'It's overrated': Top chef on expensive food item that isn't worth it
Every Thursday our Money team interviews top chefs from around the UK, hearing about their cheap food hacks and views on the industry. Today we chat to Callum Graham, head chef at Bohemia, the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Jersey.
People should cook vegetables in their own juices... For example, cook an asparagus in asparagus juice by keeping the stalks and placing them in a juicer. You will end up with super tasty asparagus.
Wagyu beef is overrated... based on what you get pound for pound. Maybe I haven't had the right type, but I've tried it a few times and while it was tasty, I don't think it was as "OMG, amazing!" as I'd hoped it would be for the amount of money paid for it. I much prefer a beautiful, well-aged Jersey Angus sirloin or ribeye steak cooked medium-rare.
For a cheap meal I go to... Upstairs at Anley Street, run by Chris and Claire Witham. They do a fantastic value Dirty Buns menu every Tuesday to Saturday from 12-2.30pm where you can get a double cheese smashburger for £11 and treat yourself to a spicy marg for £6. Or trade the drink for a water and instead have the duck fat potatoes - delicious!
One restaurant that's worth blowing out for is... L'Enclume in Cumbria. It stands above all the rest. When we went it was the most perfect evening - everything from the service, food, wine and team, all in a wonderful setting.
I cut costs in my restaurant by... trying to use more of the same types of ingredients across all the board. For example, we offer Jersey oysters for a snack in the Bohemia restaurant and now also offer them in the bar too. We have recently aligned our bar menu with the restaurant menu for a few items.
Braised meat is a good cheap substitute... For example: beef cheek or short rib of beef. Brine the meat for a day, then soak in red wine for six hours. Make it like a bourguignon and cook it low and slow until tender, then reduce some of the sauce until sticky. Add a couple of knobs of butter to coat the meat and serve with a beautiful mash and some kale. It's a dish we have in Bohemia Bar at the moment.
My favourite cookbook... without a shadow of a doubt is Eleven Madison Park. It is such a good cookbook with so much useful information in it, which you can use as the base of a recipe when working on new recipes. It is a modern classic.
No-show customers are so damaging... to a business because we prepare the correct amount of food. The least you can do is cancel a reservation if you can't make it.
even I question how I can do things better every day, and I've been doing this for 18 years.
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