The accidental chef
At 52, Eddie Patrick finds himself leading the kitchen team at Marco Pierre White’s first steakhouse bar and grill in Northern Ireland, at the Park Avenue Hotel in east Belfast…
It’s a far cry from Eddie Patrick’s early days, studying for his City & Guilds in the distinctly unglamorous surroundings of the former Rupert Stanley College in Belfast.
He couldn’t have thought then of the responsibilities he now shoulders and although he’s “absolutely delighted” with the choice of the Park Avenue for MPW’s first foray into the Ulster market, he recognises the weight of expectation that the brand brings with it:
“It’s a great honour for us and the feedback that we have been getting from the management and executive chefs that we’ve been working closely with lets us know that they have faith that we can do this,” says Eddie, whose wife, Mandy, is the well-known proprietor of the four-star Park Avenue.
Eddie’s career in hospitality began at the Park Avenue in his teenage years before he left for Rupert Stanley. Once his classroom training was complete, he followed a varied career that saw him gain experience in a variety of settings, most of them involving catering on an industrial scale:
“You could be providing on-site catering for 300 one week then doing a sit-down buffet for 450 the following week,” he recalls. “It was certainly challenging work but it gave me great experience.”
When he was 24, Eddie returned to the Park Avenue as chef de partie, eventually working his way up to his current position. There are now five chefs working exclusively on the Marco Pierre White offering while executive head chef, Stephen Magowan – who has been at the Park Avenue since 1998 – leads the team that services the hotel’s own bistro and caters for events such as weddings, funerals and seminars at the hotel.
Eddie admits that he fell into his kitchen career almost by accident:
“I was always a bit of a sportsman,” he says. “I wanted to be a PT instructor or something like that when I was at school. But they didn’t ask me until the end of third form what it was that I wanted to do, they didn’t tell me what qualifications I would need. I thought it was just about being good at sport.
“Also, I wasn’t very good at woodwork or metal working, but there was a girl that I liked and when I was putting down my subjects for GCSE, I looked over her shoulder. She was doing home economics and I opted for that just to be in the same class as her. I didn’t end up getting the girl, but I did come first in the class!”
Eddie is enthusiastic about the current revival in the fortunes of the restaurant trade locally, particularly in Belfast, and delighted that two local venues – Ox and Michael Deane’s Eipic – have just received their Michelin Stars:
“That’s something that’s been sadly lacking,” he adds. “I also had dinner recently in Niall McKenna’s restaurant and it was excellent, very good. And the whole Ballyhackamore area has become a real hub for good local cuisine.”
As for the immediate future, Eddie says that the focus is on the team at MPW and he admits that getting everything in place for the official opening earlier this month was a challenge:
“It was hard to find head space for everything that had to be done alongside all the normal stuff,” he remarks. “There are things on MPW’s ingredients list for example which he insists that you use and we have to work to the letter, but my local suppliers have been very helpful.”
Long-term, Eddie wants to concentrate on producing a consistent, quality experience – only the menus will change, he says.
“The challenge really is seeing where we can go from here,” he goes on. “It’s been a real pleasure for me to go over and work with a few of the restaurants in GB and to get that training from them and now I’m really looking forward to what’s ahead for us here.”
