Branching out
The opportunity to create a menu based on what he likes and what his customers ask for is the biggest advantage that Adrian McGreavy is finding in running his own new restaurant.
McGreavy opened the 32-seat Hazel Tree restaurant in Haslingden, Lancashire, on 14 February with business partner Graham Smith.
The two met when both were working in the kitchen at the Higher Trap country house hotel, Simonstone, near Burnley, and then went on to work at Bistro Central in Ramsbottom.
In their new bistro-style venture, McGreavy is the chef, while Smith looks after front of house. Extra help is provided only at the weekends when two part-time staff - including McGreavy's sister Tracy - come in.
The dishes on the menu are an amalgamation of McGreavy's own creations and ideas gleaned from his earlier career. Cookery books provide him with much inspiration. Favourite writers include Raymond Blanc, Pierre Koffmann and Marco Pierre White.
The Hazel Tree opens its doors to customers at 10am for coffee, bacon butties and "anything else that we might be asked for".
Lunch is officially served from 12 noon when a two-course meal, including coffee, is available for £6. A choice of two dishes is offered at each course. Starters might be soup of the day - courgette and pimento, tomato and basil or celery, Stilton and walnut - or calves' liver with onions and white wine. Typical main courses are pork chops braised in red wine with onions and mushrooms, and pink trout fillet with apple slices and whisky cream sauce.
All dishes are chalked on a blackboard, giving McGreavy the greatest flexibility for putting on dishes at the last possible moment. The menu is changed daily according to availability of produce.
In the evening, a choice of seven starters, eight main courses and six desserts is usually available. One of the most popular starters is proving to be a fricassé of lambs' kidneys and snails, coated in herb butter and served on a bed of wild rice.
A favourite main course is a sea bass dish. A fillet, weighing 6-8oz, is lightly poached in court bouillon and served on a bed of blanched vegetable ribbons, which include courgettes, carrots and other root vegetables. A celery essence - made from celery cooked with water, wine and mixed herbs, reduced and passed - accompanies the fish. All main course dishes are served with a side plate of seasonal vegetables.
McGreavy's experience on desserts is limited, so he offers a simple selection including the likes of orange cheesecake, strawberry shortcake and bread-and-butter pudding flavoured with whisky. Ice-creams are from the Wall's Elite range. "As we get busier, I hope to take on a commis so that I can spend some more time on improving the puddings," says McGreavy.
The Hazel Tree, 32 Manchester Road, Haslingden, Rossendale, Lancashire. Tel: 01706-211530
