Chef serves up a taste of his bid for TV culinary glory

Manchester chef Adam Reid will showcase dishes he will feature in the final week of BBC 2’s Great British Menu competition, which will be broadcast on May 15.

The chef patron at The French, in the Midland Hotel, has progressed from the Northern heats of the popular TV show.

Adam will now compete against other successful chefs from around the UK to present one of his four dishes at a banquet to be held at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London.

This year the banquet will celebrate British pop music, also marking the 50th anniversary of the The Beatles’ last live performance.

Adam will showcase his four dishes as a separate set menu at The French from this Thursday, April 18, until mid-Summer, at both lunch and dinner, priced at £85 per person, or £145 with matched wines.

His Great British Menu dishes for this year’s competition are: ‘From the Beatles to Oasis’, Tater ‘ash with malt bread and beef butter for starters; a ‘Northern Soul’ fish dish of almond poached cod loin, with smoked roe sauce, buttered leeks and fried cheek; then for mains, ‘Comfort Food Sounds Good’, which is organic Rhug Estate chicken broth with barley, sweetcorn, leeks and turnip; and the dessert, ‘Madchester’ I Am The Resurrection, is a treacle tart with clotted cream ice cream, orange and mint.

In 2016, Adam successfully made it through to the Great British Menu banquet with his dessert, ‘Golden Empire’, which was a tribute to ordinary Britons – the theme of that year.

Adam Reid took over the reins of The French at The Midland Hotel in Manchester as chef patron in November 2016, and relaunched it as Adam Reid at the French.

He has put his stamp on every aspect of the restaurant, relaxing the dining room’s environment and service, as well as adding a chef’s counter where customers are able to dine, or just watch the theatre of chefs at work.

His menus fully represent his own style of modern British food, placing a strong emphasis on very high-quality local suppliers, but also exploring specialist international ingredients where appropriate.

Under his guidance, The French has achieved numerous accolades, including four Rosettes in the AA Restaurant Guide 2019, and, a score of 8/10 and #13 ranking in the Waitrose Good Food Guide 2019 ‘UK’s Top 50 Restaurants.’

Adam received training at Paul Heathcote’s School of Excellence.

His culinary career began at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester (2001-04) where he progressed from commis chef to chef de partie, before joining Le Mont, also in Manchester, as chef de partie (2005-6).

Adam’s starter

Adam went on to roles at Michelin-starred restaurants Mallory Court Hotel (2006-9) and Simon Radley at The Chester Grosvenor (2009-11), before moving to Brockencote Hall in Worcestershire as senior sous chef (2011-13) before returning to Manchester to join Simon Rogan as head chef to launch The French at The Midland Hotel.

Following Simon’s departure in November 2016, Adam took over The French which underwent a refurbishment the following year.

Following his success on Great British Menu in 2016, in which his dessert was selected for the final banquet, Adam has returned to take part in the 14th series.

The Northern heats were aired last Wednesday, April 10, in which Adam was successful in moving forward to the final of the competition.