Paul's Private Dining

A few weeks ago I had a photo shoot with Adrian Finlay of Adrian Finlay Photography.

We originally connected through North East Hour on twitter, it’s an amazing platform for local businesses in the North East to network.

We had an initial chat followed by a meeting to discuss options of what I could cook on the day to give some good results. Whatever dishes I was going to do were going to be colourful and (hopefully) appealing. Adrian is a really friendly guy and I knew that during our shoot we would work well together.

The photo shoot took place at OutCook in Alnwick, with the use of Outlook also being available for photos. The kitchens they have on show are truly first class and stunning. I must say a big thanks to Ben and Jill from OutCook for being so helpful and accommodating in allowing me to use the space.

After I tried out some tester shots and food for the day, I settled on the recipes I would be using.

They were;

Paul’s Private Dining Steak Sharing Platter

Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb with Tomatoes, Spinach and White Bean Puree

Beetroot & Goats Cheese Salad with Raspberries

Pan Roasted Chicken with Leeks And A Cheddar & Chive Sauce

Barbecued Sea Bass with Garden Treasures

Pear Poached in Mulled Wine with Walnut Brittle

The shoot was really good, Adrian made me feel at ease and was happy for me to cook and plate at my own pace we worked collaboratively throughout the shoot even getting a couple of action shots. His eye for detail is great and we made some slight alterations to plated dishes to bring the best features out of the dishes on the day.

There was a tangle with the Chicken dish as I just couldn’t get the placing right for the garnish. It had me pulling my hair out for several minutes until we made the decision to go back to basics. It definitely made the dish look better.

I’ve already used the photos to update my website and over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be updating some of the site content so please keep your eyes peeled for that.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Adrian for contacting me to take part in this shoot and I really appreciate all the help before during and after the shoot. If you would like to know more or check out some of Adrian’s other work please visit; http://www.adrianfinlayphotography.com. I’m sure you will agree he has an exceptional eye for detail and quality.

For more information on OutCook visit their website at http://www.outcook.co.uk. I’ll be hosting some new classes there soon, it’s such an amazing space to work in. Once again, thanks guys for all the support, it means a lot.

Thanks for Reading

Paul