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The Essential Ingredient in Two Years of Success
It's been a busy and uniquely impressive 12 months for Edinburgh's Wedgwood Restaurant. Being hailed as The List's Best Newcomer of the Year, ranking the city's number one restaurant on Tripadvisor.com and earning a well-deserved place in the 2010 Michelin Guide are no easy achievements for any establishment - but to have realised all of these within the first two years is remarkable. Catering in Scotland meets the man who made it happen, and hears why it's the ingredients that make the subtle difference between a good meal and a truly memorable one…
Situated on Edinburgh's Royal Mile, Wedgwood the Restaurant was born as a homage to Paul Wedgwood and Lisa Channon's 'perfect night out'. Years of 'research' scrawled on scraps of paper eventually turned into a fully fledged business plan and, having just celebrated the restaurant's second birthday in August, their restaurant is among the few doing exceptionally well in these testing times.
Paul Wedgewood, a self-taught chef by trade, drew on his experience from working in restaurants, hotels, bistros and pubs throughout the UK, and used his knowledge to shape his own ideas together with those of his business partner, Lisa: 'We picked out the best parts of mass catering and fine dining, pulled them together and discovered how to combine high end dining with speed and informality,' he says. 'The formula seems to be working, as our customers are delighted with the food and service here. We are also the only city restaurant that doesn't turn the tables; we let our diners take their time, which is a unique selling point.'
And talking of speed, you'll have to be quick off the mark to reserve a place at the moment: 'We have 48 covers and serve in excess of 400 meals a week but we have a fair waiting list right now and it's advisable to book a table as much as two weeks in advance,' he explains.
With its strong reviews, burgeoning customer base and enviable popularity, Wedgwood the Restaurant is now busier than many of its competitors in the Edinburgh area. 'To cope with the demand [since coming first in tripadvisor.com's listings], we quickly realised that sometimes we would have to use restaurant-standard pre-prepared ingredients to complement the scratch-made dishes,' says Paul. 'We tend to use Essential Cuisine's products for jus, stocks, glace and gravy. Because our kitchen is only six sq metres, we need to maximise the quality and yield from such a small preparation area, and these stocks are an invaluable addition to our menu.'
www.wedgwoodtherestaurant.co.uk
This article has been edited from its original version. For the complete feature, please see Catering in Scotland magazine September/October 2009.
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