The East Midlands Leicester's school of food

Date Published:

12/09/2008

Map user, Sally Baum added The Woodhouse restaurant to the Map saying: "the food is always fabulous, fresh local produce, the plate looks fantastic…smells delicious and tastes awesome." More praise came from Dave who added: "the best in Leicester," and Sharon D: "delicious food and a real treat." I went along to find out more

Paul Leary opened the door to his restaurant in 2005 and as well as a steady stream of customers coming through it there's also been a lot of young chefs. Paul began life as a lecturer, before working in Fusion - the 'in house' restaurant for Leicester City Football Club - and the commitment to teaching and training remains something he believes in.

"I'm looking for passion and commitment - after all the hours are crap, the pay's crap - it's hard work starting out in this business," says Paul honestly. Still there's still plenty who want to - at the moment Paul has an intern in from France as well as his usual brigade. He was even approached by a member of the public. "This guy asked if his wife could work a shift in the kitchen on a Saturday night - he even offered to pay me," says Paul. Sadly they had to decline but it goes to show the interest there is in restaurant cooking.

Personal development

So what is it all these budding chefs are here to learn? Well, as well as working in a good restaurant, it's also Paul's approach to food, the gentle tweaking and constant refining of ingredients and the evolution of dishes during each season. "We had a red mullet with risotto on a while back, which we served with basil oil, after a while we changed it to citrus oil, then we used pearl barley instead of the rice, then we added a drop of mascarpone to make it creamier. Six weeks later the dish looked and tasted very different," explains Paul.

As for suppliers, there are a few interesting ones too. Herbs are from the garden at the back of the restaurant, apples and pears from Paul's brother's garden and artichokes come from a local allotment courtesy of Richard Hopkin. Finally, Paul kindly offers to demonstrate a dish for me. It's some local pork, potato terrine with local Stilton running through it, 'spaghetti' carrots (simply cut long and thin on a mandolin) and some watercress purée. Watch it below.

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