Great British Menu star announced as head chef of new Dog & Collar Pub on Hope Street

Scheduled to open in early 2025, Dog & Collar promises to blend tradition with innovation, offering an elevated pub dining experience.

They have announced today that Liverpool Chef, and Great British Menu 2025 contestant, Livia Alarcon will be joining the team as Head Chef.

Livia is set to represent the North West in this year’s series of Great British Menu, the show’s 20^th anniversary.

Appearing in her first heat tonight, Tuesday 28 January at 8.00pm on BBC TWO, the Liverpool born Chef is challenged with creating dishes that honour regional and national historical figures for presenter Andi Oliver as well as judges, Tom Kerridge, Ed Gamble and Scottish Michelin starred Chef, Lorna McNee, a former champion of champions on Great British Menu.

The winning dishes are due to be served at a magnificent historical banquet at Blenheim Palace.

Joining the industry aged 16, Livia has pushed herself hard to land roles at some of the City’s favourite independents such as Maray, where she was head chef at just 21 years of age, more recently going it alone establishing her own brands, such as La Bistroteca in the Baltic Market and appearing at London’s Meatopia.

Livia Alarcon said:

“My goal for The Dog & Collar is to add another strong name to Liverpool’s food scene. I want to celebrate all aspects of ‘home’ with the menu we develop here. The site is beautiful, a cherished Liverpool address. I don’t want to overcomplicate things and instead want to celebrate British produce in a pub setting, pulling influence and inspiration from the North, my culture and upbringing.

“The producers we work with must fit into that. I’ve spent a lot of time finding the right suppliers. I have to be proud to share their story and want to introduce a new wave of information, knowledge and flavour to Liverpool. Seasonality is always a must, we won’t be getting that wrong at The Dog & Collar!”

The menu Livia has developed is predominantly cooked over open fire, a process and technique that is quickly becoming a signature style for her.

Livia added:

“Cooking over fire is mesmerising. There’s a real art and skill to it, as there is to all aspects of cooking, but recently cooking over fire has captured my imagination. I don’t think there’s a better flavour profile than that of smoke, fire, and food.”

Having first appeared on our screens as part of Jason Atherton’s Chefs Brigade in 2019, Livia accepted roles in Glasgow before heading back to Liverpool where she became Head Chef at Queen’s Bistro, where she cooked for food critic and writer Jay Rayner.

Though she feels there’s a definite and conscious effort on TV to challenge perceptions of who can be a professional chef, there’s still work to be done in the kitchens across the city.

Livia said:

“The industry is still very male dominated, but I use this to my advantage. It allows me to push myself further and hopefully accelerate a change in perception. I’m proud to represent a minority in our industry and I continue to remind myself of this when pushing for personal goals and wider female recognition.

“There’s a lot of people in the city pushing the local industry forward, but I still believe we can do much better. If I said it was perfect as it is, I’d be undermining my own values.”

Bookings will be made available in the coming weeks via the website – to stay up to date with openings and bookings you can join the mailing list by visiting dogandcollarpub.co.uk