Like scientific boffins gathering around a laboratory workbench watching their distinguished professor at work on his latest experiment, the young, immaculately white-tuniced chefs of Grace And Savour worked at a preparation counter with Head Chef David Taylor putting together immaculately beautiful small dishes which made up the 15 course tasting menu of this third restaurant at Hampton Manor. And how pleasing that there was not a tattooed piece of human skin in sight.
Rather like my meal the evening before, the proceedings start off in a comfortable lounge area where Taylor himself appears to shake hands (if one wishes to, COVID-19 still in the back of everyone’s minds), introduce himself and present the guest with a delightful bowl of warm beef and carrot broth, punchy and at the same time soothing. And so the scene is set for a tasteful culinary extravaganza which will last about three and half hours.
Moving to the dining room itself I, and the six other diners, seat ourselves at a counter close to, and in full view of, the preparation area where the smart young chefs are going about their business, calmly and neatly, preparing their various courses. First comes a small dish based on goats curd in white beetroot with rhubarb - an excellent start - then, what is introduced as the ‘carrot course’ (see previous Blog), a small carrot pleasingly tasty and enjoyable enough to make one overcome one’s now well-developed resentment of ‘carrot courses’. Next a pleasing small dish centred on Jerusalem artichokes and then (not on the menu) a mildly alarming but playful posh version of pork scratchings - chicken feet coated in a crunchy seed-filled batter - perhaps it was a little too crunchy as I had one or two moments of fleeting anguish about the immediate future of my aging teeth but on the whole it was fun and enjoyable and different.
To be honest this was feeling like a meal made up of a series of delightful canapés (which is something I have always wished for) but I was still waiting for something big to happen. And then something big did come along - an immaculate dish of Shropshire wild boar tartare on a crisp made from sourdough leaven.
Dishes continued to arrive meticulously and patiently prepared, as we diners could all witness, from our viewing points. There was an excellent bowl made up of burnt leeks in butter and beef garam emulsion then, sadly, a dish I did not enjoy - chopped prawns in an emulsion covered by thinly sliced radish - it was certainly tasty but for me the texture was all wrong, verging on the mushy, though the ladies sitting next to me more diplomatically described the texture as “too soft’ and shared my reservations about the dish.
Never mind, it was finally time for bread to be served and this took the form of a remarkably tasty, full-bodied heavily seeded sourdough made in-house served with a wonderful butter infused with the same grain used in the making of the bread. We moved on to another crustacean dish - Scottish langoustines with a spaghetti of squash and cherry blossom. Then a very lovely dish (which I forgot to photograph) of finely cooked monkfish well matched with pumpkin pickle and mussel cream and next, finally, what looked like being the star performance a gorgeously handsome slice of Welsh black beef accompanied little shreds of January king cabbage with various herbs all set off by an unctuous sauce of roasted beef bones. The beef was delicious, no doubt about it, but for me the cabbage was somewhat bitter and I did not enjoy it though the above mentioned ladies seated by me found the cabbage to be quite acceptable. But look at the photograph below and consider how lovely it all looked.
Remarkably, I was feeling comfortably, but not excessively, full as I approached meal’s end. The choice of dishes and their sizes had been well-judged by Chef. There followed a predessert in honour of Chef’s Norwegian wife, the dish taking the form of what all Norwegians apparently eat for breakfast - caramelised whey served here with a ewe’s milk sorbet. This was excellent, the flavour certainly a palate cleanser, fresh and vibrant, and the back story was lovely.
Just two desserts to go. Inevitably at this time of year, Yorkshire rhubarb had found its way on to the menu served with a custard and in the final straight my heart leapt at the the dish of Ivy house rice pudding with a burnished surface served with double cream ice cream. If I had been Cleopatra, which for many reasons I am obviously not, I should have chosen to bathe in this rice pudding rather than ass’ milk, so much did I enjoy it.
The time had come to hurry back to Hampton Station to catch the train back to Birmingham. This had not been an evening of dining so much as an evening experience - sitting comfortably in a theatre watching not a Shakespeare play but the drama of smart young people acting out the preparation of high quality food and consuming the treasures that they produced as the various acts of the gastronomic play moved along. A great evening. And a nice touch to the end of the evening - a dated, chef signed menu was given to each diner as a very pleasing souvenir of their visit.
It really is very early days for Grace and Savour and I felt very pleased to have been in one of the first group of paying diners (the restaurant had only opened the week before) to dine there. I hope it’s a great success. It certainly provides a highly enjoyable food-related experience.Could it be the West Midlands’ version of L’Enclume in twenty years time?
Oh, I’ve just made a reservation for another visit there..
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