stars” noises. The timing, with the reopening of the Philharmonic Hall, couldn’t be more perfect, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what the subtext is, what with its bowler-hatted doorman, splashy scarlet upholstery, modern art and metres of starched linen, in this former Victorian home for destitute children. (Shades of Oliver!, although, alas, I won’t be asking for more.)
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