229. Butchers Social

 

  By way of introduction to the Butchers Social it’s worth taking a, er, butcher’s at Blog 211 which reports a visit to Harborne Kitchen located in the old Walter Smith’s butcher’s shop where the first incarnation of the Butcher’s Social Club was founded by present Chef Patron Mike Bullard and Harborne Kitchen’s Jamie Desogus.

  Subsequently, in 2018, Bullard moved the BSB to the building in Henley in Arden where Glynn Purnell has just opened his first venture into pubs, The Mount (where I’m lunching tomorrow), and then, his family purchasing the The Forest Hotel in Dorridge, moved the BSB from Henley to the hotel in 2021. Sometimes it seems you can tell the history of West Midlands dining by mentioning just about ten buildings.

  Dorridge itself is an unremarkable, rather twee 1930s suburb for the comfortably off and it’s clear that Bullard was remarkably canny in opening his new restaurant there. The town is not a place you really take much notice of; the number of times I’ve sailed through Dorridge on the train journey from Birmingham to Stratford without lifting my head to take a look at it are countless. But it is exquisitely conveniently located close to Birmingham on the railway line and it is a matter of a few minutes journey from Moor Streetjcbzck or Snow Hill stations. And The Butcher’s Social can not be more than 20 yards distant from Dorridge Station - a brilliant location. 

  Here’s an interesting point which needs to be considered. Suddenly, apart from Kray Tredwell’s opening of his excellent but rather diminutive 670 Grams, all the major developments in West Midlands dining out are taking place not in the city itself but in villages/towns around it. Thus Tom Shepherd opened his new restaurant in Lichfield and just a few months later was awarded a Michelin star, the starred Peel’s restaurant is located in Hampton in Arden and has now been joined there at Hampton Manor by Stuart Deeley’s Smoke and the remarkable Grace And Savour. Based on his recent pop-up in Lichfield I tip Rob Palmer to be the next starred West Midlands Michelin-starred chef for his newly opened Toff’s in Solihull. And Glynn Purnell himself is extending out into the surrounding West Midlands with his highly publicised The Mount in Henley (did I mention I shall be lunching there tomorrow?) situated across the road from Matt Cheal’s fabulous Cheal’s of Henley which has surely been wrongly overlooked when it comes to the handing out of Michelin glitter.

  And what’s happening in Birmingham city centre itself with its failing trams, its tyrannical Council, its filthy streets and catchpenny’Clean Air Zone’? Nothing new to report. And that’s bad news for the city for all the great new chefs and some of the great older ones have sensed the direction the wind is blowing and that direction is straight out of the city. In fact we may be witnessing the closing days of Birmingham’s gastronomic golden age. 

  So, to where the action is …. Dorridge.

  The Butchers Social, located at one side of the Forest Hotel, with a nice outdoor seating area, is a pleasure to enter, spacious, attractive modern decor, a smart bar, an open kitchen where the smartly turned out chefs are beavering away. The front of house staff are excellent, knowledgeable and welcoming. And isn’t it nice to have a simple three course menu with a good but not excessive range of gastronomically titillating dishes on it. I was comfortable and entering into the spirit of things and a glass of Hendricks and  tonic was getting air into the sails.

  For my starter, after a consultation with my very wise and charming waitress, I opted for three beautifully pan-seared scallops with miso, hazelnuts (which seem very in vogue at the moment) and watercress salad though I am bound to say that the watercress was more of a garnish than a full blown part of the dish (pleasingly, after my recent excursion to Weston super Mare (see Blog 228) it at least was not a peashoot garnish). This was a delicious start and I really felt that I was enjoying myself.

  In our deliberations, my waitress and myself had agreed that I should have a dish of stone bass (sublime, am I bad person for wishing that chefs would dump the turbot and serve more stone bass? - yes, I know turbot is far too expensive to ‘dump’ but still ….) served with punchy lobster ravioli, three charming seaweed, dumplings, a pot of enjoyable greens (kale, leeks, hispi cabbage and broccoli) and a highly enjoyable slice of dauphinois. Every element of the dish was excellent and I consumed it like a trencherman. 

  By now quite euphoric, I studied the dessert menu and concluded that these were my sort of desserts. Eventually I settled, again in learned consultation, for ‘pinky winky’ cherry parfait, decently flavoured, with tiny peaks of mango purée and coriander and mixed berry ice cream which was bursting with sweet sharpness. I’m a little bored with granola but I could see the point of it. Eschewing coffee per se, I chose another item from the dessert list - affogato with which I am currently obsessed - served with Kahlua, something which I may now consume on a twice daily basis.

  How lovely it is to really enjoy a meal. Butchers Social is now up there in my pantheon of West Midlands restaurants I most want to eat in.