While all is stable in Birmingham - one star retained by Purnell's, Simpsons, Carter's Of Moseley and Adam's - one notable blow to West Midlands gastronomy has been the loss by Cheltenham's Le Champignon Sauvage of one of its two stars. To be fair, I did not feel on both of my visits there in the past couple of years, that the food I ate at the hoary restaurant - the West Midlands gastronomic doyen - lived up to its 2 star reputation. I recall a horrific dish of admittedly beautifully cooked plaice immersed in a bowl of unpleasantly bitter beurre noisette buried under an incomprehensibly large pile of broad beans. More broad beans than are dreamed of in my philosophy, Horatio. I think that the restaurant has been receiving its dual star status in recent years on the basis of former glories rather than present day reality so while its fall from grace (well, it still has one star) is sad and disappointing, it does not come as a surprise.
It's pleasing to see Ludlow gradually return to being a place of gastronomic pilgrimage. As mentioned in Blog 35, The Charlton Arms became one of 3 West Midlands restaurants to be awarded a Bib Gourmand in this year's awards. Lucy The Labrador and I will be setting off for Ludlow again in the near future and look forward to dropping in on The Charlton Arms. The restaurant is beautifully situated at Ludford Bridge where Lancastrians and Yorkists fought a significant battle during the Wars of The Roses and just below a splendid weir where dippers can be seen diving into the tumbling river in search of fish.
The publication date for the Guide itself is said to be set for 22 October 2018 though Amazon was originally planning to sell it from 2 October.
I had a wonderful lunch at Purnell's today. With a dinner appointment this evening I couldn't risk having more than the three course set lunch but it was absolutely delicious. I had the finger food faux black potatoes with his 'edible charcoal' (squid ink-dyed savoury meringue) served with a more-and-moreish chorizo dip alongside his 'sardine on toast' - a fresh and appetising piece of sardine on a beautifully crispy tiny tartlet, 3 slices of Purnell's own feather-light pain de campagne, the heavenly chicken liver parfait with red wine salsify and grains and coriander, the wondrous Thai-influenced Brixham cod served with Indian red lentils, picked carrots, coconut and coriander, and then, for once eschewing the dessert, I treated myself to the restaurant's fabulous selection of stupendous British cheeses served with crispy savoury thin biscuits and a delightful apricot chutney.
Purnell, after more than 10 years, continues to deliver great food. The service and atmosphere in the restaurant is perfect and the front of house is in superb hands under the guidance of Sonal Clare. Purnell deserves more than one Michelin star. Perhaps he should move his restaurant to London to get the recognition he deserves though on second thoughts - don't do it! Oh, and don't even think of going to career-wrecking Manchester!
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