Great British Menu 2021: Alex Bond, North East Heat
Alex Bond successfully raises over £100,000 for his new venture Mollis
Great British Menu 2020 chefs: Alex Bond, North East heat
'I'm very much in isolation:' Michelin-starred Alex Bond is cooking 400 meals a week for NHS workers
Alex Bond says chefs aren't just grunting knobs anymore
After opening Alchemilla five years ago, Chef Patron Alex Bond, is branching out to the casual dining scene with Mollis, a fried chicken and soft serve spot.
With work already well underway and an opening expected for early November, Alex and his team are working round the clock to finalise the coming together of the project.
With 6 days still remaining for the kickstarter, Alex and the team have successfully exceeded the initial target of £100,000.
It came after he raised over £70,000 worth of funding in just two days, before hitting the £85,000 target three days later.
Despite hitting his initial target, there are still a host of prizes still left to be claimed, with the chef behind the Michelin-starred Alchemilla encouraging people to still support the fundrasier.
Commenting on his new venture, Alex said: "I think that most fried chicken is crap, although I love it in the same way that fish and chips is crap really when you look at the technicality of it but it's amazing," he explained.
He added: "If you go to your local chippy there's nothing crispy about the batter's crap, the peas are under seasoned, the chips are crap but it's wicked. I think there's nobody doing it very well, so it's one of them things that we could do really, really well. There's a couple of places in London doing it but not round here and it’s the thing that I very much enjoy when I'm not cooking fine dining."
After being placed on the back foot from lockdown, soaring costs and unexpected structural issue, the award-winning chef has set up a fundraiser due to launch on October 1, with the aim of raising £100,000.
Revealing the prizes up for grabs, Alex said: “We’ve got some incredible rewards to offer including tickets for a series of collab dinners with some of Britain’s best chefs including Simon Martin of Michelin starred Mana in Manchester, Peter Sanchez of Michelin starred Casa Mia and Decimo and Brad Carter of Michelin starred Carters of Mosley”
CAREER ON THE RISE
After being awarded Chef to Watch by The Good Food Guide, with Alchemila picking up New Restaurant of the Year by Craft Guild of Chefs, four AA Rosettes and a Michelin Star in 2020, Alex has made a significant name for himself in the world of fine dining.
Aside from numerous awards, he’s appeared on The Great British Menu, which saw him take his starter to the banquet, as well as battling it out with chef Tom Aitkens on Snackmasters, in the bid to create a KFC dish as close to the original as possible.
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Alex Bond successfully raises over £100,000 for his new venture Mollis
Great British Menu 2021: Alex Bond, North East Heat
Great British Menu 2020 chefs: Alex Bond, North East heat
'I'm very much in isolation:' Michelin-starred Alex Bond is cooking 400 meals a week for NHS workers
Alex Bond says chefs aren't just grunting knobs anymore
