Kray Treadwell, the young Brummie who latterly worked in Michael O’Hare’s Leeds restaurant The Man Behind The Curtain and made a notable impact in the 2019 Great British Menu BBC television programme, did some pop-up cooking at The Craft Dining Rooms in the International Convention Centre (ICC) in the city centre on 13 September 2019 and was due to repeat his appearance there on the coming Friday, 11 October 2019 but has now pulled out from the commitment. He made a similar no-show when he was due to cook with Alex Claridge at Nocturnal Animals in mid-July 2019. Both appearances were advertised to the public so we will all hope that an expected appearance in November will actually take place.
Clearly feeling the need to express his feelings publically at having missed out on a Michelin star at last night’s awards ceremony Alex Claridge, Chef patron of The Wilderness, has sent out an e mail to his customers mentioning his and his staff’s profound disappointment and thanking his staff for their continued support and pledging to keep turning out fine food for his customers.
The reasons for the award or non-award of a Michelin star are as mysterious as the Schleswig-Holstein question or the solution to the Brexit conundrum. Likely as much there is no solution. Stars mean a lot to a chef and quite rightly too and Claridge would probably be more likely to be awarded a star if his restaurant were in London, the Lake District or Dublin - places where the London-centric (plus a nice trip out-preference) inspectors want to be (not poor old Birmingham). But he can draw reassurance that at least he’s not in the Michelin-star deserts of Manchester or Liverpool. Let’s just hope that he keeps beavering away here in Birmingham and that his efforts are eventually recognised and rewarded by a passing Michelin inspector breaking his journey on the road from London to the Lake District.
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