357. Sublime Simpsons.

 

  At a recent event dinner at Simpsons, a fellow diner asked me which, in my opinion, was the best restaurant in Birmingham. I replied, as I always do when asked this question which is more often than one might think, that our city’s finest restaurants are such an eclectic bunch, offering various styles and atmospheres and settings and experiences, that I could not pick one out from the others. I like to travel down which ever road a particular restaurant is heading on the particular occasion I am dining there.

  Having written that, this particular dinner at which I was being quizzed on my choice of restaurant, left me feeling that it may well have been my favourite meal of 2023. Putting aside the generous supply of wine on offer as part of the event, indeed I was relatively abstemious on this particular occasion, for me it was all about the food menu and what Luke Tipping made of it. It was …. magnificent; and I’ll take anyone on who says otherwise.

  As the diners sat in the lounge getting their first awkward little chats and self-introductions out of the way, gorgeously delicious amuses gueules were served. There was a platter of fine salumi, this being a meal to complement the Italian wines showcased at the dinner, though there was also deeply flavoursome acorn-fed Iberico ham, and with this came optimally crispy and delicious cep and Parmesan arancini. An evening of diving into a plate piled high with these little pleasures would have ben a manifestation of an earthly paradise in itself.

  But, like MacDuff, untimely ripped from his mother’s womb, we Simpsons Dozen were ushered from the lounge to the dining room and the main performance began. To start, there was a ridiculously perfect ox cheek raviolo, the meat cooked impeccably, the pasta spot on, served with rainbow chard, aged Pecorino and a happy red pepper sauce, accompanied by my favourite wine of the evening, Villa de Cappezana. The mere act of revisiting the photograph of the raviolo brings on salivation and a quickening pulse rate, so good was this dish.

  Then, a dish similar to that served at another recent Simpsons event but no less delightful for that - Duck liver served on gingerbread with black fig. Previously, foie gras had been served but it had only been a temporary month-long and somewhat furtive indulgence to coincide with Simpsons’ 30th anniversary celebrations necessitated by a demonstration some time ago by animal rights activists outside Simpsons. It’s true, the foie gras dish had been spectacular but that on this occasion was still lovely.

  The main course was accurately cooked and finely flavoured, shockingly tender roast lamb with a confit baby leek, hispi cabbage and potato purée. The vegetables were perhaps more frippery than anything and the lamb was everything. It was complemented with black garlic but I might have liked a little acidity with the dish to fully match the lamb. But the lamb could quite easily have stood alone.

  The dessert was an excellent chocolate and hazelnut delice. If I am often reticent about choosing a chocolate dessert then this gem, luxurious and beautiful, told me that I should not be hesitant to opt for a Simpsons chocolate dessert. The delice was nicely matched with a soothing hazelnut ice cream. It was a very pretty dish.

  This was fine dining indeed.