At the beginning of February 2023, Cheal’s of Henley closed its doors for the last time and moved from one pretty Warwickshire village, Henley-in-Arden, to another, Knowle. I could see why - Knowle, where there’s a lot of serious wealth, certainly seemed more full of buzz on its high street which runs straight through the village than Henley which always appears rather sedate and not fully open. More buzz, more possible customers.
Knowle has some interesting buildings to admire, including the lovely parish church, if taking a preprandial stroll, and Chef Patron (and former Simpsons Head Chef) Matt Cheal has brought his restaurant to a building, though larger than the restaurant’s birthplace in Henley, which has exteriorly, the same olde worlde charm as its predecessor.
On entry however there is the shock of the new. The restful, intimate comfort of the Henley location has given way to glitzy, more spacious comfort which takes some getting used to after the cosiness of the Henley site. After being greeted by a large, somewhat tacky mirror when first stepping into the building, there is a sizeable, in-your-face bar down stairs where you can imagine the local wealth splashing out on gins and tonics and cocktails and on ascending the stairs up to Cheal’s restaurant there is space and lots of lighting and some dining booths and more glitz and it isn’t quite what you expect Cheal’s to be if you’ve dined in Henley a few times.
Two little amuses gueules sounded the opening bars as Cheal’s metaphorical kitchen orchestra got underway. They hit the right notes straightaway. First a tiny but beautiful play on fish and chips - a little panisse with an immaculately crispy edge served with battered fish roe and a soupçon of pea purée. This was witty and amusing. Then a gorgeous tartlet made of the most sublimely crispy pastry filled with perfectly textured and delicious beef tartare blanketed by parmesan.Two little gems which brought immense pleasure.
The dessert which usually appears in Cheal’s tasting menu is a usually not-less-than-excellent soufflé and this is a reason to choose the tasting menu option if there were no other (which there is of course). This time it was a nicely flavoured forced rhubarb soufflé complemented by tangy ginger ice cream. After this came an excellent selection of six English and French cheeses with accompanying quince jelly, grapes and a generous number of crackers. The cheeses presented are listed on the menu depicted below. Alas I was too full to eat them there and then but they were nicely boxed up in a Baron Bigod container for me to eat at my leisure which I subsequently did with great pleasure. Rating:- 🌞🌞🌞.
No matter. The sommelier or perhaps restaurant manager or perhaps both (I know we English don’t like wearing badges but their value is sometimes dismissed too easily) initially looked after me and seated me (very comfortably I might add) and politely and professionally went through the opening movement of this culinary symphony but I should have been quite happy if he could have smiled a little.
A fine Monkey 47 and tonic soon drew me into the new way of things however, soothed too by the light jazz music soundtrack discretely playing and it wasn’t long, without a moment’s hesitation, that I was placing an order for the six course tasting menu, perhaps an optimal length for such a concept, and arranging for a couple of glasses of wine, well chosen by the restaurant staff for me. I admired the lovely, gold-edged charger on the table, its centre glistening and snowdrop white, which I think was meant to tell the diner what the newCheal’s was all about. That may be so but for me Cheal’s is first and foremost about the excellence of the food which mixes the superb accuracy of classic cuisine with originality and new Britishness. So how was the food in these opening days of the new restaurant?
Then arrived a lovely, deeply flavoured bowl of mushroom broth with chopped shitake and nicely textured pearl barley. This was served with Cheal’s’ excellent sourdough and a delightful herb roll with two butters include a yeast butter. Cheal’s seemed to have moved locations seamlessly in terms of its fine cuisine.
And so to the starter proper - a finely seared scallop with a gorgeous lobster tempura, the pleasing sweetness in the dish derived from the presence of sultanas pairing happily with the flavour of curry oil. The accompanying cauliflower purée and capers were wholly appropriate.
Matt Cheal’s menus usually seem to have a crispy egg course. Long may they do so as he always comes up with new twists on them and executes the eponymous ingredient perfectly. I have had one or two grim crispy eggs in some other establishments in my time but Cheal is a maestro. The variant this time gave me a finely crispy egg on a pleasing bed of cabbage all surrounded by potato espuma and winter truffle shavings scattered all over - delicious in it entirety - but the most miraculous part was the egg itself - when cut open it was the most supremely perfectly runny egg yolk I have ever had the opportunity to admire and to enjoy.
On to the fish. I enjoyed the beautifully served sea bass - was it just a few seconds over? - and though I liked the sweetness of the passion fruit which worked very well I gained nothing from the Muscade de Provence pumpkin and the pistachios certainly gave texture though they did seem a little odd in the context of the dish. An interesting dish all the same.
The main course of Balmoral Estate venison was less rare than found in some restaurants but for me it was spot on. This was as tender a piece of meat as will be met anywhere - quite delicious - and very nicely accompanied by a thrillingly rustic ally flavoured ball of haggis, equally delightful salt-baked swede, its sweet earthiness just right for the dish, cavalo nero, red cabbage ketchup and a silky juniper sauce.
Before I had taken myself to Cheal’s I had had a short walk around Knowle itself. The local church is impressive with pleasing stained glass but an otherwise understated interior. The churchyard contained a large number of older graves, especially notable were a number of rather grandiose Victorian stone monuments. I noted the presence of the ‘King’s Oak’, not named because Charles II hid up it after the battle of Worcester which is the case with most big oak trees in the West Midlands counties but rather more prosaically because it had been planted there to commemorate King George V’s coronation. I wondered if the village in that hoary and iconic ITV soap opera, Crossroads, also King’s Oak, had been named after it by one of the programme’s producers, after they had come across the tree and with a sense of irony, given that the star of the show’s name was Noele Gordon and the tree was in Knowle, had felt the coincidence and the aptness too hard to resist. Well, it’s a nice idea.
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