“My main concern was choosing dishes that I think are capable of being perfectly executed for 1100 people all sitting down at the same time! It’s a bit different to the 20 I usually cook for in one evening at Restaurant Nathan Outlaw in Port Isaac!”
He added: “I’ve chosen dishes I think reflect the best fish available to me now and also offer variety so that there is, hopefully, something for everyone. They are all dishes that have featured on menus at my restaurants.”
Guests will enjoy smoked fish cakes which Nathan says ‘are very more-ish and are a winner whenever they feature on the menu in any of my restaurants’. Following that will be the seaweed cured salmon. The cucumber chutney is a clean, fresh addition to the dish and the use of seaweed in the cure rounds off the real taste of the sea. Nathan explained the next course, saying: “Roast turbot, well it had to be, didn’t it? King of British
fish for a very special occasion and, although I don’t have signature dishes, I suppose my Porthilly sauce would be the thing that I would name if asked. It’s a lengthy process to get it right but well worth the effort. It’s something that customers always ask for.”
He added: “I’ve added a light dessert that is lemony and has unusual elements. It will cut through the richness of the rest of the meal. Then to round off, Cornish fudge, what else? Naughty but very nice!”
The dust of Michelin has now settled and all eyes are now on the AA Restaurant Guide Hospitality Awards but does last year’s Chefs’ Chef think it’s as influential in the industry as the mighty Michelin?
“I think it is, yes, but they both have their place,” Nathan explained. “Customers and those in the industry take note of what is written in both guides. That’s why there’s such a buzz about the AA Awards!”