Poutine and naniamo bars are on the menu of the Bay Tree Café as Canadian co-owner and head chef Alex Rotherham brings a taste of Canada to Bury St Edmunds

Forgive me for being a little self-indulgent here. This is my first of what, hopefully, will continue as a monthly column, and I felt I would start off with a brief introduction of myself and what I hope to share here.

I intend to share anecdotes from my life as a chef. They may at times be somewhat random, perhaps a little confusing and sometimes rambling. I will share some recipes; some old, some new and some in development. Hopefully, you will find my stories as enjoyable to read as I find them to share.

I am currently the chef and co-owner, with my wife Lisa, of the Bay Tree Café in St John’s Street, in Bury St Edmunds. We took over at the beginning of 2023 and have really put our personal stamp on here.

The menu really comes from my personality, what I enjoy to eat and a hope enough people like the same things I do. As the café’s sales have nearly tripled since we’ve taken over, it does appear tquite a few people enjoy my cooking.

The menu is truly West Coast Canadian which, having been born in Vancouver and the first two decades of my career being based there, seems inevitable. Just a few of our signature items I am proud of include Poutine (I will go into greater depth on this and even give away my recipe in a future column), Nanaimo bars, maple pecan butter tarts, proper mac ‘n cheese and American-style hash. While I take great pride in my menu and the quality of food that we offer, I am very keen to keep it casual and offer great comfort food.

Our other focus that is extremely important to me is led by my wife. We want our customers to not see us as just another café, but as a third place. We try to host a friendly environment where everyone, regulars and first-time customers, all feel like they’re visiting friends and family.

Well, I think that’s enough self-promotion for now. As we have just had Valentine’s Day, I’d like to share some of my own thoughts on what’s promoted as the most romantic day of the year. It is up there among the busiest days for restaurants; along with New Year’s Eve and Mother’s Day.

There tends to be added pressure on restaurants as the majority of tables are tables for two, which lessens the capacity and makes it harder to accommodate the demand. Because of this, the more popular restaurants will often have tighter turn arounds and allow shorter stays (some as short as 45 minutes). They will also provide a more expensive set menu. I will hold my hands up for being guilty of this practice, but entirely on the direction of my bosses.

One of the kitchens I ran was a 400-seat restaurant, where we would serve more than 800 people a five-course menu in a five-hour window. It was non-stop chaos throughout the entire evening, never a quiet moment to spare. There would always be marriage proposals, break ups and oft times some very indecent actions happening under the tables, sometimes requiring some very awkward intervention.

These popular and busy restaurants, I would say, do not make for a romantic environment. Maybe on a normal day, but not this day.

The stress and intensity, the pressure on the staff, the high-paced environment, all imposes itself upon the customer, whether they consciously realise it or not. The calm and intimate environment one would typically desire is just not possible.

While everyone most likely have made their plans, or are reading this after the event; I would recommend in future years, staying in on Valentine’s Day – and possibly the Friday and Saturday nearest if it does not fall on either of those days.

Instead, plan to go out on a quieter day close to it of your own choosing where you will have a greater choice of menus and not feel the pressure of a busy space. Or stay home and make your own meal or have a takeaway if you’re not one to cook.

And with that, I’d like to share a quick and easy little recipe that I think will work brilliantly with dessert on Valentine’s Day, or any other day for that matter: candied rhubarb. I would recommend serving it on top of some vanilla gelato; or possibly, for something a little less sweet, with some mascarpone cheese. They can also be quite enjoyable to eat on their own just like candy. Also, pouring the resulting syrup over ice cream, fruit or yoghurt is extremely enjoyable.

RECIPE: Candied rhubarb

Ingredients:

1lb rhubarb
8oz caster sugar
Half a teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Enough water to completely cover the rhubarb, but no more.

Method:

Cut the rhubarb into one inch cubes.

Combine all ingredients in sauce pot and bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and allow to simmer for 15 minutes with a lid, top up with extra water if it drops below the top of rhubarb.

Allow to cool, then refrigerate.

Alex Rotherham is co-owner and head chef of the Bay Tree Café, in St John’s Street, Bury St Edmunds

Tel: 01284 700607

Facebook: baytreecafebury