The Aiden Byrne Blog

It has been a bit of a hectic week at The Church Green. There has been some very early mornings, long days and late nights, and the whole team have really worked hard.

We have had a little change around, a lick or two of paint and even a new sign outside!

The changes haven't just been cosmetic, we've had a brand new Inka Grill installed and changed the menu too!!

Take a look at all our menus here.

Please come and see the changes for yourself, enjoy your new Church Green and try some of the wonderful tastes from the new grill.

As you may be aware, in July of last year we opened the British Grill in the Macdonald Craxton Wood hotel in Ledsham, Chester. This concept has been a great success there and the restaurant even achieved 2 AA rosettes within 8 weeks of opening.

Over the three years we have been at The Church Green we have listened to your feedback and this has helped us evolve. With this in mind, and taking into consideration the success of the new British Grill menu we have taken the decision to incorporate the grill and menu into The Church Green.

The new menu changes will come in to effect from February 23rd 2012.

We will be closing on Monday 20th for three days, and having a bit of a makeover in the restaurant as well as investing in a wonderful new Inka grill for the kitchen too!!

As well as having the British Grill menu we will also be keeping our very popular Lunch menu and 5 course tasting menus. Our famous wine matching evenings will continue and we will hold regular gourmet events too.

We would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to you for your continued support and custom and we look forward to welcoming you back at The Church Green soon.

At the end of November, Aiden, along with his moustache that he grew for 'Movember', gave his time to support a fundraising event in aid of The Prince's Trust. The event was organised by both Event organiser Alison Malone of Wilmslow based Events With Appeal and Heating equipment manufacturer Flamco UK, and was held at Flamco’s UK premises in St Helens.

The event was a 'celebration of music' and revellers enjoyed performances by artists including Blackpool based Karima Francis, Alderley Edge based Jack Tinner, The Affinity show choir from Cheadle Hulme and The Carlton Jug band all the way from Glasgow.

 Pictured: Karima Francis 

After an inspirational presentation and performance, along with Naomi Franklin, by Prince's Ambassador Curtis Blanc, Aiden had the unenviable task of preparing 220 main courses of Pork Belly and desserts of Baked Alaska. The food, which all needed to be served in a one hour window, was delivered to the tables by St Helens based outside caterers Scoffs Outside and an army of Prince's Trust ambassadors and volunteers.

Aiden, along with Scoffs, Flamco UK and Alison Malone, have supported The Prince's Trust over the past two years and have run several events which have raised several thousand pounds in total. This event generated a whopping £10,000 for The Prince's Trust and also gave guests both a great night of entertainment and an opportunity to sample some of Aiden’s classic British food. A great night was had by all!

Our Head Chef Jim Key, has stepped up to the mark to go head to head with top Michelin starred and highly rated Good Food Guide chefs in this year’s Britain’s Best Dish.

The ITV show has returned with presenter Mary Nightingale and judges that include accomplished chef John Burton Race, food and wine expert Jilly Goolden and chef and restaurateur Ed Baines. The judges will taste main courses and desserts served from every region across the country in order to award one professional chef with the prestigious accolade of having their dish named the best dish in Britain.

When asked about the show, Jim comments, “I was pretty nervous about being filmed for a TV series – I really felt like I was stepping out of my comfort zone, but when your passion takes over you soon forget about the cameras and completely immerse yourself into your dish. The standard is really high but I feel I gave it my all, I hope I’ve made the North West proud.”

Aiden comments, “Jim is a fantastic chef and I’m really pleased to have him at The Church Green - I truly believe that Jim will go far in this process and we’re all behind him 100%. To bring this title back to the North West would be amazing and would only add to the buzz in the industry in this region.”

As well as the TV show, ITV have also published a cookery book including all the dishes that are featured in this series. Jim’s dessert recipe can be found on pages 222 and 223. Books are available to purchase from The Church Green in the coming weeks at a reduced price of £17. 

Viewers can catch Britain’s Best Dish on ITV1 every weekday at 5pm and see Jim’s debut on the 15th of December.

Cherry Tree Primary School in Lymm have just launched their school cookbook entitled ‘The Big Red Juicy Cookbook’. The book includes almost 130 recipes written and illustrated by the pupils from the school, as well as a foreword written by Aiden.

Mrs Helen Graham, Acting Head Teacher, Cherry Tree Primary School says, “At Cherry Tree School, we are always looking for ways to celebrate the children’s creativity. The Big Red Juicy Cookbook was an ideal opportunity to allow our children to be imaginative, show off their artistic flair and also consider the healthy eating messages that we promote at our school. I am absolutely thrilled with the final result and proud of all the children who contributed.”

The book is priced at £9.50, plus postage of £1.40 if required, and is available by calling the school on T: 01925 755885, or can be purchased from The Church Green, The Terrace and Rushgreen Service Station in Lymm village or from the Cherry Tree School stall at the Dickensian Festival.

