Photo of
July 23, 2013

 

[Alison and Fabrice with both their Scottish Restaurant Awards prizes][1]
Alison and Fabrice with both their Scottish Restaurant Awards prizes

Since 2007, chef patron Fabrice Bouteloup has run Barley Bree in Muthill, Perthshire, with his wife Alison. A restaurant with rooms, Barley Bree was named the Rural Restaurant of the Year and the Scottish Restaurant of the Year at the Scottish Restaurant Awards earlier this year.

Fabrice comes from the department of Mayenne in northern France. He has been a chef for 26 years and, come November, he will have spent twenty of them working in the UK, mainly in Scotland.

Alison grew up in the food and drink industry starting with her parents’ business, the Raasay Hotel. An interest in wine led to a career with Oddbins. That passion continues today with Alison masterminding the wine list at Barley Bree as well as managing the front of house.

According to Alison, their successes at the Scottish Restaurant Awards has led to lots of interest from new customers as well as lots of hearty congratulations from the restaurant’s many regulars.

In this Chewin’ the Fat interview, Fabrice tells us about the joys of a bespoke Athanor stove, a tough apprenticeship and his love affair with Scottish produce.

Congratulations on your awards. Can you tell us what they mean for you?

FB: Our regular customers really react to it. They have all been delighted for us and we appreciate that. It’s also really nice to be recognised for what we do.

Can you describe your food at Barley Bree?

FB: Our food uses a lot of classic French techniques with influences from around the world and a lot of great, seasonal, Scottish produce.

How did you start as a chef?

FB: From about the age of eight, I remember spending holidays on my grandparents’ farm and that is how it started. I would help my grandmother making butter and so on. We would slaughter a pig and turn it into pork. Gradually, I came to realise that I wanted to be a chef.

[Fabrice Bouteloup applies the finishing touches to a dish][4]
Fabrice Bouteloup applies the finishing touches to a dish

Can you run us through your career?

FB: I started at fifteen as an apprentice. We cooked, we cleaned, we did the dishes – it was tough. I worked up to 70 hours a week with a day and a half off.

After my two year apprenticeship, I got my basic chef’s certificate and my teacher found me a post in Augsburg in Germany.

That was in 1989. I was seventeen. I didn’t speak a word of German so I had to learn fast to get by in the kitchen. It was very exciting then. In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down and then in 1990 the Germans also won the World Cup. I had so much fun.

After that I returned to France to continue my studies.

I had an opportunity to live in the UK and I ended up in Edinburgh where I got a job in a French restaurant. Work in the 36 Restaurant at the Howard Hotel and the Atrium followed.

You are very passionate about using Scottish produce. What prompted that?

FB: My first job in a non-French kitchen gave me the chance to see a different vision of British food. It wasn’t just the ingredients but it was also what we would call ‘terroir’ in France – the quality of the produce and its provenance.

Do you think that food in Scotland has improved?

FB: In the last twenty years or so, things have changed incredibly. It has been like turning a new page. When I first came here, it was difficult to get a decent cup of coffee.

All sorts of factors have driven that change. I think that the British had good food before the war. Afterwards, there was rationing and so on and people never went back to the same level of interest in food that they had had before. Things went downhill for a long time and now they are coming back up. That’s down to many factors like, for example, the influence of the Roux family.

 

[Scottish ingredients take pride of place in Barley Bree][5]
Scottish ingredients take pride of place in Barley Bree

You opened Barley Bree in 2007. Was your own place always the ultimate ambition?

FB: Alison and I had been looking for years for a place to run as our own business but, mentally, I don’t think I was ready. As a chef starting out, you have to be open and listen and watch your bosses. You have to learn from them and take from them the knowledge that works the best for you. That takes time.

It also took us about five to six years to find the right place for our business. All the time, when we were looking, we were learning about what sort of premises would and wouldn’t work for us and I was learning how to make it work as a chef. When we took on Barley Bree, it felt as though everything had come together at the right time.

Do you have a favourite ingredient to work with?

FB: I love game and fish. In Scotland, both are plentiful and top quality.

What do you eat on a rare night off?

FB: I’m a lucky man because Alison is very good at cooking. A roast chicken or carbonara is perfect.

Is there a particular chef that has inspired you?

FB: There are lots of chefs that have inspired me and I couldn’t pick one above the rest. You build on the experience and knowledge which you pick up from all the chefs you have worked with. At the same time, you have to educate yourself.

Is there anything don’t like cooking?

FB: No, I’m happy to cook anything. Barley Bree has a small kitchen so I have to be versatile and able to handle every section.

Is there anything you do not like eating?

FB: I’ve tried kangaroo and other exotics. They are fine. I’m not so keen on goat’s cheese or blue cheese but if I need to try them for a dish then that’s OK. As a chef, you can’t say that you don’t like something. You have to know how the flavours work.

Is there a gadget or utensil that you wouldn’t want to work without?

FB: We revamped the kitchen last year and it has been a transformation. Now I have a brilliant kitchen with a lot of equipment which I would not like to lose. I have an Athanor stove which is like the Rolls Royce of the kitchen.

Athanor make bespoke stoves. Martin Wishart has one, Andrew Fairlie, Gleneagles, The Peat Inn. They are fantastic.

What’s the best thing about being a chef?

FB: The ingredients. When scallops or lobster or game comes in the kitchen, when you see the quality of the produce, that is what gets you going.

[Beautiful presentation is key at Barley Bree][7]
Beautiful presentation is key at Barley Bree

What has been your worst kitchen disaster?

FB: We’ve had a few power cuts at Barley Bree and they can be a real test. On another occasion, we had water coming through the roof of the downstairs toilet so we had to ask customers to use the toilet upstairs. Of course, that just happened to be the first time that Andrew Fairlie had come to eat at Barley Bree.

Is it nerve-wracking when someone like Andrew Fairlie comes in?

FB: The first time, a bit, yes. I was a little nervous but he has come back since then and I guess he must like what we do. All our customers are important. Every customer is a VIP. You have to do your best all the time.