Chef who held Michelin star record is opening his first solo restaurant in Wirral

In a career that’s spanned over 25 years, chef Tony Parkin has only ever worked in Michelin starred restaurants.

He even held the record for the quickest star in the UK, achieving the industry’s most coveted recognition in just four months.

Now the 42-year-old is about to open his first solo restaurant in Wirral, alongside his wife Laura, with hopes of maintaining that impressive success rate.

They are taking over the site on Rose Mount in Oxton that was once home to Marc Wilkinson’s award-winning Fraiche. 

When that closed in 2023, Andrew Sheridan’s independent Open Restaurant Group relaunched the site as Restaurant OXA. 

DAISE by Tony Parkin, named after the couple’s 10-year-old daughter Daisy, is a partnership with ORG which will make Oxton one of the region’s top culinary destinations again.

With just five tables, and a maximum of 12 diners, the restaurant will offer a ‘greatest hits’ tasting menu comprising some of the chef’s signature dishes – including a seasonal take on a gateau dessert which scored him 10/10 on BBC’s Great British Menu.

For Tony and his family, opening DAISE isn’t just a career milestone, it’s a big personal move too.

He said: “For the last seven years I’ve been executive chef for 5-star hotels with a Michelin star restaurant inside,” he explains. “And after my last job I took a year off to think about what I wanted to do. I even toyed with getting out of the trade, but a programme came out on Apple TV, Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars, that I was in and offers started coming in.

“I was approached about taking on a solo project, I had a beer with Open Restaurant Group’s chief executive who used to be a regular customer of mine, and he said, ‘after watching the programme I think you need to put your food back out there and do something small’.

“Because I’ve always been in charge of big teams I didn’t want to be running a kitchen with 30 chefs anymore, it’s too much stress, I wanted to just work on my own or maybe with one other eventually.

“Me and Laura don’t want to work for anyone anymore; we want to go to work in the morning, do what we want to do and have a bit of a life. With DAISE I can cook what I want on a daily basis and make it a business we can put our heart and soul into.”

Tony says the response to him arriving in Oxton – initially opening Wednesday to Saturday evenings – was hugely positive, from other people in the industry and from enthusiastic foodies.

“When the announcement was made the reaction was fantastic, bookings came flying in within the hour which is always nice. Obviously there’s pressure behind it but lots of locals have been in touch and are excited to come which is really good.

“This is the smallest restaurant I’ve ever worked in, the last two have been about 25 covers, but the way I look at it is it’s almost like coming to our house for a dinner party. My wife will be on the floor, I’ll be in the kitchen and on the floor with her serving some of the dishes, so it’s very personal.”

The seven-course launch tasting menu will reflect Tony’s incredible CV, working in top restaurants all around the world including Paris, Barbados, Noma in Copenhagen, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea and Northcote in Lancashire.

“A lot of people coming to DAISE will have never eaten my food before, so this menu is my DNA,” adds Tony. “I’m opening with a menu of classics then the restaurant will keep on evolving over time.”

He wasn’t familiar with the area before he came to look at the building but felt an instant connection.

“I didn’t want to live in a city anymore, and I really liked it. It’s got a proper community but it’s not in the middle of nowhere, and it’s so close to Liverpool and to Chester.”

As for adding to the region’s restaurant scene, he’s looking forward to it, with maybe one eye on achieving a Michelin star again.

“The release date for the new Michelin guide is next Monday, so I’ll put it out there: the one thing I’m really happy about is I’ll have a full year. I’ve had a star for the last 8-9 years so I might not get it, but it’s not just about that, it’s about being happy with what we’re doing. 

“I’m not here to give it the large, I’m here to offer a higher end of dining and open a restaurant that people want to eat at.”

Follow Tony’s journey on his instagram.

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