305. From Apprentices To Michelin Stars.

 

  Somehow it seemed quite appropriate to be out dining at the restaurant associated with University College Birmingham where possibly the West Midlands’ Michelin star winners of the future may be at this very moment undergoing the training which will lead eventually to that dazzling culinary achievement, on the evening that the Michelin Guide star revelation was taking place in a ceremony in the far south east of the Midlands at Silverstone Race track.

  From the West Midlands point of view, things had not started well with the announcement of the Bibs Gourmands, made several days before, revealing that the region had received nul points at that particular level of award. In contrast the Michelin inspectors had been having a whale of a time in the West Country and the the south west (well, they wouldn’t they?) with Bristol, a city populated now almost entirely by hipsters, where not a single man will shave his beard or do anything useful for society, achieving three Bibs out of eight for the region (almost 50% of the twenty new Bibs), The Bibs were also awarded to, inevitably, Brighton (one), the least useful town in England, and London  (3). The East Midlands did make an appearance on the list (2) and the Michelin inspectors ventured into The North with a Bib going to an establishment in Manchester. The remaining Bibs were distributed to Wales (1), Northern Ireland (2) and the Irish Republic (1). 

  Still, stars are everything so what really mattered was what would happen at 6PM Monday 27 March. The awards reflected just how irrelevant the Michelin awards are across broad sections of England, never more so than here in the West Midlands with only Grace and Savour at Hampton in Arden and Lumière in Cheltenham being awarded new stars. The award to Grace and Savour replaces that was lost by Peel’s Restaurant at Hampton (because the restaurant has closed) and Lumière’s is a recognition at last of twenty three years of continuing service. It is pleasing to see this pair of the region’s fine establishments being deservedly recognised for their fine cuisine but disappointing to see that a number of our excellent restaurants continue to be ignored, which I suspect would not have been the case if they had been located in London. Michelin provides a useful overview of what’s happening in dining out but in other respects it has little relevance outside London. Birmingham retains its five stars so there’s no loss of face for our leading chefs but The Good Food Guide editors have shown that they are far more aware of the cutting edge of dining out as the 2020s move along than those who edit Michelin and as such, if we need respectable indications of where to eat good food away from London then The Good Food Guide is by far the more reliable source of information. 

Luke Tipping, Head Chef at Simpsons with Bibendum, at the 2023 Reveal ceremony, celebrating Simpsons’ retention of its star - 

  And so, after watching the excruciatingly embarrassingly presented ‘star revelation ceremony’ on social media, I and a dining companion moved on to dinner at The Restaurant at University College Birmingham, the well spring of the city’s future hospitality workers. It is a large and attractively decorated dining space. Given that the students are the front of house workers it is naturally well-staffed. The students working there that evening were first year students - their course, they told me, is four years in length and I suppose they must have been studying at UCB for about six months - early days therefore.

  Our ‘waiters’ clearly had some distance to travel to gain the self-confidence that an accomplished front-of-house hospitality worker needs to bring a roundness to the performance of serving food which contributes to making a meal memorable. But these were, after all, early days and the waiters were polite and charming if not slick and polished. There was an amuse guele which are waiter had not been schooled to explain to the diner and indeed coukd not say what exactly she was serving. We did not wish to embarrass her and so naturally did not press her on the issue. It was really very good - a sizeable crisp topped by a goats cheese mousse, I think, with little ball# of apple and sweet pickles. Good stuff,Chef!

  The young chef had nicely prepared an attractive muted-yellow risotto with three small cheese-filled arancini with girolles and tasty flakes of Parmesan. This was very well cooked though the young chef had been far too heavy with the salt which was a great pity. For the main course I chose what turned out to be a finely cooked pan-fried sea beam, with good crispy skin - and some very passable dauphinois potatoes though the slices of grilled orange and other intrusions of the same fruit did not work at all well with the fish - I appreciate the use of citrus with fish but not sweet citrus as this was. Well, these young people are honing their skills and the matching of flavours is one of them so again one could hardly be disappointed by what was served if they have not yet perfected that skill. My dining companion, having thoroughly enjoyed a beautifully seared scallop starter, was also very satisfied with his main course of duck.

  Finally, we were both unable to resist ordering a rather smart pineapple tarte tatin. This was very good, perhaps the base of the pastry was a little undercooked but on the whole it was very good and nicely balanced with a coconut ice cream. The supervisor approached us at the end of the meal, asking if we had enjoyed the meal which we said we had done but the supervisor was a little defensive when my companion mentioned that the waiters were a little adrift in their knowledge of what they were serving. He need not have been - we fully understood that the work was being carried out by young people in the very earliest stages of their training, but it did seem to us that if no feedback is given then teachers and student will never know how the customer thinks the trainees are doing. Perhaps the restaurant should offer the diners a chance to comment in the form of a questionnaire

  This had been a fascinating evening. At one end all the nonsense of the Michelin ‘Reveal’ had been going on when chefs at the peak of their careers were hoping for recognition and at the other end, young people, embarking on their careers, were being given the chance to showcase to the ordinary dining public their growing experience and expertise. A pleasing symmetry.