Liverpool’s Steven Burgess is to be the next chef to guest at Nightgarden, the new food event at the city’s Camp and Furnace.
Crosby-born Steven, who now runs his own catering and consultancy business, Rhubarb and Custard, and works with national and international clients including Bentley Motor Cars, Nike and Vogue Magazine, will take the guest slot at the event on Friday November 25.
As one of the original founders of Camp and Furnace, Steven was instrumental in introducing the city to groundbreaking food events, including the Friday Food Slam as well as pop up restaurants where he cooked alongside food legends Glynn Purnell and Ben Spalding.
Since launching last month at the Greenland Street venue, Nightgarden has seen a number of the region’s top culinary talents appear, including Mary-Ellen McTague and Robert Owen Brown, bringing diverse and creative menus to the event. Its unique format has attracted hundreds of food lovers each Friday from across the North West to experience the event, where the cavernous Furnace room is transformed into a ‘glitch forest’, with large-scale video projections sitting alongside towering trees and plants as well as the event’s resident ‘creatures’ – creating a playground for drinking and dancing.
At Nightgarden, Steven and his team will be presenting a menu which includes tender lamb cooked over charcoal on a Canala, a traditional Italian barbecue, with miso, squash, onion and za’atar – and charred mackerel, which is blowtorched and served with Granny Smith, dill, ponzu and a garlic and bacon crumble. Sides include salt-baked potatoes with chorizo mayonnaise and Japanese short rib macaroni fritters with yuzu and satay ketchup.
Speaking about returning to Camp and Furnace as Nightgarden’s guest chef, Steven Burgess said: “I’m massively looking forward to the event on the 25th, Nightgarden is an exciting project to be involved with, and already has gained a fantastic reputation as the next generation of food events. I’ve not seen anything else like it – there’s so much theatre around it, with the visuals, and performers, as well of course as being able to see the kitchen team in action. It’s the perfect vehicle for our menus, slightly leftfield and containing elements of the unexpected.”
Resident Sommelier and DJ Adam Speechly will be matching wines to Steven’s menu, inbetween dropping tracks in the wine bunker. Commenting on the menu, Adam, who has over twenty years in selecting and recommending wines said: “There’s some very interesting flavours and cooking techniques included in Steven’s menu, some Eastern influences as well as robust smoky undertones from the charcoal and torching – I’ve already a few ideas on which wines I’m looking to pick, but I can’t wait to try a few dishes and see how they pair to some full-on reds and whites.”
Nightgarden runs weekly, every Friday from 6.00pm til late. Entry to the event is free, with drinks and food menus available.
No booking is required. Further information can be found at www.campandfurnace.com