Michelin-starred chef Tom Aikens serves up verdict on Jeremy Clarkson's pub menu
Michelin-starred chef Tom Aikens has dished up a tasty judgment on Jeremy Clarkson's "proper English pub" menu.
Since the runaway success of streaming series Clarkson's Farm, which documents the day-to-day triumphs and struggles of Diddly Squat Farm, TV presenter Clarkson has become a voice for British farmers. As well as having a farm in the Cotswolds, the outspoken star has now opened a pub in the local area in recent weeks.
The Grand Tour star has been strict on his rule of only selling British produce at his pub The Farmer's Dog, in Burford, although G&T is the only exception to this rule. There is no ketchup, Coca-Cola or avocados on the menu - much to the surprise of some pub-goers.
Read more: Jeremy Clarkson's pub
This caught the attention of the British chef who spoke to Yahoo about his visit to the Cotswolds pub. In fact, the food guru celebrated the "cut throat" decision made by the TV presenter and he praised him for pushing ahead with what he believes in.
He told Yahoo: "What Jeremy is trying to do is showcase the best of British farming and what it can offer. Jeremy is being pretty cut throat to himself and not allowing any produce that is non-British inside the premise. I think that it's great. It's a good, real way to stick to your guns about British farming, having your principles and really sticking to what you believe in."
Finding his feet in the food industry, Aikens became the youngest British chef to ever be awarded two Michelin stars at the age of 26. Now as one of the most acclaimed British chefs, he has had restaurants all over the world. At the moment Aikens has his restaurant Muse in Belgravia, in London, as well as restaurants in Jakarta and Tokyo.
He was personally invited by Clarkson to his pub to give a brutally honest opinion on the food. It is fair to say it went down a treat. Aikens said the Sunday carvery was "competitive" and "good value" with its price point at £20.
The chef added: "Jeremy is showcasing the best of British farming in a pub and in his farm shop to the general public to really say, 'Hey, you can actually have pretty good food for a reasonable price' which is what he's doing.
"For a lot of people who can't sometimes afford to go out and eat. It's a great way to introduce them into having good British staples like the carvery and the Sunday Roast." Aikens praised the great produce available in the UK too.
The Farmer's Dog hit all the criteria that Aikens would be looking for in a pub: a good location, good atmosphere, good beer and good food. What struck the chef was the amount of people who had turned up to enjoy even just a beer at the pub.
He said: "I've never seen so many people. It was kind of shocking. I was amazed at how many people were there. I know I had seen how busy his farm shop had been at Diddly Squat but I wasn’t expecting it to be busy like that.
"It’s definitely not going to dwindle [in interest]. It’s nice to see people are going there having a good day out and the food is good and he obviously has some nice beer as well. What more do you want?"
The chef revealed a conversation he had with Clarkson and the advice he shared with him about running a business in the food industry. "I said to Jeremy, 'it's never easy running a business when you are sole reliant on people to make that happen'," he shared.
"It's not easy. Because for him, running his farm is probably much easier because he doesn't have to deal with other people, it's just him and his gang. He can run that as he likes. But when you've got a business that is reliant on many other people to make it happen it's a little bit tricky."
While he says it would be "difficult" for him to pinpoint a way for Clarkson to improve his pub, Aiken advised him to look at trying to bring down the queue time.
He said: "Getting rid of the queues of people, people will always take their time to eat, whether service needs to be looked at to take in more people. But that's always the way, if you're popular there will always be a queue. There's a lovely view, it's really extraordinary."
