The story
At The Art School in Liverpool, Chef Paul Askew presides over a kitchen that has earned the restaurant a Michelin Recommended distinction. The setting is a converted Victorian school building on Sugnall Street, its high ceilings and original architectural details providing a fitting backdrop for cooking that balances precision with personality.
The menu draws on two distinct culinary traditions. Modern British techniques meet the robust, comforting flavours of Polish cuisine — a reflection of the chef’s own heritage. The result is food that feels both grounded and ambitious, each plate built on clear, honest ingredients.
The Art School is more than a dining room. The space includes a bar, a lounge, and a wine bar, alongside private rooms and an outdoor seating area. It caters to private parties and events, and offers wine pairings to accompany the tasting menus. The atmosphere is refined but unstuffy, the kind of place where a special occasion feels natural rather than forced.
Chef Askew’s approach is visible in every detail, from the careful sourcing of produce to the thoughtful composition of each course. The Michelin inspectors took note, and the restaurant’s continued recommendation speaks to a consistency that is hard to maintain. For anyone seeking contemporary dining in Liverpool that is both creative and rooted in tradition, The Art School delivers.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
History
Paul Askew's restaurant in an august building next to the Philharmonic Hall now has a courtyard area off the cellar bar for summer drinking and snacking. In the main room, still one of the most dramatic dining spaces in Liverpool, the cooking is full of ambitious flair, the plates busy but not overcrowded with elements that all fit together as snugly as jigsaw pieces. A trio of cuts of salt-marsh lamb – loin, confit shoulder and hay-roasted rump – comes adorned with samphire, golden beetroot and Wirral ricotta, while the vegetable main course could be tempura-battered courgette with herbed bulgur wheat, chickpeas and courgette/pistachio purée. Proceedings might open in distinctly Mediterranean manner, with a serving of marine-fresh red mullet on saffron potatoes, brown shrimps and red pepper purée, sauced with pastis. Finish with mirabelle plum compôte and white chocolate mousse or, for something more substantial, a steamed blackberry pudding with pomegranate ice cream and honey. A plethora of speciality menus supplements the basic prix-fixe, and wine is handled comprehensively too, with a distinguished global list that homes in on central and south-east Europe. Small glasses start at £6.50 for Abruzzo wines in all three colours.
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