A TALENTED Fermanagh chef represented Northern Ireland in this year’s Great British Menu last night.
With a strong emphasis on local heros, Marty McAdam aimed to impress the judges and highlight the rich culinary heritage of Northern Ireland.
The show started off with a menu submission once the brief was sent, something Marty, pictured left, found the hardest part.
“I really wanted to showcase as many local hero’s as I could. In particular the great Ted Keenan, his story is one that really brought home what it is to truly be a champion of his town and county,” Marty explained.
“In my opinion he should have a statue erected in Enniskillen town centre, what he achieved in open water swimming was world class.”
It was down to practice and making tweaks until it was right.
“I really enjoyed that part. As anyone who knows me could tell you, the business end of things isn’t what I love. I don’t particularly love running a restaurant. It’s hard and stressful but it allows me to cook my food and do things the way I like. It is the best job in the world,” he said.
Marty has previously been asked to represent the North on Great British Menu before when he was in the middle of opening his restaurant The Street Kitchen.
“As anyone who has ever opened a restaurant or business knows, there was a lot of pressure and stress involved and maybe it wasn’t the right time to go on the show but as a chef who has been watching Great British Menu from literally the first season it was an opportunity I could not pass,” Marty explained.
“This time round, I have an amazing team who allowed me to focus a lot more on my dishes and to put a lot more time into presentation for the competition.
“My restaurant manager Jamie Lee and sous chef Rebecca really took the reigns to oversee the running of the restaurant while I went off to film. Superstars the both of them.”
Marty is incredibly proud not just for himself but for his team, his wife Aisling and his little boy Rory.
“I hope I made them proud and represented Enniskillen and Fermanagh well. I know it’s NI we go there to represent but I really wanted to highlight that us Fermanagh folk can run with the city guys and hold our own. Hopefully it can attract more foodies to Enniskillen and Fermanagh because we have some fantastic places to eat here.”
Marty and the Street Kitchen have some exciting plans for the future.
“We are hoping to open another even smaller chef’s experience restaurant to follow on from the success of our Paget Lane concept, but I don’t want to rush that,” he said.
“It is important to keep the Street Kitchen going, improving as we go and never getting complacent. Our evening service is my playground, our small plates menu is always evolving and getting better.”
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