New brasserie serves up 16 new hospitality jobs

A new Liverpool eaterie has recruited 16 hospitality staff as it prepares to open on December 1.

Barnacle, which describes itself as an ‘intimate Scouse brasserie’ is helmed by The Art School’s Paul Askew, Bone and Block’s Harry Marquart, and local kitchen stars Kieran Gill and Jake Lewis. Barnacle says it will tell the story of Liverpool’s food and drink provenance.

It says a key tenet is to use local staff, with 16 positions filled so far.

This includes two brilliant young apprentice chefs who will be working in the beautiful mezzanine at Duke Street Market in a positive step for the hospitality sector’s recovery.

Paul Askew said: “We are really proud of doing as much as we can locally.

“Whilst we are already working with brilliant people who are doing amazing work in food and drink across the farms and fields around the region, we also are assembling a great team to work at Barnacle.

“The hospitality industry has been ravaged in the last 18 months and many have left it for good, so it’s tremendously exciting to recruit new staff as we look ahead to opening, including Ben and Mareka who will manage Barnacle and two great new apprentice chefs.”

The two apprentice chefs have plenty of promise and both are from the City of Liverpool College and are on The Royal Academy of Culinary Arts Apprenticeship programme.

Sunil is a young cook with lots of promise, just like Saul, who is an apprentice chef.

Paul added: “It’s integral to everything I do, to work with and nurture the next generation of chefs, with Harry, Kieran and Jake’s expertise involved, too.

“We have got a really young and dynamic team and the kitchen is going to be an incredible creative space which will be channelled into our menus.”

The restaurant will feature modern dishes drawn from the locality’s producers, farmers and artisans to ingredients linked to the port’s bustling trade over the decades.

Paul is chef patron and owner of The Art School and The Art School Cellars and is celebrating his 40th anniversary in the culinary world. He is one of the UK’s leading chefs and a passionate voice for the hospitality industry locally and nationally.

Harry is a chef and restauranteur with sites across the city and Kieran and Jake are disciples of The Art School and Bone and Block.