This year marks The Square's 21st birthday - and it is a year I have become particularly proud of. maintaining standards is hard enough but to remain successful in the highly talented restaurant world we find ourselves in is the real challenge.
Most recently The Square was voted No seven in the Top 100 UK restaurants at the National Restaurant Awards and I was voted Chef's Chef for 2012 - an award that was as humbling as rewarding to receive. And then there's the book! Several years of hard graft has seen the launch of my debut cookbook "The Square: The Cookbook, Volume 1: Savoury". In addition we have also produced a newly launched, specially commissioned six part digital mini series and podcast, which has been produced in tandem with the cookbook.
Entitled Kitchen Foundation, the films were set in The Square kitchen and feature myself demonstrating how to form the foundations of a successful kitchen - inspired by the core features in the cookbook, the films show how to create the perfect pasta dough, how to fillet a fish professionally, how to create flawless mayonnaise and dressings, and much more. I also launched my first podcast, covering the key topics of my career including the cookbook; recipes; methods and techniques; influences and inspirations; my career path, including why I became a chef; the early years; career challenges; the methodology of running a 2 Michelin Star restaurant; advice to aspiring chefs; my personal life including the marathons/triathlons/iron men competitions I now partake in.
Keep an eye out on our website http://www.squarerestaurant.com/Cookbook/Videos.aspx as we'll be launching new episodes of the video each week.