A Day in the Life of a Michelin Star Chef at Osip Restaurant

Osip: A Michelin Star in the Countryside

• 🌟 Osip is a Michelin-starred, farm-to-table restaurant located in a 300-year-old country house in the English countryside.
• 🌿 The restaurant emphasizes growing its own produce, with menus dictated by nature's harvest and seasonal availability.
• 🧑‍🍳 Head Chef Ciaran Brennan relocated to the countryside specifically to work at Osip, highlighting its unique appeal.

Sourcing and Butchery: Venison and Foraging

• 🌿 Foraging for wild garlic is a daily task, providing a fresh and cost-effective ingredient for dishes like chicken pivier.
• 🦌 The restaurant utilizes whole animals, specifically venison, to maximize creativity and minimize waste, receiving one to two deer weekly.
• 🔪 Butchering involves separating primal cuts like the tenderloin and belly, with the belly being brined and cooked overnight for a skewer component.
• 🥩 Transglutaminase, or "meat glue," is used to create thicker, more appealing venison belly pieces by adhering layers of meat and fat.

Seafood and Live Fire Cooking

• 🦞 Native lobsters from Cornwall are sourced live, with attention paid to shell hardness to ensure optimal texture when cooked.
• 🧊 Lobster tails are briefly frozen to facilitate easy meat removal and prepare them for direct cooking over charcoal.
• 🔥 Comoo (dried seaweed) is used to dry-age raw lobster, imparting umami flavor and firming the texture before grilling.
• 💨 Live fire cooking is a core technique, utilizing charcoal for heat and wood for smoke, allowing for slow cooking and finishing with surface color and flavor.
• 🍎 Smoked quinces, roasted in sugar and red wine vinegar, are prepared for a dessert, their viscous syrup clinging to the fruit over the grill for a chewy, cured-meat-like texture.

The Chicken Pivier and Kitchen Operations

• 🐔 The chicken pivier is a labor-intensive dish involving wrapping chicken with black truffles and sausage meat in puff pastry.
• 🍄 Wiltshire truffles, costing around £800 per kilo, are used sparingly as a supplement due to the skill and time required for preparation.
• 💨 The pivier is made airtight to prevent explosions in the oven and ensure distinct layers are visible when carved.
• ⏰ Kitchen operations are demanding, with chefs working long hours, often from 8 AM until midnight or later, with minimal breaks.

Service and Team Management

• 🤝 Pre-shift meetings are crucial for coordinating with the front-of-house team, detailing available specials like lobster portions and pies.
• 🍽️ Service is managed through a docket rail system, with the grill and garner sections expediting orders.
• 👨‍🍳 Head Chef Ciaran Brennan oversees the entire process, from ingredient sourcing and preparation to final service, ensuring the restaurant's high standards are met.