My birthday weekend for reasons described in Blog 150 saw me dining with five good friends at two of Birmingham’s finest restaurants on two consecutive evenings. Two excellent choices which more than lived up to my expectations, in fact they excelled them by far.
What really made it all so wonderful was the exhilarating atmosphere of excitement and relief that surrounded the reopening. The staff were enthusiastic, refreshed, even euphoric, and clearly determined to make the most of this renaissance. There were new dishes or old favourites updated to even greater deliciousness. This was the first weekend of the end of the lockdown and its significance was clearly not lost on diners and hospitality staff. This was therefore a memorable weekend for those determined to make the most of it and a milestone in the history of dining out in Birmingham.
I have detailed happy visits to Opheem (where we dined on the Friday evening) and Purnell’s (Saturday evening) on several occasions before and will not therefore go into great detail but present the menus as once did our old friend Nathaniel Newnham-Davis and throw in little comments as necessary.
The starter snacks as always were a great pleasure and when we entered the dining room proper we were suitably impressed by the newly redesigned cooking area. Black and multidimensional - very chic. I am a great fan of the grilled sweet corn course. The heritage tomatoes were a refreshing interval and the tandoori trout with mouli was thoroughly edible. The menu does become a little confused as the tasty aloo tuk marches in to be followed by the excellent halibut accompanied, and what pleasure it is to see it finding its way into one of the dishes at this time of year, by asparagus from the Wye Valley, though perhaps the full joy of the asparagus was lost to the flavour of the fish. Then came the milk loaf - it seems to be slowly sliding down the menu - and though it is fine bread it really seems too late in the meal to making it worthwhile or even necessary given that a certain degree of gastrointestinal fullness is beginning to set in. Then to the lamb - a fine dish, enjoyed by all fellow diners - and then the two desserts (one would be enough for me) but they were both delicious and if I really must have a chocolate dessert then this is one that I am happy to have.
This number of courses to be consumed by six people takes a long time to get through and by the time we left the restaurant, all very contented with the meal, the witching hour had struck. Before retiring to bed the dog needed to be walked so it was turned two before I eased myself into the enormously comfortable Grand Hotel bed in which I was to pass the four short hours before the new day began and the dog once more needed to be exercised and my actual birthday was underway.
It was a day of activity and time passed rapidly before the six of us once more met up for cocktails in The Grand’s atmospheric Madeleine Bar. And then we were off to Purnell’s. The manager, Jarek Samborski, splendidly attired in a devastatingly loud checked grey suited established that we were very welcome and led us to our enclosed dining area. The air was full of the spirit of excitement I mentioned above, not least among the staff; Chef himself was out and about mingling with his Saturday night diners; the sparkling wine was flowing and we were off on a journey which brought us Purnell’s greatest hits. Even the curmudgeon among us found the meal faultless - an unprecedented event and not explained by any befuddlement of judgement due to overconsumption of the grape as he touches not a drop. And this is what we had as the evening passed:-
The Gifts from the kitchen we’re of course the brilliant black potatoes with chorizo dip, edible charcoal and a new version of Purnell’s chip - all a delight and wondrous to those who had not eaten them before. Purnell’s inventiveness and ingenuity build up points and still at the start line. The super-light pain de campagne, surely one of the world’s most delicious breads served with salted butter brought sighs of pleasure and then a new souped-up version of emotions of soixante Dix, Purnell’s tribute to the cheese and pineapple on a stick nibble dating back to er, 1969, one assumes - always excellent, this version was the most fabulous yet - deeply tasty, the cheese flavour sweeping over the tongue like the Red Sea over the Egyptian army chasing the Israelites.
The beetroot mousse paired classically with horseradish and wasabi in the form of a crumble delighted even our beetroot-hater and our curmudgeon by then was feeling somewhat exasperated that there was nothing to carp about and praise to be given instead. Another Purnell classic, the smoked haddock with egg, perfectly pouched, curry oil and cornflakes was presented as Ma Purnell’s remix and earned the group’s praise for its flavour.
Along next came one of Chef’s fine, fine dishes - Cornish crab with a salad of Granny Smith apple, celery and dill along with a bisque cream. The stuff that dreams are made of. There was of course, in this parade of classic dishes, unimpeachable Brixton cod Masala and then a new delight - a perfectly cooked piece of Herefordshire beef, oozing flavour, served with a fine asparagus from the Wye Valley just when one should be eating it and all nicely complemented by a white onion sauce and timely wild garlic. What joy.
How else to end this parade of classics from over the years but with the greatly loved Burnt English custard surprise and the Mint choccy chip, Purnell’s witty nod to after dinner mints, served amidst swirling clouds of liquid carbon dioxide. For a finale Chef kindly sent out a pretty little dish containing an additional dessert with the words “Happy Birthday” piped on to it and, for good measure, out came the beautiful Labrador iced birthday cake I had brought with me from Kiss Me Cupcakes, a lovely vanilla sponge with butter cream and jam. The wine had flowed throughout and Chef came to speak to us which was a good idea because there was general enthusiasm for the fabulous banquet and it was only right that he and his staff should know after the hard months that had preceded it. My finest birthday dinner ever I think.
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