Welcome back to Nottingham for Orange tree head chef

Chef Ian Martin at the Orange Tree

Chef Ian Martin has returned to his roots in Nottingham and is back in the kitchen he helped to establish more than 12 years ago when he became the first head chef at the Orange tree pub in the city.

Ian has once again taken charge in the kitchen of the popular bar after returning to the city following a spell working abroad.

It’s a venue he knows well. He spent four years there as head chef when the pub opened in 2003.

Ian, 45, said: “It’s great to be back running the kitchen where I was the original head chef when it first launched back in 2003. It was very satisfying to be the launch chef and help to build up the good reputation for food that the Orange tree still has today.

“There’s been a lot of change in Nottingham in that time. There’s much more choice for eating and a much stronger presence from the chains, but there are fewer strong independent pubs, like the Orange tree, in my view.”

Coincidently, there’s another link for Ian to the building that houses the Orange tree on the corner of Shakespeare Street and North Sherwood Street.

Before he joined the Orange tree first time round, he had previously been head chef to Nottingham Forest Football Club, and the Orange tree sits on the site of the building in which the football club was born 150 years ago, in 1865. Then known as the Clinton Arms, it was the venue for a meeting of shinney players – who played a sport similar to hockey – and, when they decided to begin playing football instead, it was the start of Nottingham Forest Football Club.

During Ian’s first spell at the Orange tree, more than a decade ago, the menu was very much targeted at the student market. Now, however, the pub attracts a much wider clientele and the new Spring menu, which has just launched this month, has been designed to reflect that.

His appointment at the Orange tree marks a home-coming for Ian, who grew up in the city where his dad ran various pubs. Classically French trained, he undertook his chef’s training in Nottingham before working at a variety of positions in the region including at Nottingham Forest, where he travelled all over the world with the football team. He also worked as head chef at the county cricket ground at Derby.

After four years at the Orange tree, he moved on to run a bistro restaurant in the Canary Islands, and later became the head chef at a four-star hotel on the islands.

Ian, who is also head chef for Orange tree Weddings and the Orange tree group’s events side of the business, said: “Styles and fashions in food have changed over the years, but I’m really pleased that the Orange tree still has a good reputation for quality food and for a relaxed, laid-back atmosphere. It’s good to have returned to the kitchen here.”

The Orange tree in Nottingham, part of the East Midlands-based independent Orange tree group of bars, serves food daily from noon until 7pm.

Group managing director Gareth Smith said: “We’re delighted to have Ian back at the helm in the kitchens in Nottingham. He knows the group, he knows the Nottingham pub, he knows the kitchen very well, and what’s really important is that he knows our customers.”

For more information, visit www.orangetree.co.uk/nottingham

Press release issued by Nottingham based pr company Perfect 10 PR http://www.perfect10pr.co.uk 

History to be made at world’s largest gathering of Shire horses in Staffordshire in March

Courtesy of Jane Muntz-Torres

History will be made at this year’s Shire Horse Society National Show when, for the first time, British heavy horses will be able to qualify for a golden ticket to a ridden class at the prestigious Horse of the Year Show.

Riding heavy horses has become increasingly popular, and now HOYS is adding a British Ridden Heavy Horse championship to its event, which takes place at Birmingham’s NEC from Wednesday 5th to Sunday 9th October 2016.

The first ever qualifying round for the championship will be held at the Shire Horse Society’s National Show, which runs 18^th to 20^th March 2016 at the Staffordshire Showground.

Wendy Toomer-Harlow, a founder member of the British Ridden Heavy Horse Society and a council member of the Shire Horse Society, said: "The BRHHS have been in talks with Hoys for some time regarding a British Ridden Heavy Horse Championship and we are very grateful to Grandstand Media for agreeing to hosting this new HOYS ridden qualifier. 

“This championship will give heavy horse riders the opportunity to showcase our four magnificent indigenous British heavy horse breeds, the Shire, Clydesdale, Percheron and Suffolk to both a national and international audience and display to people just what these versatile heavy horse breeds are capable of under saddle alongside their established draught uses.

“The Shire Horse Society National Show will host the first ever Horse of the Year Show Ridden Heavy Horse qualifying round and in doing so the society will take its place in the history of ridden showing. This is a very exciting time for all those enthusiasts who are involved in the world of heavy horses and passionate about the furtherance and promotion of our British breeds of Shire, Clydesdale, Percherons and Suffolk going forward into the 21^st Century.”

The Shire Horse Society National Show is the world’s largest gathering of Shires, with around 200 due to be put through their paces - shown in-hand, ridden and in harness.

The show, which has been held at a limited number of venues in England over its long history, is believed to be one of the oldest, almost continuous, horse shows in the world, having been held for the first time at the Royal Agricultural Hall in Islington, London, in 1880, when the charity was named the English Cart Horse Society.

This year it returns with a new venue and a new format – running over three days instead of two and being held for the first time at the Staffordshire Showground, to cater for a growing interest in the event. The ridden classes, including the qualifying class for the HOYS championship, are being held on Friday 18^th March and will also feature dressage and concours d’elegance to highlight the grace and elegance of the gentle giants of the horse world.

Shires will be shown in all their glory on Saturday and Sunday in the in-hand and harness classes.

Thousands of visitors are expected to attend the show, which is the flagship event of the Shire Horse Society - the only charity dedicated to the protection, promotion and improvement of the Shire horse.

The iconic breed was in danger of dying out just a few decades ago, and even now fewer than 500 new foals are registered every year by the Shire Horse Society.

The charity has been running a Save Our Shires campaign to raise awareness about these gentle giants and numbers have steadily increased, thanks to the dedication of a band of enthusiasts.

Tickets for the show, which also includes stalls and exhibitor stands for the public to browse, are now on sale via the Shire Horse Society’s website www.shire-horse.org.uk Follow the charity on Facebook or Twitter - https://www.facebook.com/shirehorsesociety and @saveourshires

The event takes place from noon to 6pm on Friday 18^th March, from 8am to 6pm on Saturday 19^th March and from 8am to 4pm on Sunday 20^th March 2016.

Tickets cost £4 in advance and £5 on the gate for Friday 18^th March. Tickets in advance are £8 for adults and £6 for under 12s and seniors, and £12 for adults and £10 for under 12s and seniors on the gate, on Saturday 19^th and Sunday 20^th March.

Entry is free for Shire Horse Society members.

Press release issued by Nottingham based pr company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk