Family meals to make bonfire night sparkle; Chef's Special Dishes of the day from David Woolf of Spoon restaurant, Allerton.

Byline: David Woolf

A PART from his family, David Woolf has one great passion in life - cooking.

And the Woolton-born chef has been inspired and taught by some of the best. Former King David's pupil David, 33, has worked with Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramsay and brothers, Albert and Michel Roux.

And he has graced the kitchens of famous celebrity haunts like the Ivy, Aubergine and Caprice.

"I always knew this is what I wanted to do," says David, who opened his own restaurant, Spoon, in Allerton 18 months ago.

"We have always had a big family table and life always revolved around it."

David, who began his culinary training at Colquitt Street Catering College in Liverpool, adds: "I love food and I always thought what a great job being a chef would be."

Since his first job at L'Allouette restaurant in Lark Lane, Aigburth, his career has taken him across the globe.

"I went to New York where I worked for an Italian family in Little Italy and I was treated like one of the family. We'd have 12 meals a day and we'd all sit round the table...it always reminded me a bit of the Godfather!"

But it was in Australia where David inherited his philosophy for good food at good prices.

"I worked for an eaterie where you got good food with fresh ingredients for about 10 dollars. I'm not here to win accolades or be the best restaurant in Liverpool, but I want to offer quality food at affordable prices.

"It's simple food. People forget we have a fantastic market in Liverpool, which we use."

And David, who also works as a consultant, says none of his work would have been possible without the support of his wife, Helen, with whom he has two children, Emily, four, and Joseph, one.

"I couldn't have done it without her.I have achieved all my culinary ambitions now, the last one was to own my own restaurant. The only one now is to be a good father."

And, of course, to help ECHO readers to be a whizz in the kitchen.

We asked David to come up with some bonfire night dishes that sum up his good food philosophy...

Pumpkin Risotto

Ingredients: 100g risotto rice' small pumpkin' 10g parmesan cheese' 20g butter' 5g chopped flat leaf parsley' 2 shallots' 1 leek' 4 cloves of garlic' 1 sprig of thyme' 200ml pumpkin stock.

Method: For the stock: Put chopped leek, half the chopped shallots and half the garlic, thyme and the pumpkin skin in a saucepan, cover with water and simmer for 30 mins then strain.

Put chopped pumpkin and crushed garlic on a roasting tray in a pre-heated oven at 180C and roast till cooked. In another saucepan add half the butter then the remaining chopped shallots. Cook without colour and add the risotto rice. Keep the rice moving and add the pumpkin stock a little at a time. Cook till rice is tender then add roasted pumpkin, parmesan and remaining butter. Stir gently before serving.

Chocolate Tart with Mascarpone Ice-cream

Ingredients: For the tart: 400g chocolate' 300g butter' 2 eggs' 9 egg yolks' 100g sugar. For the ice cream: 500g mascarpone' 120g caster sugar' 3 egg yolks' 25ml Grand Marnier' 1 orange' 25ml Cointreau.

Method: Blind bake pastry in a ring, brush with egg and cook at 140iC for about 10 minutes until crispy and golden brown.

Melt the chocolate and butter together. Whisk the egg yolk and sugar together until the mixture is foamy. Mix the egg mixture and the chocolate together, pour into the pastry ring and leave to set.

To make the ice-cream, firstly juice and zest the orange.

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl and freeze.

Cut the tart into 8 or 10 portions and serve with a scoop of ice-cream on top.

(Chef's notes: This dish can be served with any type of ice-cream or sorbet and should be used the same day).

NEXT WEEK: Catch David's fish dish of the day.

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VALUE: Chef David Woolf strives to offer good food at affordable prices

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Title Annotation:	Features
Publication:	Liverpool Echo (Liverpool, England)
Date:	Nov 2, 2006
Words:	687
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