Your Michelin table’s ready, sir... in six months’ time

THE man behind the curtain has been thrust into the limelight. And with the full glare of publicity falling on chef Michael O’Hare, so have the bookings come rolling in.
The Man Behind the Curtain, chef Michael O'Hare. Picture: Jonathan GawthorpeThe Man Behind the Curtain, chef Michael O'Hare. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe
The Man Behind the Curtain, chef Michael O'Hare. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

With impeccable timing, O’Hare, chef of the Man Behind the Curtain, the latest Yorkshire restaurant to have won a Michelin star, is also appearing in this week’s finals of BBC2’s Great British Menu.

His appearances on the TV show and the perfect 10 awarded by Marcus Wareing for the quirkily-titled dish: “My mother is single and looking for a well dressed man” brought in 2,000 bookings overnight.

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A heady few days for the 34-year-old chef was crowned by the announcement last month of the Michelin star, the first for a Leeds restaurant in a decade, and another kerching for the tills, with 1,600 bookings in the days that followed.

The Man Behind The Curtain's langoustine mussel consommé with parsley oil.The Man Behind The Curtain's langoustine mussel consommé with parsley oil.
The Man Behind The Curtain's langoustine mussel consommé with parsley oil.

Saturday night tables now need to be booked six months in advance.

Andrew Pern knows what it is to have and not have a Michelin.

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The chef patron of The Star Inn at Harome compares losing the Michelin star in 2011, having had it for nine years, to “losing a member of your family.”

He said: “It has a massive impact on the business, on staff morale and on the boss. When we got back in (last October) turnover went up 60 per cent that month. This week it is 40 per cent up on last year.

People don’t really understand the mystique and etiquette - there’s B&Bs and guesthouses in Scarborough in the Guide, but having a star is a whole different ballgame.”

For a start there is no feedback - it’s a question of going to a bookshop, seeing if you are in it - and if not “throwing the book at the bookshelf and starting to cry.”

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The inspectors arrive unidentified - they may come in tables of five but could well show up on their own.

Andrew jokes: “Anyone who turns up on their own gets the red carpet treatment - lots of people do and they turn out to be the carpet fitter.”

The Michelin guide is a demanding Mistress, consistency being a key element.

He added: “I think before we thought we were flying, we should employ more people and push on. We maybe left it up to them rather than ourselves.

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“I think Michelin is very old-fashioned in its requirements - they love the chef patron element and that’s what people come for, myself and Steve Smith (his second-in-command).

“We live it and breathe it.”

On O’Hare he says: “It is obviously brilliant timing for him being on Great British Menu.

“He is a good friend of ours.

“It is great for Yorkshire as we are always portrayed as grim up north when we are actually the most Michelin starred county in England.”

Viewers of Great British Menu will have to wait will Thursday to find out whether raven-haired O’Hare, formerly chef of the Blind Swine in York, whose food has been described as “engagingly bonkers” will get to cook a course at a banquet, hosted by broadcaster jenni Murray, to mark the Centenary of Women’s Institute.

This year the dishes have to be deemed perfect before getting onto the judges’ shortlist.

If he does it will be another eclectic claim to fame to add to a growing list.