250. Black And Green, Barnt Green.

  Barnt Green, a quiet little village just over the city border from Rednal on the way to Bromsgrove in north Worcestershire, home to some seriously well-off people, “it’s where the footballers live” (I’m not sure precisely which footballers), and now home to chef Andrew Sheridan’s latest culinary business venture, Black And Green, which serves a five or six course tasting menu.

  This sounds like a clever move. Southwest Birmingham and northWorcestershire can seem a long way from the city centre of Birmingham, especially if public transport is used (as we are all told to do) when contemplating eating out, especially in the evening, and Barnt Green seems the place to take the plunge. 

  Longbridge too, though sitting at the edge of the ‘deprived’ constituency of Northfield, might pay dividends for any food entrepreneur willing to take a risk on opening an upmarket restaurant in the new ‘town centre’, risen like a phoenix from the flames of Herbert Austin’s motor car industry, as comfortably off middle class socialist hipsters (a 2020s version of Champagne socialists),  start moving (they already have) to the ward of Longbridge West Heath where property can be bought at a fraction of the price they might have to pay in their natural nesting grounds of Moseley, Kings Heath and, latterly, the ultra-cool Stirchley. Longbridge town centre, with its fresh air blowing off the Lickeys, and its ever increasing facilities such as Herbert’s Yard, home to a working class suburban version of Digbeth Dining Club, might yet be home to a sort of Carters of Longbridge.

  But back to Barnt Green. Andrew Sheridan opened his new restaurant on 9 June 2022 to run in parallel with his triptych of Craft, About 8 and Divide all in the International Conference Centre in town. It has been said that the aim is to serve “more accessible” food than that at 8 which, in honesty, I find to be thoroughly accessible if perhaps rather more rich than my elderly digestive system can cope with. Having said that, now I am on regular proton pump inhibitors it’s possible than the glorious dishes served at 8 are no longer too rich and I should return soon to investigate the wonders of modern medicine and the glories of Craft dining. In the meantime, the food served at Black and Green was available to remind me of Sheridan’s culinary expertise.

   The mission of B & G’s seasonal tasting menu is to offer “a modern interpretation of British flavours, centred around local ingredients of the highest quality from micro-suppliers and neighbours”. So did B & G fulfil its brief?

  I rather think it did. The restaurant is modern with the usual chic decor using a palette of rather dark colours as we have come to expect. It is small and the claustrophobic may not like it but there are some clever touches such as little spots at the edge of the table from which a jacket may be hung and the lighting is quite satisfactory. The tables are small, a necessity I suspect because of the restaurant’s size, and the seating could be a little more comfortable but on the whole the restaurant was well designed though I was somewhat mystified as to why my place setting was laid so that I was looking away from the  open kitchen and hence I could not watch the proceedings. Then again the restaurant has only been open a week so perhaps subtleties such as this had not yet occurred to the front of house staff.

  Service was very efficient and friendly if a little fussy with the items on the table being rearranged several times more, I thought, for a rather obsessional neatness than for practical reasons (perhaps entities such as Michelin demand such behaviour). But the food is all.

  The amuses gueules were cleverly conceived. No fussiness here just good down-to-earth indulgences - a delightful little cheesy tart and a delicious oyster (chef, you are spoiling us) and some very edible olives. Along with these came excellent soda bread with my favourite ampersand butter. A Hendricks and tonic and a glass of English sparkling wine, the first indulgence of the flight, and I was happily submerged in the pleasure of the meal.  

  This was a true ‘tasting’ menu with the quantities on the plates being adequate to inform the diner of the chef’s abilities without being overwhelming though now I think about it, a little more pork might have been enjoyable. On to the gorgeous slice of A5 wagyu beef beautifully matched by what was described on the menu as a root tarter (I’m not sure if this was a rather obscure play on words or a spelling error but there was a very fine tartare under the slice of meat).

 

  One of the highlights was a scallop ceviche which looked particularly pretty and was delicious with the flavour of coconut soothingly and refreshingly matched up with the scallop and accompanying caviar and texture of pickled cucumber. A great dish. Next pleasing pork loin and rib - very tasty - with a delightful parsley and broccoli purée. The dessert had the admirable flavour of kalamansi, a citrus fruit said to be half way between orange and lime, though for me more orange than anything. This was paired so well with a chocolate mousse that I feel it is time for Terry’s to start producing a Chocolate kalamansi to rival its Chocolate orange.

  The final course was a good straightforward selection of three tasty cheeses served with a little chunk of fruit bread which was not quite adequate in amount for the amount of cheese.

  Andrew Sheridan, who came out to deliver the dishes to, and to speak to, the little select group of diners gathered in his new enterprise, has brought a promisingly fine restaurant to an area sorely in need of somewhere special to eat, which the people of southwest Birmingham and north Worcestershire have long been awaiting. Good move.

 Though perhaps not served in great quantities per plate, there were luxury ingredients in the meal - scallops, wagyu, caviar - which made it all seem rather special and very sensibly priced. Another good move.

  And finally, in case the reader is wondering, on a personal note, my proton pump inhibitor is working 100% efficiently.

    There are many restaurant awards in The United Kingdom every year now. It is pleasing for the Chefs and restaurants which are recognised by them. But it seems that some chefs are now more likely to be found at an awards ceremony than in their own kitchens. True, the latest Awards extravaganza, the grandiosely-named Estrella Restaurant of the Year, was held on a Monday evening when most restaurants are closed but it is beginning to look as though chefs are following in the footsteps of university academics who spend all their time at various national or international (which they prefer obviously) conferences lecturing to the same audiences on the same subjects but just in different places, the more exotic the better.

  The outcome of these awards is all very predictable with London restaurants and chefs being awarded the lion’s share of the plaudits with our own excellent West Midlands restaurants being poorly represented. Thus in the top 100, only two West Midlands restaurants are featured - congratulations to Brad Carter’s Carters of Moseley at number 80 and Aktar Islam’s Opheem at number 88 - while 59 London restaurants appear in the top 100 list, seven of the top ten being located in London. What nonsense.