GIOVANNI ATTARD // 84-87 MARK BIRCHALL

MARK BIRCHALL INTERVIEW BY THOMAS SUMNER

Nestled within the Lancashire landscape, a stone's throw from Liverpool and Manchester, the Moor Hall estate is home to not one but two Michelin starred restaurants. Sat in the private dining room of the two star restaurant, Moor Hall Restaurant with Rooms, we asked Chef Patron, Mark Birchall to reflect on his year, his path to Moor Hall and whether you should eat the cheese rind.

TS So first off, how has 2022 been for you? Have there been any highlights along the way?

MB Well, The Barn got a star, which is amazing for those guys. Moor Hall Restaurant & Rooms got classed as World Class in The Good Food Guide, which was really, really nice. We were one of three, which is incredible. And receiving the AA Chef’s Chef award, which was especially nice, because it was voted for by peers. I definitely wasn’t expecting that. You know, when you have people like Paul Ainsworth, Clare Smyth and Hélène Darroze, people who, in my opinion, are a bit more well known. So I definitely wasn’t expecting it at all.

I spent the day judging at the Academy of Culinary Arts. I got there about 30 minutes before the awards started and didn’t even think about it really. So that was nice.

TS Can you introduce us, in your words, to the Moor Hall estate?

MB Yeah, so we’re in West Lancashire surrounded by farmland, close to Liverpool and even closer to Ormskirk. For me, the surroundings are amazing because we’re neighboured mostly by fields full of food. We’re on 6 acres with a lovely lake and a nice garden, where we grow lots of food. Moor Hall Restaurant with Rooms is a two Michelin star and The Barn is a one Michelin star. In the Barn, we have the dairy and the butchery. Maybe one day we’ll have a bakery in there as well.

TS Take us back to the beginning then, how did you get into the kitchen?

MB When I was young, around 14 or 15, cooking was just becoming popular on the television. You had the likes of Gary Rhodes who had his own program; you had Ready Steady Cook with good chefs on there like James Martin, Brian Turner and Nick Nairn. That caught my eye and made me want to do a work placement at a local hotel. There was a really good sous chef there called Dave Dugdale and he taught me about ingredients. That was only a week so that made me want to go to college and do cooking. I’d pull out my mum’s cookbooks and make random things like pumpkin pie. I had no idea how to do it but I’d just figure it out. I did my college placement back at the same hotel and Dave was still there and told me about The Walnut Tree in Abergavenny where he did his placement. So I left college and worked there.

That was a really interesting place to work. It was a small team of 7 chefs and we made really interesting food. I worked with an Italian guy who was one of the first to introduce Italian food into the UK back in the 60s. We used to cook on the stove and there wasn’t an actual pass so you’d chuck the pans to the back of the stove, get a plate out of the box and dress on the stove. Front of house would just come along and whip the plates away. The food was amazing. In the Summer you’d have people eating on the bonnets of their cars if they couldn’t get a table.

TS Any other milestones along the way, during your career?

MB So I left there and went to Northcote. Kind of felt like I wanted to come back to Lancashire. So I spent five years working for Nigel Howarth, which was really good. The Walnut Tree really taught me how to season well, then Northcote taught me how to cook meat and fish properly. Again, I had a good time there - Nigel was in the kitchen a lot, every service pretty much. It was a tough kitchen but it was really, really interesting.

TS What would you say makes a good kitchen?

MB I think when kitchens are busy they’re always at their best. Generally, if you have a dip off, those are always the tougher services as it’s always about finding the right pressure point in terms of performance level. Northcote and The Walnut Tree were busy places and we were surrounded by good people who wanted to achieve the same thing. It created that really nice team spirit which meant every plate of food you served you were proud knowing that it was the best you could do. You’re just right on that knife edge, which can obviously tip quite easy (laughs).

TS Where did you go after Northcote? Was there a stepping stone from there to Moor Hall?

MB I left Northcote. I took a position as a head chef somewhere, which was a bit of a mistake. I did it for around 12 months. It was a nice place but I was probably a bit too young.

So I left there and went to L'Enclume up in the Lakes, which was an amazing 9 years. I saw the place grow like you would not believe. The produce wasn’t so localised at L’Enclume but we saw the development of the far, which was an amazing experience.

TS What were the initial aims and directives for Moor Hall Restaurant with Rooms and The Barn?

MB The goal has always been to create that world class destination. Will we ever get there? In my mind, no, because I think once you feel like you are there, you start going backwards. We just want to keep pushing forwards. We wanted it to be a place that people in the local area could love and be proud of. That was one of the big things for us.

The Barn’s a little bit different. It’s slightly higher volume. It’s a la carte, with really good quality produce treated a little simpler. We just wanted a really good neighbourhood restaurant. But over the last 5 years, it’s steadily gotten better and better. The star for The Barn is probably more of a reward for their hard work rather than a badge on my sleeve, if you will. It’s a really nice reward for the team but it’s also something for the guests to be proud of.

TS How does the relationship between yourself and the team at The Barn work?

MB We work really well together even though it’s a separate team with separate