Shock closure of top city restaurant
MYSTERY SURROUNDS DEMISE OF FORMER MICHELIN-STAR TURNERS AT 69
MYSTERY surrounds the sudden closure of one of Birmingham’s most renowned restaurants, which once held a precious Michelin star.
Turners at 69, in High Street, Harborne, made the shock announcement on Monday.
Owner and chef Richard Turner said in a statement : “I have made the decision to close Turners at 69 as of Monday 15th January 2018. The restaurant has enjoyed many wonderful years on the Birmingham dining scene.
“I would like to apologise to anyone who will be disappointed by the closure and extend a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has supported Turners at 69 over the years.”
The news Turner was closing the restaurant was a shock to many in the Birmingham food scene.
While most of his Michelin-starred contemporaries had professional fine dining training, Turner pretty much learned on the job, working in kitchens from the age of 15.
Turners opened without fanfare in Harborne High Street in July 2007 and two years later won a Michelin star.
In an interview in 2014, Turner said: “That day my phone did not stop ringing. I was amazed, and honoured, and have continued to try and raise the bar ever since.” Other plaudits saw inclusions in
restaurant guide 2014 and The Good Food Guide 2013-14.
Turners also won three prestigious AA rosettes in 2014, one of just 20 places outside London to gain the honour in that year.
The restaurant continued to hold its own in a flourishing Birmingham fine dining scene.
In September 2013, Birmingham newcomer Adam Stokes won a Michelin star within months of opening Adam’s restaurant on Bennetts Hill.
And in September 2015, Carters of Moseley joined Adam’s, Turners, Purnell’s and Simpsons, winning Birmingham its fifth Michelin star.
But in June 2016 Turner announced he wanted to escape the “straitjacket” of elaborate £90 tasting menus in favour of “more casual style of food”.
He added that retaining his Michelin star was no longer a priority. He explained at the time: “The tasting menu-style of cooking can be a straitjacket and I think it will be liberating to offer a more casual style of food. I will never sacrifice my commitment to quality but I believe qual- ity can be delivered on a more accessible basis.
“Birmingham is very well served with top-end Michelin star restaurants but there is a huge gap in the middle market for great quality food.
“The city has been a victim of its own success in attracting chain restaurants, many of them churning out food of dubious quality. I think my home city deserves better than that.
“I admire the dedication of Birmingham’s star chefs and wish them well. But after almost a decade of unrelenting, high-pressure cooking, I think the time is right for a change of direction – and, most importantly, I think the public is hungry for a change too.”
The newly-rebranded Turners at 69 opened two months later, offering affordable-priced two- and threecourse set menus.
A quirky advertising image for the new restaurant portrayed the chef as Jack Nicholson from The Shining.
Turner told The Post: “Having a simpler menu will make dining here less intimidating.
“It will also make life stress-free for me so I don’t have those Shining moments.”
It was no surprise then when the new ‘Turners at 69’ did not retain its Michelin star in the 2018 guide, released last September.
More fashionable fine dining restaurants have also opened in Birmingham in the last couple of years, offering a quirky non-formal experience paired with outstanding food.
They include Wilderness, in the city centre, and a few doors up from Turners, the much-lauded Harborne Kitchen, helmed by chef Jamie Desogus, who formerly worked with Turner. Despite the new menu, Turners had continued to impress on a national level.
It was named one of the best restaurants in the 2018 Good Food Guide and received three AA rosettes for culinary excellence in the AA 20172018 Restaurant Guide.
Turners also boasted one of the best celebrity spots last year when actor Steve Coogan – who has turned dining into comedy gold in TV’s The Trip – dined there in May.
But sadly it looks like the end of the road for now for Turners in Harborne.
But in an interview in 2016, Turner who was born in Lichfield, told The Post: “Sutton Coldfield will have the next Turner’s restaurant.
“The idea is to have restaurants around the city – ‘This is Turners at 69, I want a Turners at 21 and a Turners at 65. That’s the plan.”
Richard Turner was unavailable for comment.
A FORMER pub of the year has shut down unexpectedly.
The Bell and Cross, near the Clent Hills in Worcestershire, shut its doors at the start of December without any advance warning.
The pub used to be run by a former chef to the England football team and was once given the coveted Pub of the Year award.
Online review sites were flooded with complaints by furious customers who had made bookings over the festive period.
The pub, in Holy and Cross, was run from 2002 to 2015 by former chef to the England football team, Roger Narbett, his wife Jo, and their business partner Paul Mohan.
The icing on the cake came in 2010 when it was named Pub of the Year by The Good Pub Guide, beating more than 5,000 other rivals for the title.
Mr Narbett juggled kitchen duties with cooking for the likes of Wayne Rooney, David Beckham and John Terry in his other job as team chef. When it won the coveted title,
The Good Pub Guide said: “Everything at this charming place makes sure you come away feeling you’ve had a really special time; super food, staff with a can-do attitude, a delightful interior and pretty garden.”
The Narbetts left the pub in 2015 to run The Chequers at Cutnall Green, near Droitwich.
When they left, the owners, Ei Publican Partnerships (formerly Enterprise Inns), put the tenancy of the 90-covers pub up for sale at £125,000.
New managers ran the pub after that, but it is now closed.
A spokesperson from Ei Publican Partnerships said: “We can confirm that The Bell and Cross, Clent, is currently closed due to the publican’s decision to cease trading.
“We are currently searching for a new publican to take on the site.”