370. New Years Day.

 

  With New Zealand celebrating the arrival of 2024 as I write this on New Year’s Eve, I have an excuse to title this piece New Years Day rather than New Years Eve - a looking ahead rather than a looking back. Though there are indeed rather a lot of pleasures to look back on.

  Among the best were - 

The first lunch out of the year at the charming Le Petit Bois, the first dinner at The Wilderness new menu for the new year, lunch at the sublime and soothing Folium, Kray Tredwell pairing with Ben Taylor at Le Petit Bois, the first lunch of the year at Purnell’s which can still deliver the goods, Sonal’s House Party at Atelier, Salt in very fine form, lunch at Cheal’s in its new home in Knowle, lunch at the newly opened Purnell’s Plates, enjoying a fine Chateaubriand Sunday lunch at the Oyster Club, the first trip of the year to Ludlow taking in Forelles, Mortimers and the French Pantry, discovering GULP and experiencing a lifetime of regret at missing its Italian Futurists dinner but being restored by participating in its Pasqua dinner, dinner at Grace & Savour under the direction of Nikita Pathakji (Masterchef The Professionals winner), the annual Shakespeare birthday lunch in Stratford (though more for whom one can spot there rather than the indifferent food, Adam’s 10th anniversary dinner, Marius Gedminas’ superb sushi sessions at Atelier (later known as Counter), the return of Richard Turner in a collaboration at Le Petit Bois, off to Stoke for Niall Keating’s luxurious chef’s table dinners at Lunar (never eat a Mr Whippy ice cream unless it is piled high with good quality caviar, first very pleasing meal at Glynn Purnell’s new bistro in Coventry, dining at 670 Grams where Kray Tredwell proved he hasn’t lost his touch, my second visit of the year to Ludlow with no disappoitments in Mortimers or Forelles, my birthday dinner at Purnell’s, Andy low n’ slow collaboration with Kray Tredwell at 670 Grams , Return visits to Adam’s and The Wilderness, my last ever lunch at Carter’s of Moseley before his departure to Westland’s and decision not to return to Moseley, a great lunch at Harborne Kitchen, a touch of hedonism with The Wilderness crowd in the Rotunda in their pop-up wine-tasting Wines with a view, the first of the three Simpsons collaborations to mark the restaurant’s thirtieth anniversary (the first being with Stuart Deeley of Smoke), a (surely 2 Michelin star-deserving) lunch at Opheem, the first of three summer/autumn stays in Stratford giving the opportunity to dine at Salt and visit the lovely Bower House in Shipston on Stour, the Simpsons/Meat Shack burger collaboration, the delights of the Ludlow Food Festival, Chateaubriand with a view at Orelle, good pub lunches at the Black Bear in Moreton in Marsh, getting the opportunity to  observe Richard Turner at the pass at Opheem, the remarkable collaborative dinner at Simpsons with Tom Shepherd of Upstairs, GULP’s ‘Dogs’ Dinner’, dinner at the Council House in the company of Basil and Sybil Faulty and Manuel, enjoyable collaborations at Simpsons and The Wilderness with wine makers and whisky distillers, dinner at the interesting concept of Six by Nico, possibly the biggest gastronomic event of the year in Birmingham - the opening of Alex Claridge’s A_D_C (I dined there twice in ten days), The Wilderness Christmas Party (with all the trimmings) and then to Ludlow for Christmas where two fine dinners were served in Forelles and Christmas lunch was extravagant and pleasurable.

Well, that wasn’t too bad was it?

But looking forward, as I originally intended to do,  I have spent New Year’s Eve busily tapping away on the keyboard of my I-Pad making reservations. If any restaurant in the city is heading for two Michelin stars in this city, then Opheem is the one I most expect to do so. Hence I have made reservations for January and 9 February (four days after the Michelin Awards ceremony) - if the staff of this remarkable restaurant are in a celebratory mood I want to be there to see it.

