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Enjoy North East
STARRY-EYED KENNY
Jane Hall speaks to the North's gold-starred chef Kenny Atkinson about his most ambitious - and toughest - food challenge to date.
IT'S the sort of rags to riches story Hollywood specialises in: starry-eyed teenager leaves home ready to set the world on fire, but as the years roll by sees his self belief and ambition take a battering.
As he nears 30, an early mid-life crisis sets in and he worries he has wasted a decade of his life pursuing a dream that never was.
He gives it one last shot - and hey presto, everything slots into place. Suddenly he is hitting the headlines for all the right reasons, his name is being mentioned in the same breath as some of the finest in his field and lucrative job offers, TV and a glittering future beckon.
Three years ago Kenny Atkinson could have been that man. He was ploughing a straight and efficient furrow in the kitchens of some of Britain's best fine dining restaurants and earning a reputation as a dependable and competent chef. Someone who could be relied on in a crisis and would always produce the goods quickly, efficiently and to everyone's tastes.
But the former vegetable barrow boy in Newcastle's historic Grainger Market who had left school at 16 with no qualifications and no ambition until falling in love with food while working in his uncle's pub kitchen in Lobley Hill, Gateshead, wanted more. Namely, to be at the forefront of the fine dining revolution sweeping Britain and to take his place alongside the culinary stars shaping the way we all think about what we eat and drink.
Luck - as always happens in any feelgood tale - then turned her eye on Kenny. He accepted a job running a hotel restaurant on a small virtually car-free, tree-free island 28 miles off the Cornish coast that is so remote it can only be reached by helicopter and boat.
His reason for heading out into the Atlantic and The Tean Restaurant on St Martin's, had less to do with food and more to do with family life. Quite simply, he wanted to ensure his then toddler son, Aaron, had the best start in life.
As a family man it ticked all the right boxes. As he says: "The school only has six pupils, there are virtually no cars, nobody locks their doors, everyone looks out for each other and the scenery is stunning. It is like living in the 1940s."
It's the reason the rich and famous flock to The Tean - Prince Edward, writer Lynda La Plante, and actors Jude Law, Gary Kemp, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie - have all stepped ashore.
It turned out to be the best decision Kenny had ever made - other than marrying Abbie, of course. In early 2008 the now 33-year-old secured the first Michelin star ever to head the Scilly Isles way. It secured his entry to an exclusive club as one of the top 122 chefs in the UK.
He was immediately hailed a culinary hero and the international press beat their way to Kenny's less than accessible door.
Michelin recognition also opened up a whole new world for the Newcastle United mad chef, who was born and raised in Fenham, within sight of his beloved St James's Park.
Job offers began flowing in, including one from the acclaimed Seaham Hall hotel in Durham which had early in 2008 lost its own Michelin-starred chef, Steve Smith. Kenny arrived in August of that year and quickly set about ensuring Seaham's White Room retained its status as the North East's only Michelin starred establishment. It seemed a distant dream.
Understandably, some critics compared his 11th hour appointment to a Premiership football club parachuting in a top manager to save the team from sure-fire relegation . They reckoned without Kenny's determination, however. Having had his first taste of Michelin success, Kenny wanted more, and set himself the challenge of keeping the gourmet flag flying for the region.
And in what must rank as one of the most inspirational stories in the 35-year history of the modern Michelin awards, the news came in January last year of the White Room's star-studded success.
National fame followed after he was chosen to compete in the BBC's popular reality TV show, the Great British Menu, last summer winning both the public's and the judges vote as his starter was chosen to be served to troops returning from Afghanistan at a glittering televised banquet.
Last November he was also named Chef of the Year at the Cateys, the catering industry's most fiercely competitive awards. It's the perfect Hollywood ending.
Except the story hasn't ended. Kenny is not one to sit on his laurels, and now he has taken on what he describes as his "toughest and most ambitious challenge to date."
For the first time in his career he has his name above the door at what is almost certainly set to become the North East's most exciting, innovative and must dine restaurant at the newly opened Rockliffe Hall hotel in County Durham.
Kenny Atkinson at the Orangery is due to officially open to the public on February 19, at the luxurious hotel, golf and spa development located in the picturesque village of Hurworth near Darlington.
