{"id":972,"date":"2021-06-10T08:55:26","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T08:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/?p=972"},"modified":"2021-06-11T07:59:56","modified_gmt":"2021-06-11T07:59:56","slug":"the-best-of-british","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/food-and-drink\/the-best-of-british\/06-2021","title":{"rendered":"The Best of British"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Pride goes to press, the BBC\u2019s Great British Menu chefs will be presenting their season final\u00e9 banquet, the culmination of a tireless search to find the greatest chef in the UK for 2021. Representing Lincolnshire in the North East heat of the competition was Gareth Bartram, whose day job sees him heading up the kitchen of Winteringham Fields in North Lincolnshire…<\/h3>\n
\"Gareth
Gareth and his fellow competitiors on Series 16 of the Great British Menu.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you can\u2019t stand the heat, as the saying goes, stay out of the kitchen. If, on the other hand, you thrive on the buzz and the creative potential that producing cutting-edge dishes provides, the ideal kitchen to be in is that of the Great British Menu… just ask Gareth Bartram.<\/p>\n

Millions of people recently tuned in to the Great British Menu to see the North Lincolnshire chef compete in the North East regional heats of the BBC show, which is in its 16th series and has screened over 540 episodes.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the first time that the Rag Doll studios in Stratford-upon-Avon had seen a Lincolnshire chef walk through the doors either. Indeed, Gareth\u2019s employer Colin McGurran of Winteringham Fields has appeared on the show in 2012, 2013 and 2014, whilst Boston-born Jason Atherton has appeared as a judge in the series, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in Cleethorpes and worked in a number of restaurants around the area before leaving to work in Gordon Ramsay\u2019s Boxwood Caf\u00e9 in 2004. I returned to the area for a bit before working in the South West in Bath and Bristol, returning to see family and meeting my future wife Lucy in the gym.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFamily brought me back to the area, and back in Lincolnshire there was only really one place I wanted to work; Winteringham Fields. I realised that if I wanted to work in a fine dining kitchen, that was the time and this was the place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore working at \u2018the Fields,\u2019 I went for a meal there and I was really impressed. I passed my CV to the owner, Colin, and went for a trial in the kitchen to meet the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said that he\u2019d keep my details on file and true to form, as soon as a vacancy arose he called me. He\u2019s a really good employer and recognises the need to ensure that his staff are happy and that they aren\u2019t worked into the ground, which is a progressive approach for the hospitality industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI usually have a Sunday off to spend time with Lucy and my two children Ivy and Frances. Colin recognises enthusiasm and talent, too, and nurtures that, so it\u2019s an environment which suits a chef who\u2019s keen to develop and to progress their skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are usually six of us in the kitchen but of course Covid has caused disruption across the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring lockdown I was able to watch the series just as a viewer would, instead of having to binge-watch it on a Sunday afternoon. I messaged the programme and received a call from the producer who set up a sort of screen test, via Skype.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are four contestants in each episode, competing in seven different regions including the North East. Participants are asked to design a menu and filming for each region begins on a Monday morning with the task of creating an amuse bouche.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe day serves as a sort of introduction to filming too, and it\u2019s when many of the in-between sequences are filmed so you\u2019re not disturbed during the rest of the week when you\u2019re trying to concentrate on the cooking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTuesday is dedicated to preparing a starter course and a fish course; Wednesday is for preparing a main course, and a pre-dessert \u2013 which serves as a tie-breaker \u2013 then on Thursday you get to prepare a dessert.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn each day, one of the chefs has to leave the competition, which is really sad because you build a really strong bond with the other people from your region.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though you\u2019re competitors, the respect and the camaraderie is really strong, and the level at which you\u2019re cooking and presenting your dishes is so high, the slightest problem with timing or seasoning or with one element\u00a0 of a dish can upset that precision.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something you wouldn\u2019t wish on any of the people you\u2019re sharing the kitchen with, and all of the plates emerging from the pass are so strong that there\u2019s only ever the slimmest margin for being named \u2018best.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA winning dish is one that hits the brief, takes risks and one in which tonnes of development work has been invested. It\u2019s also one that can be replicated 100 times because that\u2019s how many people will attend the banquet at the end of the series.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very fortunate to be able to get through to Thursday which means I could cook my entire menu. That meant a lot to me. Filming took place in October and you\u2019re subject to a strict non-disclosure agreement, which means that none of the chefs in my kitchen knew how far I\u2019d gone on the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo my work colleagues had to wait to find out what had happened, and even my participation in the programme wasn\u2019t released until a week before the programme aired so I couldn\u2019t even say publicly that I was a competitor!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI received lots of messages of warmth and support when the show aired, and I\u2019m really glad to have taken part. Hopefully I\u2019ve kept up Winteringham Fields\u2019 reputation on the show, as established by Colin!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t had anyone asking for autographs yet, but I\u2019ve had a few double takes whilst I\u2019ve been out shopping!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c2021 has been a difficult time for the hospitality industry, and I\u2019m not used to having so much time on my hands, but it\u2019s meant that we\u2019ve had plenty of time to prepare for the reopening of the restaurant and that\u2019s enabled us to push our menus really hard. We\u2019ve some exciting dishes on the menu and though I\u2019ve only put one of the dishes from the TV on the menus, our diners will recognise some of the techniques that they\u2019ve seen on the series.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re reopening the restaurant with just two tasting menus, nice and simple. There are six courses during lunchtime service and eight courses during evening service. Like the rest of the menus at the restaurant they\u2019re also governed by the availability of seasonal ingredients, so the menus change all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving more time during Covid has also meant that we can continue our efforts to make Winteringham Fields greener. We\u2019re using all of our green waste from the kitchen to create fertiliser for our kitchen garden and we\u2019re removing as much plastic from the restaurant and from our rooms as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gareth\u2019s magnum opus was his traditional meat and vegetable dish entitled \u2018The Linc to Yorkshire,\u2019 which comprised lamb loin, and belly skewers \u2013 depicting the Humber Bridge \u2013 with braised cabbage.<\/p>\n

His follow-up dessert was Zeer, and was a combination of chocolate with buckthorn and rum chocolate mousse. The technical challenge of the dish though proved too demanding and though only a few minutes late to the pass, it was enough to cause judges to send Gareth home.<\/p>\n

At the level each of the chefs were working, there\u2019s no shame in that. And if Gareth\u2019s Winteringham Fields dishes are even a fraction as inventive, delicious and successfully implemented at the ones we\u2019ve seen him prepare on the Great British Menu, his diners are in for a real treat when the restaurant reopens at the time of writing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a really great experience,\u201d he says. \u201cThe whole team there were amazing. They made you feel so welcome and relaxed you really enjoyed your time there, so you could just concentrate on doing what you were there to do, and take pride in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

See www.winteringhamfields.co.uk.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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