  I have a reservation too for Carter’s at 18 as it reopens in its new location though rather worryingly the date is the same as that on which the Michelin reveal ceremony takes place and so one wonders if the Carters will be opening that evening.

  I have also made a reservation to dine at Le Petit Bois in February where Andy Low n’ Slow will be carrying out a pop-up while the Taylors are away. 

  Regrets - I have a few - I still have not managed to eat any food prepared by Dan Lee and I never got to eat at Carter’s at Westlands (getting there by public transport was just too time-consuming and tiresome). I also regret never having visited Penson’s near Tenbury Wells and now it’s closed I never shall. Nevertheless, 2023 was a year to look back on with pleasure and 2024 is a year full of fresh promise for dining out in Birmingham and the West Midlands.

369. Boxing Day Dinner.

 

  Boxing Day began with a view of Titterstone Clee Hill, the morning breaking, through the window of Fishmore Hall’s conservatory, the location of Forelles, and as the day progressed a short walk to view the Ludlow Hunt as it exited from the town to wind its way up the country roads. England. The West Midlands. Shropshire. Ludlow. Who needs foreign lands when we have all this?  One foreign land however, in the form of the Welsh Hills, can be seen from Fishmore Hall. Christmas moves on.

  And before you know it, it’s Boxing Day evening and another dinner in Forelles. Once more the meal did not let me down. To start by way of an amuse gueule, a charming crispy little mushroom tart, then a fine Chalk Stream trout starter paired with another delightful tart of cucumber and citrus and trout roe, all refreshing and tasty. The main I chose was sirloin, beautifully cooked and accompanied by slow cooked beef served in a king oyster mushroom along with hen of the woods. This was an excellent dish and showed that Forelles can provide meals of consistent quality resulting in a fine meal at a very fair price.

  After a lovely intermediate dish of apple and celery with bay leaf espuma - an interesting and thoroughly enjoyable soupçon, I chose to have cheese rather than a dessert and found the selection of four French and English cheeses to be very satisfactory.

 

  And so Christmas drew to a close for another year. 

368. Christmas Lunch.

 

In my experience, clever food is not appreciated at Christmas. It makes the little ones cry and the old ones nervous - Jane Grigson. Though where and when she said/wrote this, I have not yet discovered.

“glistening, poached smoke haddock…”

  No matter, it was Christmas Day at Fishmore Hall, a grey but mild sort of day, the sort with which we have now become so familiar. Titterstone Clee Hill hadn’t moved to any noticeable degree as far as the dog and I could discern, and was still looking down distantly on this splendidly refurbished, quietly elegant late Georgian place of residence and the temporary residents were now comfortably accommodated in this quiet little corner of earth. I had chosen a modest breakfast of a little square of glistening, poached smoked haddock sans all the trimmings of poached egg and Hollandaise but enhanced by a melting pat of butter and a quick dusting of black pepper. 

  And so, at 2PM, complimentary glass of sparkling wine in hand, I was seated in the bright conservatory which housed Forelles and Christmas lunch was now taking off and in the air (not literally, obviously). First, warm focaccia with a choice of cultured butter or olive butter. Then, a delightful amuse gueule of beetroot and horseradish which would have made a fine cold summer soup, in my opinion.

    The starter was a happy continuation of my terrine experience which I was enjoying during this trip to Fishmore; this time it was a delicious strip of ham hock terrine, suitably salinaceous (I will use neologisms if I want to), served with a celeriac remoulade which really didn’t work for me.

  The main - I inevitably chose traditional turkey with all the trimmings, and nothing was missing - was sizeable and enjoyable. The roast turkey was moist and tasty and the vegetables all very pleasing except the sprouts which were hard and somewhat bitter - sprouts, so controversial, must be a nightmare for chefs - should one serve them uber-al dente or should one veer towards the view of the English vox populi that sprouts, if they are done at all - which they of course must at Christmas - should be well done and not rock hard as the cognoscenti often pontificate they should be.

  The apt intermediate dish of Yuletide clementine with a champagne espuma was suitably refreshing and that left just the pudding to see off.

