One of my colleagues recently came across some fabulous tomatoes whilst on holiday in Provence, he brought me back a sample and they were the best tomatoes I’ve ever tasted; they were really juicy and bursting with flavour and I knew they would be just perfect for the restaurant this summer.  The problem is that I’m passionate about reducing food miles and getting produce at its best and freshest, ‘just picked’ is really all we want.   The solution we came up with was to persuade local farmer Peter Jones, who set up Wirral Watercress, to grow them in his glasshouses for us. Peter has already developed a great niche market growing his watercress and pea shoots for Merseyside restaurants at his farm near Willaston in South Wirral.   So, I arranged for some seeds to be shipped over from Provence and Peter has been cultivating and caring for them in time for this summer’s season.  We’ve had an update from Peter and the tomatoes are looking good, they are all different shapes and colours, from very dark black right through to orangey yellow.  We can’t wait to incorporate them in our Summer Menu.

I've just judged the Northwest Producers Awards at Ewood Park, the home of Blackburn Rovers.  I was one of 30 judges including Nigel Howarth, Andrew Nutter, Matt Nugent and David Gale.  We had a fantastic time tasting everything from cheeses and beef to chocolate; we picked winners and networked with the other 'madmen' from our lovely industry!  The winners will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony later in the year.  Again it was a really good standard for the Northwest!

Excitement is growing as we get ready to open our new extension on Hope Street.  The new kitchen is operational and is a joy! How ever did we manage before?