PHOTOGRAPHS MIKE ENGLISH STYLING REBECCA NEWPORT
FOOD STYLING MONIQUE LANE
INTRODUCTION:DAISY MEAGER
Pre-service briefings at Café Murano with executive head chef Sam Williams (right) and head chef Allyson McQuade (main picture, second from right) are more than a run-down of the latest menu. After going through the nuts and bolts of the day’s service ahead, the team sit down together to taste the food they’ll be serving later. “It’s important everyone at the restaurant understands the dishes, knows how they work and tastes them,” says Sam. Tasting sessions aren’t just about the staff knowing what they’re serving. They’re also about giving feedback to the chefs and being part of the recipe development process.
“The palates of the staff outside the kitchen haven’t been influenced by the trials Allyson and I do when we create and perfect a dish,” says Sam. “It’s good to get their honest opinion – and when they all rave about a dish, you know you’re onto something good. They all loved the muscovado tart – and it was an immediate winner with customers.” If a member of the team isn’t keen on something, they’re listened to.
“They could be voicing a customer’s viewpoint,” says Sam. “Often it’ll be something simple for us to change, such as the amount of seasoning.”
As Sam and Allyson lead the tasting they explain every aspect of the dish, from the provenance of the ingredients to how it’s been cooked and what would be good to serve with it. “When we sit down and taste with the staff, they get excited about the food – and not only because they’re being fed!” says Sam. “That excitement and knowledge shine through when they talk to the customers.”
Sam can’t stress enough the importance of the tasting sessions, not least because eating as a team embodies what Café Murano stands for: “We’re very much a family – it matches Angela’s idea for the restaurant, which serves a lot of family-style sharing dishes. It’s all about people having good food with the people they care about.”
THERE’S STILL AN ULTIMATE JUDGE…
Born in South Africa, chef Sam Williams worked in top London kitchens before being talent-spotted by Angela Hartnett, owner of top Italian restaurant Murano in Mayfair. Angela asked Sam to help launch Café Murano in nearby St James’s in 2013. She’s now executive chef there and at its new sister establishment in Covent Garden.
THE THUMBS-UP MENU FOR 6
Vitello tonnato
Tagliatelle with sausage ragù, radicchio and hazelnuts
Whole sea bass with purple sprouting broccoli, chilli and garlic