My blog

Tag: University Arms

  • Finito World Q&A: celebrity chef Tristan Welch

    Finito World Q&A: celebrity chef Tristan Welch

    Garrett Withington talks to the co-owner of Parker’s Tavern and host of Cooking with the Stars about life under Gary Rhodes and Gordon Ramsay and how the UK’s attitude to food has changed

    GW: How did you get your start in becoming a chef?

    TW: I fell in love with cooking from a young age at school during Home Economics. I realised whatever I cooked in the class, it made people happy and I really loved that feeling – that is what a get a kick out of, seeing people enjoying great food.

    Favourite Dish?

    Lemon sole with nut brown butter, shrimps and samphire. It reminds me of childhood holidays in North Norfolk – where I am taking my family this summer.

    You have quite a C.V. including Gary Rhodes and Gordon Ramsey. Were you intimidated working for these big names and are their personalities truly reflected when we see them on T.V?

    Working for some of the very best chefs in the world has been an absolutely inspiration to me – we all put on a bit of a pantomime now and again.

    Being a Chef often involves unsociable and long hours which can make it unappealing to the youth. What aspects of the job drew you to the kitchen that may inspire the next Tristan Welch?

    I think the hustle and bustle of the kitchen really enthused me and drew me in. There is nothing quite like the camaraderie amongst a kitchen team. Some chefs I worked with 10 years ago, when we bump into each other now, we greet each other like great friends – it is relationship-forming.

    Famously the kitchen is a stressful environment where much head bashing takes place with expletives thrown at one another, most exemplified by Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsey. But with more workplace environments and office spaces adopting a kinder approach, reprimanding and firing those who shout at their subordinates, is this attitude beginning to change in kitchens or does its unique environment separate it from this problem?

    Those days are gone. We are at a very interesting point now, that I identified 6 years ago (before we started Parker’s Tavern), the training we had and the style of training is no longer relevant to young talent today and as industry leaders, it is for us to take it seriously and find the solution to guide up and coming talent through and help them flourish in this fantastic industry.

    British cuisine has come a long way in a short time, now within the top ten countries with the most Michelin stars. What do you think has changed and is progress likely to continue?  

    I think the country’s attitude towards food has completely changed. When I was fresh out of college (even before then), my father would drive to France three times a year to stock up ‘on the good stuff’. Even in the early days of my career, I was told I had to live and work in France to really understand food and I did, I spent time there. But nowadays you don’t need to – you don’t have to go more than 300 metres in Cambridge to get to an amazing artisan bakery – we have great food on our doorstep.

    What advice would you give to a budding cook and where to start on the career path to become a chef? 

    Follow the food that you love, have a goal in mind and in the back of your head. Understand that there will be hard days and great days but never lose sight of your goal.

    Poor nutrition and obesity appear to be a problem in the UK. Do you think that there is an educational gap in public knowledge?

    Yes, I think there is a gap in nutritional knowledge. However my children are being taught about nutrition to the point they are questioning their own school dinners so the future is bright on that one…

    At school in Food-Tech I made Coleslaw, Pizza and a Trifle. Hardly set me up to be a great Chef. How would you go about inspiring children to cook and take what they eat seriously?

    That doesn’t sound too bad! One of the key things especially for children and young adults is don’t be afraid to experiment. One of the things I do as a parent is give my children the full run of the kitchen. They can mix and make anything – sometimes yes, it may be inedible and sometimes it is great. For me, that is the best way to inspire.

    School canteen food has also been the subject for debate by some chefs, expressed most by Jamie Oliver, but how would we go about bringing a Michelin star experience to children?

    I think in this question lies the problem, we don’t. Michelin star for kids is the wrong idea – it is about good, wholesome food that is nutrient rich and fresh. I know it is the toughest thing in the world to cook for children all the time but it is certainly something we need more of a focus on. Jamie Oliver did a smashing job however it seems to be slipping back a bit and at a time when we need to focus on our kids more than ever.

    Often for those trying to learn the skill of cooking from scratch it can be quite daunting. Thousands of cookbooks, an infinite number of online resources and numerous cuisines. Where would you tell these beginners to start and what path to follow to becoming a professional home Chef?

    During my cookalongs at 6pm every Thursday on @Parkers_Tavern on Instagram! If you aren’t joining, that is why you can’t cook!

    Famously around the world many countries have a negative perception of traditional British cuisine, how do you feel about this international reputation?

    Apparently we have bad teeth too!?

    When discussing British Chefs in general, Pierre Koffmann had stated that “Not enough Chefs cook from the heart. There’s a lack of originality, too much copying”. What are your thoughts on this and what advice would you give to aspiring chefs to avoid this problem? 

    I wouldn’t worry about copying too much, it isn’t something I would advise but I agree with Pierre, cook from the heart, cook what you love. On Cooking With The Stars, we made carbonara, is that considered copying? We made from the heart, it was fantastic and fun.

    Does food have to be complicated to truly be good?

