From now to then by Phil Jones

From now to then

PHIL JONES'S BIOGRAPHY

I was born and bred in the Yorkshire countryside, in a small town called Wetherby, famous for two or three top quality Fish and Chip shops. A lot of pubs and not much else. I can testify to this as quite a large part of my early diet comprised of the dripping battered fish, chips with a side of mushy peas. I have always been a big fan of the Sunday dinner too; since I was a small boy my mother cooked some great roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. To her credit, she influenced my love of food with a variety of dishes, cooking meals such as Spaghetti Bolognese and curry when they were very much in their infancy in this country. My father also influenced my dietary diversity as a young lad. Having been posted in the Far East in the war, he was used to, and interested in the cuisine. As a result of this, I was eating in a number of the very few Chinese restaurants that were about at the time by the ages of six or seven. So even as a young child from Yorkshire I was familiar with a fairly wide range of foods.

I left Yorkshire in 1975 and moved to Manchester as a student of Economics, Sociology and Politics. It was probably my time as a student that my love for food really had the chance to develop. Living as a typical student with three other guys in houses in Fallowfield and Rusholme, there was always a certain degree of competition for the badge of the house’s best chef. We took it in turns to cook a meal for the house each night. Being a poor student I was forced to really search for the cheapest ingredients that gave the best flavour- a challenge I rose to on most occasions and one that left me truly focused on what good food is really all about.

We drank large amounts of Manchester’s quality family brewed ales. Robinsons at The White Swan in Fallowfield, Hydes at The Albert in Rusholme and Holts at the Grafton near the University. Dining out was mainly in the fledgling Chinatown at establishments such as Yang Sing and Wu sang. Another favourite of ours was Prego, the BYOW (Bring Your Own Wine) Greek restaurant next to the Odeon. We also frequented some of the first curry houses in Rusholme that served a bowl of curry and a chapati for 50p!

On leaving university, my first job was as a driver for a child minding agency in Old Trafford. I didn’t spend too much time here and when I left, I decided to go back to higher education where I attained a PGC teaching certificate. I was subsequently elected president of a small student union that is now part of MMU but was then called City of Manchester College of Higher Education. As President, I was given one brief; get bar money up. I decided that the key to doing this would be to keep live events going in the bar. So using my recently acquired skills as a punk promoter and reasonable knowledge of the music industry I set about doing so. After a successful time at the college I left as an established promoter.

The catering and music industries are very closely related. When a band is playing a venue, they all need feeding both before and after the gig. With a number of bands in my portfolio including Depeche Mode and Killing Joke I was able to build up a rapport with various eating establishments around the city.

After eight years in Manchester, I had had enough for the time being. So on New Years Eve 1982, I moved to London. I arrived to a dream office on Denmark St, right in the heart of the West End. It was a bustling area surrounded by a massively diverse range of eateries and there was a real genuine eating culture here. There was little time for me to cook as I was always on the phone or at gigs. This led to the inevitability of me working my way through the cafés, Chinese’s, Italians, Thai, French and many more different types of restaurant, forging relationships and cutting deals as I went. Continuing to work as a promoter, with pretty much anyone who would work with me, my love and understanding of both the food & drink and the catering industry and the relationship between them was consolidated.

In our spare time, in an attempt to get relax from the stress of the business, a friend and I set up a cricket team called Red Bat and having assembled a team, we entered it into a friendly league. I enjoy cricket very much and currently play for two teams, both on a recreational basis.

I moved back to Manchester in 1989, and currently reside on the edge of the Peak District near Glossop. For a while I worked as the Arts Festival Director for Manchester and then in 1996 an incident occurred that upset me greatly and spurred me onto my next venture. Manchester held host to a lot of the European Championship Football matches. I noticed that the main restaurant sponsor of the event was McDonalds. This exemplified to me how there was a lack of awareness, regarding food & drink and a healthier lifestyle. As a result of this, Manchester Food & Drink Festival saw its first year in 1998. MFDF is a celebration of everything about food and drink in the Manchester area.

The Food & Drink Festival has been a success for the past ten years and will be celebrating its 11th birthday this year. Due to its success, we now organise food & drink festivals in Southport, St. Albans and this year are putting on, for the first time, Summer in the Park, a celebration of food, drink and music in Manchesters’ Platt Fields.

I still work a little in the music industry but in a much more of a niche market. I know where I stand in the industry; today its mainly 20 year olds promoting 20 year olds, I am happy in my niche. Plus, I am not as much in love with music as I am with food and drink... or maybe cricket!