Michelin man

John Burton Race's love for food was nurtured in foreign climes as the son of a British diplomat experiencing a multitude of cuisines.

He's enjoyed success after success after opening his first restaurant, L'Ortolan in Berkshire, which held two Michelin stars from 1986 until 2000. Next was the Landmark, which opened in Marylebone, London in 2000 - it got two Michelin stars within the first year of trading.

John then upped stakes with his wife Kim and six children to spend a year in Southern France for the hit TV show French Leave.

Now back in England, John owns and runs the New Angel in Dartmouth, Devon, and has picked up yet another Michelin star and also won the AA Restaurant of the Year 2005.

He is now scouring the county for the perfect place to open his first gastropub.

Why do you want to open a gastropub?​

Gastropubs are fantastically exciting. The French and Spanish already have a love for eating out in local places, so what's wrong with the British pub? The way forward to developing food in Britain is to have more pubs serving proper food. I've got people out there at the moment ringing door bells to find the right location.

What do you believe makes a good gastropub? ​

If you cook the food right and in a really nice environment, you will build a strong client base. If you can create an informal atmosphere and relax with the cooking, you can give your customers a really pleasurable eating experience.

What do you think of the quality of food served in British pubs?​

There are lots of pubs all over the place but there are not enough selling good honest local grub. At the moment, pubs in Devon are geared up for the tourist trade making grilled paninis from the freezer and prepacked steak and kidney pie. You can't even get a proper chip from a real potato as pubs are buying frozen. The skill seems to have gone.

Where I am in Devon you don't see lovely things like shepherd's pie. You don't see pubs using fresh fish or making use of the great seasonal ingredients available.

Do you think you can avoid creating another restaurant in your new pub?​

I want to have a proper free house - no table cloths, no chi chi. If I have to buy something that's currently shit and have to refurbish the place, then that's what I'll do. And it will be somewhere that will serve good English food made from good English regional produce. My restaurant serves expensive cuts of meat, like fillet of lamb or rib of beef, but there are a lot of cuts that are not being used any more that can be cooked simply and to perfection.

What will you serve on your menu?​

Desserts like sherry trifle and clotted cream ice cream with lovely plum sauce and things like steak and kidney pie and lots of lamb and beef. You don't have to be flashy, you just have to use simple, good quality ingredients. In the south west, we've got fantastic produce to work with.

You demonstrated your recipe (below) at the Food & Drink Expo in Birmingham recently with the English Beef and Lamb Executive. What is your involvement with EBLEX and why?​

EBLEX promotes quality English beef and lamb. They work with chefs who are passionate about using quality, fully-traceable ingredients. Personally, I just can't see the sense in using meat that has been flown thousands of miles in a vacuum-packed bag as, in my opinion, it doesn't even come close in flavour or texture to the fantastic meat we produce in England. Hopefully my involvement with EBLEX at the Food & Drink Expo will persuade a few more chefs - and consumers - to appreciate that using local beef and lamb suppliers not only boosts the bottom line but will also improve their reputation as a chef.

Do you think the smoking ban will have a detrimental effect on pubs?​

A lot of people are saying the ban will be the end of pubs and restaurants, but that is just not the case. I've always loved to have a smoke and only gave up recently. Pubs don't want to ostracise the smokers, but they have to respect the fact that customers and staff don't want to be breathing in other people's smoke.

There are opportunities for food and you can create a place outside with heaters for smokers to have a quick fag.

John Burton Race's lamb recipe - as demonstrated at the Food & Drink Expo in Birmingham

Best end of new-season lamb with herbs​

in a salt crust

Serves 6

2.5kg/5lb 8oz best end of lamb

Salt and pepper

120ml/4fl oz cooking oil

English mustard

Parsleyed breadcrumbs (see recipe below)

Salt-crust pastry​

500g/17½oz plain flour

225g/8oz table salt

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

150ml/5fl oz egg whites

110ml/4fl oz water

1 egg, beaten until smooth

Sauce​

150g/5¼oz mirepoix

2 tomatoes

6 garlic cloves

30g/1oz tomato paste

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1.25ltrs/2pts chicken stock

Lemon juice - a few drops

Remove the lamb fillets from the bones or ask the butcher to do it. Take out and discard the silver membrane from the fillets. Chop the bones and set aside for the sauce.

Season the fillets with salt and pepper and seal quickly all over in 60ml of the hot oil. Cool and dry on kitchen paper.

Spread the fillets with a thin layer of mustard all over, then roll in the parsleyed breadcrumbs. Place in the refrigerator.

Next make the salt-crust pastry. Sieve the flour into the bowl of a food mixer, attach the dough hook, add the salt and thyme. Turn the food mixer on to its lowest speed. Add egg whites and mix for 4-5 minutes. Increase the speed a little and slowly add the water. As the paste comes together, reduce the speed and continue mixing for a further 2 minutes. The crust is ready when it starts to come away cleanly from the sides of the bowl. Dust a work surface with a little flour and roll the crust into a ball. Wrap in cling film and leave to relax for 20 minutes.

Roll the crust out into two equal-sized rectangles, 28 x 20 cm and place the lamb fillet in the middle of each pastry rectangle, and neatly wrap, leaving the join on the bottom to stop it undoing itself.

Brush well with the beaten egg and place in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours maximum, otherwise the lamb starts to bleed and ruin the pastry.

To make the sauce, heat up the remaining cooking oil in a roasting tray. Add lamb bones, and sauté until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, and place in a large saucepan.

Add the mirepoix vegetables to the roasting pan and sauté to brown them evenly. Add to the bones, again using a slotted spoon.

Squash the tomatoes, peel and chop the garlic and add, along with the tomato paste, the thyme and bay leaf, to the bones. Cover with chicken stock, bring to the boil, skim, and simmer for 1 hour. Strain through a fine strainer or muslin and then boil to reduce by half. The stock should remain clear and a lovely light-red colour. Taste for seasoning and add salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. Keep warm.

To cook the lamb pre-heat the oven to 230°C/450°F/gas mark 8.

Place the egg-washed, pastry-wrapped lamb fillets on a greased baking tray, and bake in a pre-heated oven, turning once for an even colour and checking that the pastry does not burn - approximately 8 minutes for rare, 10 minutes if you like the lamb pink.

To serve, cut through the pastry with a serrated knife and remove the lamb fillet. Slice the lamb and arrange on warm plates, two per plate. Spoon over the sauce, dress with chosen vegetables and serve at once.

Parsleyed breadcrumbs​

90g/3oz fresh white breadcrumbs

90g/3oz parsley

1 sprig fresh thyme

½ bay leaf

3 garlic cloves

Olive oil to moisten

Salt and pepper

Wash, dry and finely chop the parsley. Wash the thyme and p