My first restaurant job was at Aqua on the Welshback in Bristol. I’d just graduated from Falmouth art college and was eager to get stuck into chef life after developing a taste for it at the Bottle Inn in Marshwood, Bridport, and at Henry’s Beard, an organic festival cafe. I found the transition from strong, environmentally focused catering to a more mainstream restaurant challenging, but I’d say I really cut my teeth there working with executive chef Jon Fraser, a veteran chef who for decades had run the kitchens at Bath Spa Hotel, cooking a global menu from Thai green curry to tiramisu.
Jon’s tiramisu was rich, bittersweet and boozy, and traditionally made with sponge fingers, but this festive take on it uses leftover panettone instead, not least because it soaks up the coffee and alcohol beautifully.
