310. Nikita Pathakji At Grace And Savour.

 

  Nikita Pathakji, winner of the BBC’s Masterchef The Professionals in 2022, took on a week’s residency at Grace and Savour during the second week of April. I was delighted to have the chance to experience this charming young chef’s cuisine for myself at one of the popular dinners she was serving during the course of the week though disappointed to be away with the Labrador at the seaside for the triple Masterchef Sunday lunch which was to be participated in by Stu Deeley of Smoke, Dan Lee, soon to begin four months at Hockley Social Club, and Nikita herself - oh well, you can’t have everything in life. This dinner however gave the opportunity to fully experience Nikita’s impressive culinary talents. The dishes served were generally related to those she served during the Masterchef heats and finals.

  Firstly how delightful it was to be back at Grace and Savour and to be able to order a glass of fine Cambridge gin and tonic. Then to the Chef’s table (well, a counter really) where Nikita Pathakji was busying herself with the kitchen staff to prepare to present what was going to be a fine dinner. For her Masterchef final starter she had served sea bass cured in a citrus dressing with smoked aubergine purée, spicy red pepper purée with pomegranate, preserved lemon, parsley oil and a side of aubergine crisps. Here at Grace and Favour, the very edible crisps came out with a creamy wasabi dip, the heat of the wasabi perfectly judged, ahead of the starter which was broadly the Masterchef-winning dish - citrus cured sea bass with harissa, preserved lemon and preserved lemon and the pomegranate seeds were there for good measure.  A very fine and pleasing dish. Then a vegetable course of Jerusalem and globe artichokes nicely served with a potato emulsion. The ‘fish course’ took the form of a tender and robustly flavoured octopus - delightfully meaty and full of flavour - the tastiest octopus I can remember eating in fact - the flavour, of course, enhanced with a Takoyaki sauce and ‘Japanese mayo’. Less successful was the accompanying ‘octopus doughnut’, a sizeable beignet containing octopus head meat - the octopus itself was tasty but the doughnut too dry - an interesting idea but the dish didn’t really need it.

  The main course borrowed heavily from that served by Pathakji in the Masterchef final which had been crispy chicken thighs, tortellini filled with chicken, mushrooms, coriander and coriander oil, topped with handmade sev, finished with coconut curry sauce and a side of crispy chicken skin dusted with chilli powder and topped with mango, cumin and onion purée. The menu described the dish served at Grace and Savour as Khao soi style chicken, mushroom tortellini and pickled shallots. The chicken was delicious but the skin not particularly crispy, the tortellini were fine and the curry sauce very well matched and delcious. I used the remain# of the bread I had been served to mop up the coconut curry, too tasty to waste.

   I loved the first dessert - well cooked rhubarb, with a beautiful custard espuma and delicious rhubarb sorbet. Next came banana pudding, chocolate mousse and peanut crumble. This too was delightful and Chef was able to come around to have a few words with her diners during the dessert phase of the meal. I, like all the other informed diners there, was keen to know Nikita’s plans for the future. Not surprisingly Nikita is hoping to open her own restaurant when funding can be found. I suggested to her that the West Midlands was the gastronomic centre of Britain now and where better could there by for a chef of her talents to open a restaurant than in the region to which she was very receptive though of course, coming from Derby, she was also open to setting up in the East Midlands.

  It was time to go home. Nikita distributed nice little boxes containing a pair of petits fours - a fudge and a jelly - as parting gifts and I set off for Hampton station having passed a very pleasant evening eating the food of a fine - and now famous - chef.