Aiden comments, “It’s great to see children getting excited about cooking and not be afraid to experiment with different flavours and textures. I would encourage people to not only buy this book for the great recipes, but to also financially support this great school.”

Front cover picture drawn by Jamie Reid aged 9.

Book name created by Oscar Schache aged 5.

In September 2011, a remarkable team of 8 top chefs commenced on a unique UK road trip spanning 16 months to raise some serious funds for Hospitality Action, the Hospitality Industry Benevolent Organisation.

The fundraiser, which has been organised by VisionaryDining.com’s Managing Director Gordon Cartwright, involves each chef taking it in turn to host a unique dinner in their own restaurant with all of the participating chefs cooking one dish each to form an 8 course meal that will be served to paying guests.

Their combined culinary efforts will provide diners with an extremely unique experience whilst raising some serious funds for the worthy organisation.

Aiden is amongst the key 8 and will be hosting his event on 21st May 2012 in one of his restaurants.

Tickets are priced at £100 each and include 8 courses served with wine.

On Saturday 26th November Aiden will be taking part in a fundraising event organised by Flamco, in support of the Prince's Trust.

The event, which will be held at Flamco UK in St Helens, will be a celebration of music with various acts such as the award winning Affinity Show Choir performing throughout the night. Master of Ceremonies will be comedian Willie Miller from BBC Radio Merseyside.

Aiden, who also took part in last year's event, will be preparing the food which will be served by representatives of The Prince's Trust, as well as donating a 2 night dinner bed and breakfast break at the Macdonald Craxton Wood Hotel for the auction.

Last year Aiden not only prepared the food, but also donated an auction prize of a meal for 8 people, raising £1,900.

To mark the month of November, men around the world have been urged to get behind a moustache growing campaign to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer. The aptly named campaign, Movember, is being backed by four of our chefs at The Church Green, who are guaranteeing some serious facial hair styles!

The chefs have registered at www.Movember.com with a clean-shave face and then for the rest of the month, the men, known as Mo Bros, will groom, trim and wax their way into the hall of moustache fame.
The funds raised in the UK support the number one and two male specific cancers - prostate and testicular cancer. They are directed to programmes run directly by Movember and their men’s health partners, The Prostate Cancer Charity and the Institute of Cancer Research.

Aiden said, “Last year the UK campaign raised an amazing £11.7 million, so this year we thought we’d take part to help exceed that total. We will be asking diners if they wish to donate £1 to the cause in return to meet the moustaches!”

He continues, “We all like to have a bit of fun and raise money for great causes like this and we hope all our diners get behind us and pledge their support.

Movember, which first began in Melbourne Australia, has grown to become a truly global movement working to change attitudes men have about their health, to educate men about the health risks they face, getting them to act on that knowledge thereby increasing the chances of early detection, diagnosis and effective treatment.

We will be posting photographic evidence of the chefs moustache growth on twitter @aidenbyrne and @thechurchgreen as well as The Church Green facebook page, and people are encouraged to follow their progress and share their Movember stories and pictures with them.

Summer seems to be over, and things are getting very autumnal! We have even had the fire lit already.As the nights draw in, we are already planning our New Year's Eve gala dinner, and we have already taken a good many bookings for the festive period.

We know getting everyone together around the festive period can take a while to organise so we thought we would give you plenty of time to sort out all the arrangements by letting you all see the festive menu now - simply click here.

Our festive menu will be available from Monday 21st November right through until Christmas Eve. We will be serving it 12-3pm and from 5pm Monday to Friday. So plenty of chances to get everyone together for that special meal. You can book online our give one of the team a call on 01925 752 068.

If you can't wait until our festive menu is available here is a very early Christmas present from us to you!

Just click the picture below to get a voucher for a free bottle of wine when four adults dine from the A la Carte menu during October or November.
- All you need to do is print the voucher and bring it with you!!

Well, our barbecue's went down a treat at The Church Green and The Collingwood. A big thank you to all those who attended and we hope you enjoyed the night as much as we did. Let's hope it wasn't so much a goodbye to our summer but a way of welcoming in the Indian summer we deserve!!
 
Don't forget that The Church Green are holding a six course gastro evening with matching sherries on Monday 5th September, where we will show that sherry is not just for Grandma! Only £50, and limited places so book now!!
 
The Collingwood's resident musician Gerry Murphy plays on Saturday evenings and is a real hit with the crowds, he has an outstanding repertoire and is always happy to take requests.
 
We also have the award winning Gary Murphy whose guitar playing is considered second to none, Gary has wowed audiences throughout Europe and headlined many festivals, and you can hear his amazing guitar playing for free at The Collingwood!!

The Craxton Wood British Grill are holding a two course meal and cookery demonstration in aid of Wirral Hospice, St. Johns on 6th October. Tickets are only £35 and for a great cause, call 0151 343 0778 for more information.

Aiden is doing a cookery demonstration at the Liverpool Food and Drink Festival this Sunday, shortly before doing a meat masterclass, why not pop along and enjoy the whole weekend with a whole host of passionate chefs and great food and drink.