Macclesfield: Marton restauranteur reveals why he's decided to sponsor local cricket club
By Nub News guest writer
10th Jul 2023 | Local News
Article by Tim Taylor
A local restauranteur has revealed why he's decided to sponsor Prestbury Cricket Club.
Business has boomed for Joe Rawlins since his French restaurant was named as the only new addition in Cheshire to the 2023 Michelin Guide.
But success has come at a price because 29-year-old Joe, head chef and co-owner at La Popote in Marton, near Congleton, had to step up an already demanding work schedule.
"I went from working around twelve hours a day to just working and sleeping," he says.
"The stress was such my partner Gaëlle Radigon forced me to start taking meaningful breaks to keep me sane.
"I love playing golf and cricket so I have played the occasional game for Prestbury Cricket Club and more regular rounds of golf at Mottram Hall and Astbury, where the lovely course is less than 15 minutes down the road from my restaurant.
"I play all of my sport in the wonderful Cheshire countryside and it has been just what I needed to get more fresh air and exercise and take my mind off the hectic business side of owning a restaurant plus creating my dishes in the heat of the kitchen!"
Prestbury Cricket Club and Astbury Golf Club depend heavily on amateur volunteers and Joe has decided to repay their efforts by joining both clubs' lists of sponsors.
He's giving free meals for two plus wine at his casual fine dining restaurant to the Prestbury Cricketer of the Year plus Astbury's men's and ladies' Knock-Out Cup winners.
This Sunday, visitors to the Prestbury CC 6s will find a taste of the of the La Popote menu on sale.
Joe was brought up in Wilmslow and he played cricket as a junior off-spinner for Alderley Edge.
He also became a 15-handicap golfer at the Styal club, having been encouraged to take up the sport at the age of four by his talented late grandmother Margaret Rawlins, who played off scratch.
Frenchwoman Gaëlle, is Joe's partner in business as well as life. Gaëlle, who runs front of house at La Popote, has a background in fashion, marketing and communications as well as the restaurant world.
Ironically, when Joe was a schoolboy at Hillcrest Grammar School in Davenport, his cookery teacher told him he would never be good enough to become a chef.
That was long before Joe and Gaëlle spent more than nine years together learning the casual fine dining business in Paris, Joe being tutored by world leaders who had learned their trade at the feet of the world's finest chefs.
That school teacher would be surprised at how the Michelin Guide describes Joe and Gaëlle's restaurant, which complete with a stunning "secret garden" they have created, is the first they have owned.
La Popote's Michelin review reads: "A characterful converted barn with brick floors, exposed beams and linen cloths, which add a brasserie deluxe feel.
"The years which the chef-owner spent working in Paris is evident in the cooking which incorporates classic French techniques while displaying a subtle modernity in its presentation. Service is friendly and assured."
On one side of the restaurant is a nine-hole golf course, Marton Meadows, where Joe also plays, and on the other, St James and St Pauls, the oldest timber-framed church in Europe dating back to 1363.
Marton is the site of one of the oldest oak trees in the UK and the village hub, based on both sides of the A34 between Alderley Edge and Congleton, boasts a cafe, beauty salon and historic pub The Davenport Arms.
See Also: Macclesfield personal trainer celebrates first anniversary in town centre gym
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