Restaurateurs never know if one of their diners is a Michelin Guide inspector, so a Michelin star always comes as a surprise. And it is always a pleasure for Carford Group, basking in a little reflected glory, when one of their clients wins one.
Carford Design & Fit Award Winning Arbutus Kitchen
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Restaurateurs never know if one of their diners is a Michelin Guide inspector, so a Michelin star always comes as a surprise. And it is always a pleasure for Carford Group, basking in a little reflected glory, when one of their clients wins one. |
Although they had swept the board with awards in 2006, the Michelin star they won at the beginning of this year came as even more of a surprise than usual to the owners of the Soho fine dining brasserie Arbutus.
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"We set our stall out to offer a completely informal environment: a neighbourhood restaurant in the West End," explains Head Chef Anthony Demetre. "It's a different ethos and price structure to normal Michelin winners - we put a strong emphasis on value for money." Demetre and co-owner Will Smith, the General Manager, did plenty of research in Paris and New York and put together what they thought made a great restaurant. It seems they found the right recipe. Arbutus has been busy from the very start. |
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"We are high volume, an average of 1200 covers a week, which in a 65-seater restaurant is phenomenal," says Demetre. With such a high volume, consistency is the key, he believes. "I think that's why we've got the Michelin Star, we are consistent."
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Demetre found that he hit it off with Carford right from the start. "We spoke the same language," he says. "They were prepared to listen to us rather than tell us which direction to go. As you can imagine, with a chef patron it has to be extremely budget-led and Carford stayed within the restraints of that budget - they even suggested alternatives on a lower scale |
"Tony Perkins performed fantastically well. We've had a problem with a salamander and he's always been there getting to the bottom of it, researching why others didn't have problems with the same piece of kit. "We installed modular lighting on Tony's advice; there's no natural daylight in our cellar kitchen and the normal option is lots of fluorescent lighting - that's tiring on the eyes.
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Tony didn't install the lighting but suggested the route we took (which was very helpful) and the modular lighting is much easier on the eye. "I really like the Rational combi oven. You can spend really silly money but Tony advised on a much more basic unit and it does the job really well. After the Athenor it's probably the most valuable piece of kit we have." |
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www.arbutusrestaurant.co.uk.co.uk
