Liam Anderson and Midsummer House 'the perfect match'

When Mark Abbott decided to end his long reign as head chef at Midsummer House, both he and Daniel Clifford agreed there was only one man for the job.

Mark recently opted to step away after 14 years at the two Michelin-starred restaurant, having given Daniel 12 months’ notice.

That allowed plenty of time for the pair to put their minds together to find the best possible replacement. That man was Liam Anderson.

Liam first arrived at Midsummer as a teenager and spent five years working his way up from demi chef de partie, before leaving to go and work for some industry leading chefs.

In his time away, Liam had stints with Mark Birchall at two Michelin-starred Moor Hall, Thomas Keller at California’s three Michelin-starred The French Laundry and Mickael Viljanen in Dublin at two Michelin-starred Chapter One.

Now, he’s back in Cambridge.

Easy decision

Reflecting on the call he got asking him to come back to Midsummer House, Liam said: “At the time I was working over in Dublin for Mickael.

“The chef (Daniel Clifford) rang me and it took me back a little bit at first. It was more of a shock that Mark was leaving, because I never thought that day would come.

“I took a couple of days to think about it. I just thought the emotional connection I have with Midsummer House and what happens here is the correct way to do things. I thought if there’s a restaurant I want to see successful and I want to help push, it is this one. It was quite an easy decision in the end, to come back.”

He added: “I remember walking through the door and coming in here as a demi chef de partie and thinking to myself, I'll get through the year and we'll see what happens. Just to be sat here nearly 10 years later as the head chef, you sometimes have to pinch yourself a little bit, how far I've come in my career and how grateful I am for all the time that people have put into me.

“There is pressure to maintain the standards, but I don't necessarily feel it, because I know I've put the work in to get to this point where I can keep pushing the place forward and I know I can achieve the standard that he (Daniel) wants.”

Shooting for the stars

Liam had not always set out to become a chef. As a youngster, he set his sights on gamekeeping, having developed a passion for shooting through his family.

But those skills of how to prepare game were utilised by chefs in a kitchen he was working at, washing pots. From there, Liam became more involved and as a teenager, was on his way to becoming a chef.

The Burnley-born talent worked at Lancashire pub Freemasons at Wiswell aged 17, before moving on to Midsummer House a couple of years later.

Liam has since learned a huge number of skills from his various experiences away, notably from working in the pastry section at The French Laundry. And that newfound knowledge, combined with industry titan Daniel Clifford’s experience, could push Midsummer House to another level.

“I work extremely well with the chef,” Liam said of his relationship with Daniel.

“He is a very particular man and I know how he works and how he thinks. That has given me a massive head start. I know how we do things and how we operate at Midsummer. We're always willing to change, but there's a lot of things that will never change, so it's important to know which you can and which you can't.

“I've been able to bring back maybe some more modern ideas, modern techniques, maybe a different style of food slightly. One of my main roles before I left Midsummer was me and the chef used to do a lot of development together. I spent quite a long time understanding how he thinks about food and understanding when he puts food on the plates, essentially what he’s looking for. So when I'm coming up with more of my dishes now, I've always got his thought process in the back of my mind. It's almost like we’re in sync on that one.”

Liam added: “I want to see the restaurant moving forward more in my time. I haven't wanted to come back and just do the same sort of classics.

“I think the biggest challenge has been trying to look at the food and see how we can push it forward and how we can utilise the chefs that we have, all the equipment that we have because we've got a brilliant set up and it's about utilising everything accordingly.

“I always have the chef's backing. He trusts me an incredible amount. That's obviously due to the five years that I did here prior. But I guess the beauty of it is we can do anything and there's no limits to the food.

“He has a style as such, but we cook Asian flavours, we can do French flavours, we can do British. If it tastes good and it looks good and something that he always says to me, if it's moreish, if you finish a plate of food, you want another plate.

“We don't have to do anything here. We can do whatever we want. So that's the beauty of it. It needs to be a little bit signature to us, but it also just needs to be delicious and remember why people are sitting down and eating at your restaurant. It's not for things to look pretty on Instagram.”

'The perfect match'

Midsummer House has been open 26 years, holding two Michelin stars for 20 of those, under Daniel’s guidance.

Liam describes Daniel as a “big mentor”, adding how nothing gets added to the menu without the chef patron’s sign-off.

Daniel said: “When Mark decided it was time for him to move on, you ask yourself 'who is the best person for the job?'

“Liam is hands down the best person for the job. If anything, that’s been proven over the last three months that he’s been here. He’s come into the kitchen, steadied the ship, changed the atmosphere in the kitchen, which is amazing, and he’s got to grips with it. His passion, his drive, his want to succeed and his understanding of me and Midsummer House, it’s the perfect match.”

Asked what he wants to achieve at Midsummer, Liam, who says his management style in the kitchen is one of ‘calmness’, explained: “I want to keep pushing the restaurant forward. Obviously I want to maintain the two stars as a bare minimum. I want to get people talking about Midsummer House again, as being at the forefront of modern food in England.

“The long-term goal at Midsummer is to be a three Michelin-star restaurant. It would be amazing. But the main goal for me is that everyone who eats here leaves happy.

“For what I want to achieve, it’s to be the absolute best I can be here and to push the boys forward and give them what I got. What Mark and chef did for me as a young chef I want to do for them and pass down what I’ve learnt.

“I want to do the best job I can and make the chef proud of me every day.”