Above: Rockliffe Hall
In the heart of his beloved North East, Kenny has pledged to continue championing his home area with what he describes as "a modern British menu with a Mediterranean twist" that will focus heavily on quality local ingredients, from Carroll's Heritage Potatoes based at the further extremities of the region near Coldstream to butter, cream and milk from the award winning Acorn Dairy near Darlington in the south.
Kenny has promised his acclaimed fish pie, which caught the public's imagination on the Great British Menu, will find its way on to the Sunday lunch offerings, and his winning dish of a starter of salad of Aberdeen Angus beef with carrots, horseradish and Shetland black potato crisps is also likely to be featured.
Trial runs at the restaurant have elicited a positive response from diners, and Kenny is itching to get going for real.
He says the first time he stepped over the threshold of the multi-million pound development he was "quite simple, blown away."
"The attention to detail here is staggering. The place and its people are demanding the very best. It was a challenge I simply could not resist once they suggested my name could be above the door of the restaurant here.
"They are taking me right out of my comfort zone, but I know I'll thrive on that kind of pressure. This is my toughest challenge yet.
"I've had a number of really tempting offers from a host of amazing restaurants in London and across the world, but the opportunity to continue to wave the flag for the North East was one I simply could not resist.
"It's so exciting to be part of such a major new project here on my own doorstep."
The owners of Rockliffe Hall have underlined the importance they place on Kenny's arrival. Managing director Nick Holmes, says: "Kenny is a chef at the top of his game right now and we are thrilled to have him here.
"To secure a Michelin star not just once, but twice, is a feat bettered by few chefs the world over. His performance on the Great British Menu backed up his growing reputation as one of the new stars of British cooking.
"Kenny will play a major part in making us one of the top five star hotel, golf, spa and now restaurant destinations in the UK."
Michelin status will not be on the menu for 2010, though. The Michelin star stays with the restaurant rather than the chef if they move, so Kenny has to begin again and aim for the 2011 listings.
Ironically after fighting to join the culinary greats, Kenny says Michelin prominence is no longer his top priority, however. Yes, regaining his Michelin standing would be wonderful, but his immediate concern is getting Kenny Atkinson at the Orangery up, running and on the public's radar as the place to eat for all occasions.
"I am at the start of a great journey. This is the first time I have opened a restaurant myself in a new hotel and for me, the personal issue at the moment, is ensuring we get it right with great value-for-money food and lots of satisfied diners.
"The last few years have been a fantastic rollercoaster for me. My life has gone completely crazy. I look back three years and I went to the Scilly Isles looking for an easy life for the family following Aaron's birth, and we got a Michelin star and I was shot into the limelight.
"Then I got the chance to come back to the North East and got another Michelin star, the Great British Menu and the Catey award.
"Now I have been offered the chance to come to Rockliffe Hall and it is the icing on the cake. The champagne corks will really be popping if we do get a Michelin star in 2011, but this is the first time in my career that I can honestly say I'm not being driven by my desire to gain Michelin status but by my desire to do my best for the customer."
Kenny is so confident he can make it work, though, he has moved his family to Rockliffe, which now includes son Aidan six months alongside Aaron, now four.
He had promised Abbie once they arrived at Seaham that he would not be moving anywhere else soon. With a grin he says: "I'm only just getting back into her good books! But this isn't an opportunity that comes up every day. Other people were interested in me, but I didn't want to leave the North East as I had been wanting to come back here for such a long time.
"I wanted to do what Terry Laybourne has; build up a good brand, have a following and give pleasure."
Kenny adds: "Nick and the team at Rockliffe Hall are very ambitious and want to show the North East is one of the great parts of the world. I share their passion and drive and I know that, together, we can create something very special here."
• Rockliffe Hall, Hurworth-on-Tees, Darlington, County Durham, DL2 2DU, (01325) 729 999, www.rockliffehall.com
• Kenny Atkinson at the Orangery will be open Tuesday-Saturday 7pm-9.30pm and for Sunday lunch between 12pm-2.30pm. The a la carte menu costs £45 per person with a daily specials menu at £35 per head.
Above: Kenny Atkinson at The Orangery, Rockliffe Hall
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