Chef Nigel Paul Smith _320
Laura Davis meets the head chef at National Museums Liverpool, and discovers how he manages to create dishes for all tastes
IF THERE’S one thing guaranteed to make Gordon Ramsay’s head spin round and smoke come out of his ears, it’s chefs who don’t know who they’re cooking for.
Country pubs trying to tempt the traditional Ploughmans brigade with bite-size starters of caviar blinis, or expensive city centre restaurants that fluff their presentation.
But what if your customers come from every age group, from all backgrounds and all countries? What if some want a pie and a cup of tea, while others demand three-course fine dining?
This is the challenge that Nigel Paul Smith, National Museums Liverpool’s executive chef, has to overcome on a daily basis. He oversees the cafes and restaurants within the organisation’s Merseyside venues, as well as its corporate entertaining arm.
“If someone’s coming here from Mexico, they don’t want a chilli con carne. I think it’s only us English who go to Spain for fish and chips,” says the father-of-one, whose partner, Natalie, runs a chain of restaurants in Manchester.
Visitors to NML’s museums and galleries, which include the Mersey Maritime Museum, The Walker and World Museum Liverpool, come from all over the world to marvel at the fine collections of paintings and artefacts.
For this reason, Nigel, 40, feels his menus should be part of the attraction.
Many of the dishes have a local feel, including Lancashire Hot Pot and a range of “posh pies” with fillings such as steak and ale, or bangers and mash. Ingredients are sourced locally – beetroot from the Ribble Valley, vegetables from a farm near Southport, beef and lamb from Hesketh Bank.
The abundance of good quality local produce is one of the things that tempted Nigel to relocate to the area from London, where he was working for Tate Catering, helping to plan the restaurant that will sit inside Tate Modern’s new extension.
Before that, he was the executive chef of London caterer Chester Boyd, which ran a public cafe at Buckingham Palace last summer, and ran his own restaurant in Essex with his partner, Natalie.
His first job in Liverpool was as head chef for Upstairs at the Bluecoat, which opened last year, and he moved to NML last October.
Since then, he has been revamping the attraction’s menus, to bring each one under a single vision, and working on expanding the conference banqueting side. All profits are fed back directly back into NML.
The banqueting suite at the Maritime Museum can seat up to 200 people, while the other venues cater for up to around 50 guests.
“I think there’s a massive market in Liverpool for really strong banqueting and for restaurants in general,” says Nigel.
“The next five years are going to be really interesting for food, as people’s palates change and new places open.”