Kitching sets Juniper target of two stars
Paul Kitching and his girlfriend and business partner, Kate O'Brien, have bought Altrincham's one-Michelin-starred Juniper restaurant from owners Nora and Peter Miles. The couple have worked at the Cheshire eaterie since 1996, Kitching as head chef, O'Brien as restaurant manager, and they intend to push for a second Michelin star now that they are joint proprietors.
Kitching and O'Brien were able to buy the restaurant for £100,000 with backing from two private investors, who are customers of the business. Following a £50,000 refurbishment, the kitchen has been extended, resulting in a decrease in the number of seats from 48 to 36. Average spend, however, has risen from £42 to £62 per head.
"We have taken the restaurant up to a new level," said Kitching. "We have taken on extra staff - we have six chefs - are now using luxury ingredients such as diver-caught scallops, foie gras, sweetbreads and spring lamb, and improved the wine list. Our philosophy of cooking has completely changed. We now have a more revolutionary way of thinking with regards to cuisine."
The current menu offers some unusual combinations of ingredients. Starters include curried cod, sautéd scallop, fried onions, haggis beignet, crispy herbs, melon sauce, chive oil; and pan-fried scallops, medjool dates, crispy sage, black pudding beignet, two poppy seed sauces, smokey bacon, tomato ketchup.
Among the main courses are roasted fillet of pork, garlic beignets, rosemary, garden pea purée, new potato, red pepper disc, salsify, curried marshmallows, chive beurre blanc; and roast saddle of wild Cumbrian baby roe deer, carrot julienne, scallops, cornichons, artichokes, fennel, garlic mayonnaise, avocado, Earl Grey sauce. Desserts include soufflé of lime and caramel, basil and vanilla ice-cream. "I honestly feel," said Kitching, "with all the improvements, we can firmly set our eyes on two Michelin stars."
