Great British Menu Winning Chef On The Future Of The French

IT'S ALL change once again at The Midland French as Head Chef Adam Reid takes up the mantle as Simon Rogan leaves, three years into a five year contract, to concentrate on his other restaurants. On the day the four AA Rosette restaurant relaunches as ‘Adam Reid at The French’, we get the inside story on Adam's upcoming plans. But after his recent success on Great British Menu, we discover he is no stranger to keeping secrets…

I want to bring in more of an urban industrial Manchester feel; modern and interesting

“I’m trying to keep up with what secret I’m supposed to be keeping,” he tells us, checking we’re talking about his restaurant takeover and not Great British Menu, the television series on which his winning dish was served as the dessert course at The Great Briton’s Banquet. “We filmed it in February. It was supposed to be shown in April, but the BBC rescheduled it to September and luckily, with what's happened, the timing has worked out perfectly."

How long have you known about the opportunity to take over The French?

AR: "Obviously I knew earlier last month, but these things have to be planned so you can’t just go blurting things out. Maybe Simon and his team have been working things out behind the scenes for a while, but I was asked not too long ago if I would take this on and obviously it was a definite yes because I've worked at it for three and a half years, so why would I give up on it now?"

What were Simon's reasons?

AR: "It was an amicable decision between the two parties. Simon's a busy guy, he’s got a lot going on in terms of the way he wants to progress L’Enclume and his Cartmel businesses and the demands down at Fera at Claridges. He wants this restaurant to be the best it possibly can, and if he feels he’s not putting 100% into something, when his name is above the door, then it’s not fair on him or the restaurant. We’ve achieved an amazing amount but we don’t want to stop there, we want to carry on going forward."

Was the Michelin disappointment a factor?

AR: "Not at all. I think there’s more made of this than it deserves. I think the Restaurant Wars programme didn't do us any favours in the beginning because the focus was on stars. We thought it would have been more around opening two restaurants at high level, but it kind of ended up being more about will we or won't we, or who’ll get it first (the programme also featured Aiden Byrne opening Manchester House) which I think was a bit unfair"

Simon Rogan left The French in October

Was there any question of you NOT taking over?

AR: "I can't speak for the hotel, but I can speak for myself. If I didn’t feel that the commitment was there long term to make this restaurant what I would like it to be, then I certainly wouldn’t be taking this on aiming to make the product even better."

How will things change?

AR: "Although I’ve been working around the boundaries and parameters that Simon has set, I have been cooking day in day out on the pass, so it’s going to be a progression of that. The quality of what we produce isn’t going to change whatsoever. What you’re going to see is a style change, more reflective of the way I feel comfortable cooking. For example, I’m going from ten to nine courses but it won't change value for money. I’m a good northern lad, I like my hearty and tasty food, so a shorter tasting menu with a focus on prime ingredients."

Will there be a physical change of the restaurant?

AR: "we’re going to have a refurbishment in February. You can’t necessarily do that much to the room, but you can certainly make the tone and the ambience of the restaurant reflect me rather than the rural feel we tried to achieve with Simon in charge. I’m a city lad and I feel comfortable in an urban environment."

Work to the restaurants interior will commence in February

How long will The French be closed?

AR: "Two weeks in January, which should be the right amount of time when you don’t have to change anything structural. The banquettes are staying because we introduced that in August and I was involved. I don’t want to commit to specifics until we’ve confirmed we can actually do it. Basically I love interacting with customers, not stuck in a sweaty kitchen sending food out to people waiting for their plate to arrive. I’m not going to start cooking things at the side of the table, but I’m really looking at the way I can work the restaurant to give customers that modern feel of being able to interact with the chef."

What will make it more your restaurant?

AR: "Changes won’t be too subtle; you’ll walk in and see a restaurant that’s under new direction. It’s important to realise that this is more of a transition than it is a new restaurant. The lighting will be a big feature (the chandeliers are staying.) Sticking a bit of music in there will make it a bit more reflective of me, making it feel more modern.

"We’re calling it Adam Reid at The French. I’m very specific with the naming because I’m cooking at the French, a restaurant that’s been here for over 100 years. The room is listed, you can’t touch it other than give it the feel and the ambience you want inside the room. I want the restaurant to be accessible to the general community. The majority of people who dine with us are from Manchester. I want people not just to come on a Saturday night, I want people to come on a Tuesday night and feel comfortable, have amazing food but do it in a lovely high quality surroundings."

The change from The French to Rogan was dramatic, so how will you make your statement?

AR: "Statements are overrated. My statement is that when you come in and eat the food it’s absolutely amazing and reflective of my taste that hopefully appeals to the masses. I want to bring in more of an urban industrial Manchester feel; modern and interesting. Like I say, I’ve been cooking here for three and a half years, I’m happy with what we do, all I want to do is make it reflect me, personality wise.

"Also, what we offer will evolve and progress because a restaurant like this never does the same when it opens as it does two or three years down the line. It gets better, it refines and progresses. This is the first time I’ve stepped up and put my name above the door, so I'm going to go in with a certain style with the intention of it developing in the future."

Reid won the dessert course on the BBC's Great British Menu

Now the focus on you, will criticism affect you harder?

AR: "Criticism is criticism. If you work at the level I’ve worked at my whole career, you take it and make what you do even better. If someone says something about the restaurant, I felt that just as much, if not more than Simon, because I’m here day in day out. The opportunity I have now is to be able to give the restaurant the feel that I envisage for the future. That’s a positive thing because then I can control what I’m being criticised for. You’ll always get criticism."

Congrats on winning the dessert course on Great British Menu. Obviously that has helped to raise your personal profile, but was that the angle you were moving towards?

AR: "I took on GBM because it was the next logical step. I was approached to do it the year before for the series Michael O’Hare was, but it wasn’t the right time for me – my son wasn’t even one and we’d only just moved into our house. The opportunity came up again and I felt like it was right.

"I consider myself to be a serious career chef, someone who wants to hit the heights someday. When you’re just starting to be a chef, watching programmes that show you all these amazing things, and then ten years later you have the opportunity to do it, are you only going to say yes because you have the opportunity of plugging your own thing? I did it because it’s a challenge, and I wanted to show to myself and everybody who supports me that I could do it. So I went for it."

The menu at Adam Reid at The French will change from November 1st, with work to the restaurant interior commencing in February 2017.

Headline image: Mike Plunkett Photography