Paul Askew, one of the UK’s leading chefs this weekend had the immense honour of cooking for the G7 in Liverpool.
The passionate chef and owner of The Art School and his team were bestowed to create two menus for the G7’s Foreign and Development Ministers, with lunch at the Museum of Liverpool and then dinner at the Beatles Story at the Albert Dock.
Paul is celebrating his 40th anniversary year in food and drink and his biggest challenges to date, to showcase the very best of the city’s gastronomic ambition and creativity to the world.
Paul explains:
“The brief was something truly unique compared to everything in my career and my team’s so far – to cook for the G7 and do it all on site away from The Art School. Our task was to embody the flavours, spirit and history of Liverpool across two services, to distil the essence of this great city for these global leaders onto their plates. We are very proud and incredibly happy how the weekend unfolded and it’s still quite surreal to reflect on it all.”
As Liverpool hosted some of the world’s top leaders from the US, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan, Paul brought all of his experience to the fore to capture the magic of the city region for these very special guests. Sustainability, using local artisanal suppliers and free range and organic produce are at the heart of Paul’s vision, to celebrate and champion what Liverpool has to offer within a 30-mile radius.
“It’s an incredible moment for us to have cooked for the G7 here in Liverpool over the weekend and represent the city. So it was essential for us to capture what we do at The Art School already for the G7 and plate up our finest menus with local ingredients – there is an absolute abundance of riches on our doorstep.
“Liverpool has been in the spotlight a lot this year and it feels very fitting for the G7 to have been here over the weekend – there is so much going on here across food and drink and arts, culture, sport, science and technology too – the city is really doing some wonderful things and we are of course immensely proud to be a part of this. Liverpool is a huge tourist destination and helping keep the awareness out there will bring more people back to visit in 2022.”
Whilst contending with opening his brand-new Scouse Brasserie in the city last week, Barnacle, with a collective of leading local chefs, Paul’s focus also remains firmly fixed on giving a voice to the hospitality industry as it faces new challenges in the pandemic. The fight is far from over for the sector which covers the length and breadth of the UK and is a major part of the economy in Liverpool.
The G7 visit to Liverpool enabled Foreign and Development Ministers to discuss and tackle some of the most pressing global issues where international cooperation is key to success, including the development of vaccines, the future of green, sustainable infrastructure as well as preventing and resolving conflict.
