How can our restaurants survive the continual slings and arrows of outrageous fortune? COVID, cost of living crisis, plague of locusts, river Rae turned to blood, plague of frogs and so on. What hard times these are for those who have chosen, no matter how misguidedly, to set up a catering business and who hope to stay in business. Well, one way at present, seems to be by holding collaborations with visiting, preferably celebrity chefs. Having only the previous week basked in the sublime cooking of Lisa Goodwin Allen (by which I mean she was doing the cooking not that she was being cooked) at Simpsons I now found myself, very willingly, at Purnell’s preparing too eat the fruits of a collaboration between Glynn Purnell and Michel Roux Jr, true, not for the first time but on this occasion without the additional input of Tom Kerridge.
Glynn Purnell’s latest twist on his panisse (now spiced carrot) appetiser was excruciatingly delicious and in the expression of Brummie Asian flavour recalled one of his Great British Menu winning dishes - the legendary and much plagiarised monkfish masala. Roux’s Belgian endive tart with mimolette cheese seemed a little anaemic in flavour in comparison. Purnell provided an excellent starter of carpaccio of Herefordshire beef with explosively tasty charred red wine octopus which really made the dish and it was freshened with a chive crème fraiche. Roux gave us (unplanned) Scottish halibut with smoked eel and what seemed like a completely unnecessary nori sable biscuit. Perhaps the biscuit had been planned to add more texture to the scallop dish which had been planned but which had had to be abandoned when insufficient quantities of the shellfish were not obtainable for that evening. The halibut was satisfactory but hardly exciting and was mine just a little bit over?
Upwards and onwards. Purnell served up fine venison with an emphasis on parsnips as an accompaniment. This was perfectly satisfactory, though I had enjoyed more Lisa Goodwin Allen’s venison dish served at the Simpsons collaboration the week before. Glynn Purnell’s dish was fine but not thrilling.
Roux was responsible for the dessert which was mysteriously presented in cloches. This was a chocolate Balvenie whisky tart served with coffee crémeux and chantilly cream and an unnecessary shot of Balvenie whiskey. The flavour was brutally strong and the pastry far from perfect. The course was not a great success.
The mignardises, in contrast, were very pleasurable and the diners enjoyed the two man stand-up routine from the two notable chefs. I was pleased to have bought the semi-autobiography of Michel Roux’s father, Albert Roux, and to have him sign it for me.
Though a frequent visitor to Stratford to see what the latest travesty of Shakespeare the RSC has come up with, I have to say that my visits to the cinema are now just about once a decade - the last visit was, I think, around 2014 to see Macbeth. The news this year of the release of a movie with excellent actors - masterly, anxiety-inducing Ralph Fiennes, the very funny Nicholas Hoult and Anna Taylor Joy, the personification of attitude, centred on fine dining and associated menace put me in a state of intense expectation for several months until its recent release.
I was unable to go to the excellent Everyman cinema at the Mailbox on its opening night as it clashed with the previously discussed Lisa Goodwin Allen - Simpsons collaboration but I made sure that I was at the matinee performance the following day. How luxurious cinemas are now. Admittedly the performance was not well attended - only 4 or 5 other people were in the audience - but I had an excellent seat and was served coffee and a very reasonable hot dog (alas the sausage was a frankfurter and not a sound British-style pork sausage) and I settled in to view what Chef Julian Slowik (Fiennes) was serving up to his guests which, needless to say, was more than they bargained for.
Nicholas Hoult was a fine foodie delivering some great lines convincingly and making the food-loving audience member grin and cringe in equal measure; surely even the most thick-skinned couldn’t help but recognise something of themself in Hoult’s character, Tyler. Fine gastronomy turned to uncomfortable doubt when Chef served his diners a course of butter without bread and after that the meal became something the average Tripadviser would feel they had a good reason to publish a moaning review about. Chef Slowik’s restaurant, Hawthorne, served several dishes devised by San Francisco-based chef Dominique Crenn (who describes as a creator of poetic culinaria). Tyler certainly enjoyed them. Perhaps Crenn should be sought out to come to engage in a collaboration here in the most exciting place to dine in Britain and see what happens (hopefully nothing like the outcome of The Menu).
I was delighted to be able to obtain a poster of The Menu being sold on E Bay - it will be a fine addition to my food art collection and as I’m sure The Menu is already on its way to being a cult classic, a likely investment in that particular form of art.
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