One of the interesting developments in dining out in Birmingham in recent years is the increasing number of special dinners laid on by notable restaurants where the restaurant’s own chef shares the duties of the kitchen with a visiting, usually well-known, chef who may be best known to the dining enthusiasts through appearances on television. These events are not new to
Simpsons and yesterday I was delighted to have a reservation for a dining collaboration of Simpsons’ Executive Chef, Luke Tipping, and distinguished chef, Lisa Goodwin Allen, Head Chef at the one
Michelin-starred Northcote Manor in the Ribble Valley in Lancashire.
Simpsons has improved out of all recognition this year after a time a few years ago when the service was chaotic and the food reasonable but hardly breath-taking. The front of house staff, charming, polite and extremely helpful, worked like elements in a well-oiled machine and it was not long before I was seated comfortably in full view of the kitchen watching the cooking side of the operation gearing up for service. It was easy to spot Lisa G-A with her shock of white hair and the slim, distinguished-looking Luke Tipping in their joint role of performance conductors. The excitement was building.
The meal started with two exemplary canapés - Tipping provided a delicious bacon and egg tartlet - robust with flavour - and Goodwin-Allen presented a wonderful and original ‘butter pie’. The pair made me suggest to the waiting staff that they should not distribute any more of the canapés to the rest of the room but deliver them all to my table for my consumption only.
Next came Tipping’s frothy seaweed custard with a plump crispy mussel and topped with Imperial caviar. Sweet and salt and elegant.
After the excellent bread came Goodwin-Allen’s roast quail which was so perfect I felt it must be the best quail dish I can remember eating. The little bird had not died in vain accompanied as it was by sliced pickled turnip, apple versus and an inspired frozen element. Next came Baby gem lettuce used as a receptacle for a heady combination of summer truffle shavings, artichoke, confit maitake mushroom and L’Etivas cheese. This had luxury written all over it but the lettuce seemed insubstantial and lacking in pleasure and I could only dream of having it all served up in nice crispy pastry with real bite to it.
Luke Tipping’s finely cooked Cornish cod restored the deep pleasurability of the meal after the lettuce leaf and was served with tasty little shrimps, various forms of kale and a delectable shellfish cream which had to be mopped up with my remaining chunks of bread. Such stuff are dreams made on. But the absolute peak, the outstanding dish, was yet to come - Lisa Goodwin-Allen’s fabulous rhapsody of deer meat and beetroot - her stupendous Scottish venison dish. Never, truly, never have I enjoyed a plate of venison quite so much. This, if it were any other form of art, would have been a museum piece. Just venison and beetroot. A triumphant rendition of the pairing. The photograph at least tells part of the story. Look at that absolutely perfectly cooked piece of venison, see the astonishingly delicious meatball by its side, regard those brilliant variants of what to do with beetroot also sitting on the plate. A symphony of gastronomy. And there I rest my case.
Luke Tipping then gave the by now ectstatic diners a pleasing dessert of a classic combination of black figs, salty Cashel Blue cheese, Bournville honey and the bite of chicory. The figs themselves were a little lacking in flavour but the other elements on the dish were admirable.
Then in one last flourish, Lisa Goodwin-Allen strove once more to hit the evening’s gastronomic ball out of the park with a sweetly lemon dessert the flavour of which launched the most pleasant assault on the diners’ taste buds. She presented a very convincing lemon lookalike made from lemon-flavoured white chocolate served with meringue, limoncello and the perfect addition of thyme. This too was the stuff that dreams are made on.
A great evening came to a close. The chefs circulated among and chatted to their guests. Menus were autographed. Carriages (well, taxis at any rate) were summoned. Mellowness lingered all around.
In the reception area, whilst waiting for my taxi, I took the opportunity to buy Andreas Antonia’s fine new book with its enjoyable 1970s patterns and colours. Well worth a read.
No comments:
Post a Comment