High summer. Those who love to watch football were experiencing growing excitement that the English national team would win the Euro 2020 Championships (Hope springs eternal) and Lucy The Labrador and I had reservations to stay at the Grand Hotel in Colmore Row/Church Street once more.
There was a bit of a crisis there as a number of the hotel staff had been pinged by the NHS COVID-19 mobile phone application to warn them that they had been in contact with someone who had tested positive for the viral infection and were therefore ‘self-isolating’. This resulted in Isaac’s, the hotel’s New York-style restaurant, being closed for dinner during our stay which was unfortunate as I had hoped to give it another try after experiencing some disappointment on my first visit.
I had a reservation for myself at About 8 (see previous Blog) for the first evening of my stay at The Grand but, being determined to make the most of my stay at that very splendid hotel, I passed a happy half hour in the hotel’s Madeleine bar, soothing myself with an Antique Negroni, and luxuriating in the atmosphere. So pleasurable was this that I ensured that I repeated this self-indulgence throughout my stay at the hotel and tried out the food on offer there.
For lunch I chose nothing more complicated or less luxurious than the lobster roll - not absolutely spectacular, but thoroughly enjoyable with little pieces of lobster bathed in an appealing seafood sauce and lettuce all contained beautifully in a delicious brioche.
For one lunch, I ordered The Grand’s charcuterie and cheese platter. The waiter, mistakenly as it turned out, thought that it would not be an adequate amount of food to satiate my appetite and so I also ordered ‘King oyster mushroom calamari’ which despite mentioning two types of seafood in its title took the form of mushroom rings perfectly deep fried in breadcrumbs with aioli. I was not completely convinced by the texture but it was all very edible. The charcuterie platter was as much as I needed and included tasty venison salami, Bayonnes ham and a dreamy parfait with a choice of cheeses - I had Berkswell, Comté and an enjoyable, creamy ewe’s cheese. The platter was very nicely served with little slices of pleasantly chewy baguette with a fine butter.
For supper one evening, after a slightly disappointing lunch at nearby Purnell’s, I had the excellent fish goujons served with a delicious tartare sauce and blackened lime. These were three meaty generously-sized goujons, like a superior mini- fish and chips without the chips though I did have the ‘hash browns’ (small portions of potato terrine with blobs of brown sauce riding on them) as an accompaniment so it was almost like fish and chips.
I adore Madeleine. What a very real pleasure it is to sink into the comfort of its deeply luxurious sofas and gape at the magnificence of its looming ceilings, spectacular lighting and cathedral-like windows. In its entirety it is an art work sitting in the middle of Colmore Row, as much the centre of Birmingham as ancient New Street (Brummagem’s own oxymoron) and Chamberlain’s Corporation Street or the ever-changing, usually for the worse, Bull Ring. Long may the new Grand flourish if viruses, clean air zones, incompetent city councils and home working allow it to do so. And long too may it continue to serve its fabulous breakfasts in Isaac’s restaurant with its staff that make you glad to be starting the day.
The Full English breakfast already tried out and highlighted in Blog 150, I moved on to sampling the delightful American-style pancakes with a generous portion of berry compôte and slices of orange and a very happy maple syrup. Conclusion - a great pleasure which must be repeated.
Again the restaurant staff are wonderful, I was offered sausages to take back to my room where Lucy The Labrador, rapidly becoming a hotel celebrity, was waiting for any treat that might come her way. Mr Peter Kienast, the immaculately dressed and distinguished-looking hotel general manager, in the restaurant to speak to the breakfasting guests, himself suggested Lucy have a sausage sent to her and how could one refuse such an offer from such a gentleman? Lucy would never have forgiven me if I had declined the offer.
As already mentioned I had lunch one day at another of the Colmore District’s great hospitality entities - Purnell’s just a couple of minutes away from The Grand. This remains my favourite restaurant in the city, it’s just absolutely spot on - the right sort of atmosphere, staff who know precisely how to attend to their customers and of course great food, sometimes witty and original and always precise and admirable. A few dishes sometimes are a little wide of the mark but there is rarely anything to moan about. Well, up to now at any rate.
I chose the 5 course lunch menu. This offered as usual the very moreish edible charcoal, black potatoes with chorizo dip, a half-sized Purnell’s chip and some impeccably light and tasty pain de campagne. Then a first starter the details of which I have forgotten though I seem to recall it included in it, almost inevitably, little pieces of heritage tomato covered over by a fairly flavourless tuile, the dish made pretty with little blue flowers and the all pervading nasturtium leaf. Next the second starter of a bijou-sized piece of grilled mackerel, tasty enough, on a slice of Jersey Royal potato with herbs and radish. It was a forgettable dish though once more, very pretty and decorative.
I was starting to feel uneasy about this meal. With all the financial rigours of the last 18 months, was Purnell’s able to produce a lunch for £55 that was worth bothering about? Maybe it’s worth paying more and have more expensive ingredients rather than pretty little plates with undistinguished elements. All would be revealed.
The hilariously titled Fish de Jour course brought us …skate. Well cooked but a flimsy and somewhat inconsequential fish when stood against the pleasures that the world of fish has to offer. The fish was served with some bumptious and meaty mussels and a St Austell mussel chowder which brought a smile to the face but I asked myself, was it really worth bothering with a small piece of skate?
And then, at last, something with a bit of body to it - an attractive ballotine of chicken, served stuffed with delicious but powerfully flavoured truffle and with undercooked broccoli sprig, tapenade and to crown it all, cep purée. The chicken, a little dry, was overwhelmed by the triple whammy of cep, olive and truffle - it never stood a chance. This was autumn in July. What was Chef up to?
Dessert brought with it a pleasant sablé biscuit with Parma violets ice cream and various fussy little bits to provide texture and extra tastes though at the end of the day it was just an excellent biscuit and ice cream.
Oh dear. I was not in a particularly grumpy mood that day and just being in Purnell’s had made me a happy man but I could not really get to grips with this meal. I am happy to pay more for a meal with more significant elements but please don’t make me have an enormous multi-course tasting menu which overwhelms my ability to consume it to ensure that I get high status food ingredients in the dishes I have. If a special meal can not be produced in a restaurant on a tight budget, and anyone with brains and knowledge of what’s been happening in recent history might understand that, then it’s best to ask people to pay more and push the boat out for something really special.
These are hard times for the wonderful people who work in the hospitality industry; staff are hard to find, everything is uncertain, financial pressures must be intolerable. We consumers must be patient and ride out the storm with those who work hard to deliver a service to us and continue to support them while the ‘new normal’ is being achieved. I think prices are going to rise and and old favourites will be lost.
Purnell’s Bistro has closed for good sadly and will be replaced by a more rural establishment but Purnell’s, I’m told, is here to stay, though I note its 15 year lease expires next year.
Meanwhile, the restaurant in Brindley Place, Maribel, has shut for good and the site is being advertised for someone contemplating opening a new restaurant there. I liked Maribel but feel that it was not in the right place, it just could not attract enough customers or at least that’s how it seemed whenever I visited there, whether it was called Edmund’s or something else. I fear for whoever thinks that it will be a good idea to take the site on to open yet another incarnation of a fine restaurant there.
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