    No – one of the most amazing salads is just picking tomatoes off the vine and serving with olive oil and a bit of seasoning.  Complicated? I think not. Completely delicious? Yes.

    After watching your performance on the Great British Menu it must be asked what you think of food critics. Are they viewed much like music and film critics who can judge but not create?

    Some restaurant critics are better than others, but to be fair everyones a critic nowadays.

  • The University Arms, Cambridge: “Grand but not oppressive”

    The University Arms, Cambridge: “Grand but not oppressive”

    George Achebe visits the University Arms in Cambridge and finds a hotel ready to thrive post-pandemic

    Whenever I go to Cambridge, I feel as those who didn’t go there tend to do – that I should have done so. The missed privileges amass about ten minutes from the station: here, Watson and Crick cracked DNA; here’s where Milton might have sat, or Marlowe got into a brawl, or Wordsworth had a thought or two; here are the streets where, in his twilight years, Stephen Hawking used to be seen, motoring in his wheelchair, a symbol of what’s possible for the human mind.

    It’s a city of ghosts in other words – but clever and consequential ones. The initial impression is that whatever else might be going on the world, Cambridge will continue on its intellectual way, helping us understand the world better. And it does all that while being beautiful.  

    The ballroom at The University Arms. Now a venue for literary lunches.

    The University Arms has a good claim to be the best hotel in town – a stone’s throw from the Tudor and medieval architecture, and a short walk from the Cam too, where students still punt the summer afternoons away, as if this were an Evelyn Waugh novel. King’s College, with its marvellous ceiling of perpendicular Gothic, would be worth coming here for, even if there was nothing else to see at all. 

    The hotel has a grand but not oppressive feel. The rooms on the top floor are spacious, and have relevant books by past luminaries. The views over Parker’s Piece show a wedge of grass where students mill and loll, and look reluctant – especially on a gorgeous summer’s day – ever to let any day end. When I return from dinner, I find many hanging on in the dark, peeling away only when the very last light has departed.

    Cambridge has made a supreme contribution to world history – and done so while remaining beautiful.

    Work-wise, Cambridge is already far more than the satellite of London it used to be; in fact it’s regularly found to be the UK’s fastest growing economy, and benefits from industrial parks which house global leaders in wireless technology, display technology, and mobile telecommunications.

    And the city knows it. I attend an interesting dinner and find myself sat next to BBC Cambridge presenter Chris Mann, whose every syllable of talk breathes a love of the area. ‘Everybody here is on TV – a lot of the TV executives either went to the colleges or else they come here in honorary positions of academia,’ he explains.

    A case in point is Tristan Welch, who heads the offering at Parker’s Tavern, and who cooks us a mean Spaghetti Bolognese – he is now the beneficiary of various TV deals, although he gives no indication of its having gone to his head. ‘He’s quite famous now, but he’ll be a lot more famous soon when Cooking with the Stars airs,’ Mann explains. 

    The staff at Parker’s Tavern.

    This trend for celebrity continues beyond the walls of the University Arms. When I mention the need to bring home a gift to my family, Mann directs me to Fitzbillies in Cambridge, world famous for its Chelsea buns. Its owners Tim Hayward and Alison Wright are also television personalities. Fitzbillies, founded around 100 years ago, was nearing closure a few years back, when this predicament was tweeted into submission by Stephen Fry, that other Cambridge alumnus. The place stayed open. Today, the buns, soaked in maple syrup, are indeed memorably delicious. 

    But Cambridge isn’t only about the university. The longer you spend there, the more you sense another life – perhaps a truer – weaving in and out of the streets. It might be an intellectual city and one which is experiencing its own tech boom, but there’s also poverty here, and not a single Conservative councillor on the City council. So that as a visitor, there’s the sense that you’re not seeing the whole story. 

    Sometimes in Cambridge the visitor has a sense of being barred from the action

    While the university is there, as an energy to be drawn from, it is also continually shutting you out. There is, for instance, an increased number of Do Not Enter signs barring you from the culture of the place; it used to be easier to walk in and see the splendid gardens behind King’s, or Pembroke, always one of the loveliest colleges. 

    But as a visitor it all feels so forgivable – a feeling which in itself probably perpetuates the inequality. But what Florence is to Italy, Cambridge is to the UK – a place where nostalgia is permitted free rein, and where the mood is aspirational in the highest sense: it makes you want to be a world-historical figure immediately.

    It has an astonishing amount for a little town. The art collections at the Fitzwilliam Museum are richer than one expects one has a right to, even here. There’s a renovation taking place in one of the impressionist rooms but still there’s a superb selection of Renoir, Monet, Degas and Cezanne. The Renaissance rooms house Titian, Brueghel and others. 

    Meanwhile, Kettle’s Yard, the house of Jim Ede, always one of the best art experiences in the world, has renovated itself recently – bringing more jobs with it. 

    So yes, although the visitor will likely think they should have gone to Cambridge for their degree, there’s considerable solace to be found in the next best thing: going there at all. 

    https://universityarms.com/

    https://parkerstavern.com