Mel Meets.....Tea 42 Head Chef Matthew Smith
Mel caught up with Matthew who is the Head Chef at Manchester’s Tea 42 which is a stunning gluten free tea café by day and fine dining restaurant and bar by night.
What is your name? Matthew Smith.
What is your current position? Head Chef.
And your restaurant is called? Tea 42.
How long have you been cooking? 22 years.
Tell me about your current menu. Our new, casual, fine dining menu fuses traditional favourites with contemporary classics. We’ve tried to create dishes which are unique to us yet still give diners a taste of what they love.
We’ve also recently launched our express lunchtime menu – The Fast and The Fabulous – which guarantees dishes to the table within 15 minutes. The menu includes tapas-style meals and is perfect for office workers on their lunch breaks or shoppers who want a quick bite to eat.
What's your most popular dish on the menu? Afternoon tea is hugely popular, especially because of the gluten-free offering. Those who are intolerant to gluten often can’t enjoy foods such as cakes and sandwiches, so we’re a big hit with the coeliac community. Our evening a la carte menu is also very popular at the moment, with a lot of diners opting for the beetroot textures to start, followed by the roast lamb loin.
Where's the tastiest meal you've ever had? I’ve enjoyed different meals for a variety of reasons, whether it’s been a gourmet dish at a Michelin starred restaurant or a delicious burger at an American diner – it’s impossible to say!
Where is your favourite restaurant? Again, this is a difficult one to answer as it really depends on the sort of mood I’m in and what I feel like eating! I love to try new places, though and taste new, innovative dishes.
Would you ever go on Masterchef or go down the celebrity chef route? Yes, if they paid me enough money!
What do you think of the Michelin stars - is this the ultimate goal? For Tea 42, it’s not the ultimate goal, as we don’t specialise in one set style of cuisine and offer a broad range of dishes. I think the Michelin star is fantastic – some of the restaurants are absolutely amazing, but on the other hand, there are some which don’t quite live up to expectations.
Who does the cooking at home? Me - when I’m there!
Have you any guilty pleasures when it comes to eating bad food? I have a weakness for Cadbury’s chocolate!
10 years from now, where will you be? Sipping a Caipirinha on the beach in The Bahamas!
Any tips for budding wannabe chefs? You have to be willing to put the work in early on your career and listen to every bit of advice you’re given. I’d also say that, regardless of whether you’ve had a good or bad night’s service, you should go to work the next day with a clean slate.
If you could work for any chef, who would it be? I would love to work with Andrew Fairlie again – I previously worked with him at Gleneagles, Scotland and I’d say it was one of the highlights of my career. He’s an amazing chef and he runs his kitchen very smoothly.
You're in an all you can eat - what do you go for first? I never go to all you can eat restaurants, so I can’t actually answer this one, I’m afraid.
Posted: Monday 11th August 2014
ID: 10818 - 1200
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