  

  Alas, Christmas pudding is far too rich for my tastes. I’ve sat at lunch tables and dinner tables being stared down by Christmas pudding, more rich than Croesus in a gastronomic sort of way, and my stomach has cried out, “No, no, don’t go anywhere near it, you’ve known its oppressiveness, don’t risk it again” but politeness has made nibble at it and regrets have always followed. However I do like Yorkshire pudding so the presence of cranberry and white chocolate clafoutis on the menu was an instant draw. Tangy with orange marmalade, luxuriously eggy and dotted with cranberries and accompanied by a soothing little quenelle of orange ice cream, this was a light alternative to overbearing plum pudding but still full of festive character.

  Christmas lunch was leisurely and the day moved on to a light buffet supper before sitting down to see who had murdered whom in this year’s Christmas Eastenders. Christmas murder is as common to Eastenders as mince pies are to real people’s Christmases. And in the end, despite Jane Grigson’s epigram, clever food was appreciated this Christmas at Fishmore and there were no crying little ones or any diagnosibly nervous old ones that I could see. Just an elderly dog who needed a late night sniff around outside.

  

367. Christmas Eve At Forelles.

 

  T’was the night before Christmas when all through the hotel, the diners were stirring especially the Old Bloke. The amuses gueles were appearing and being enjoyed and so to dinner on a gastronomic voyage (a very loose adaptation of Clement Clarke Moore I fear who enjoyed his Christmas pleasures from 1799 to 1863).

  Lucy The Labrador and I were already in the swing of our fourth consecutive Christmas at Fishmore Hall near Ludlow, having arrived the afternoon before and therefore both being settled in nicely. Over drinks in the bar, the amuse bouche, a tasty little frippery if ever there were one - a salty, crispy chip of potato rosti, had been served and nibbled at and then to the lovely conservatory in which Forelles is located, for the à la carte dinner to follow. There a came a lovely loaf with miso butter and cultured butter - very enjoyable - then a brilliant little butternut squash tart of the thinnest, crispiest pastry with softly textured pumpkin seeds inside it which added their only little autumn/winter feel to this little gem.

  As starter I choose a gorgeous game terrine, glistening in the candlelight, and although it included pigeon, it was not aggressively flavoured and with its accompanying caramelised onions and toasted brioche, it proved to be a pure delight.

  

  The main was remarkable. Forelles at its best. A lovely steak, shall we call it, of that fine, meaty fish, stone bass, cooked perfectly. With it came some very edible sea vegetables, a crispy and delicious Jerusalem artichoke terrine, crab bisque, crab with pickle (this may have been the only problem as the pickle rendered the crab a little bitter) and two splendidly crunchy tapioca crackers which were to this dish, what crackling is to pork. A memorable dish if ever there were one.

  

  The celery and apple intermediate dish refreshed very nicely, as it was intended to do, and then on to dessert - again very successful, a beautifully almondy Financier, nicely textured and sitting in a little tart and complemented with not unreasonably sharp raspberry sorbet. 

  And so another Shropshire Christmas had begun. God bless us, everyone.

366. A D C.

 

  There’s no doubting that Alex Claridge comes up with some remarkably obscure and opaque restaurant names when he puts his mind to it. Nomad was fairly clear and that was forcibly changed to The Wilderness by a powerful and bullying American. Next came Nocturnal Animals which was obscure until the name was explained and that too was changed to Kisama after Claridge had appointed Pedro Miranda to be Head Chef there and when the emphasis of the food served moved even more in the direction of Japanese and Far eastern-style cuisine which had also been the case, but less discernible, with Nocturnal Animals.

  So the name of the new restaurant - A_D_C - appeared equally obscure though the icon of the head of an albatross provided a clue. This motif is said to have arisen from his feeling that the lovely old factory building in Newhall Square where he shared a business, Atelier, with Robert Wood had become an albatross around Claridge’s neck after Wood moved on and the D_C emphasised the problem it caused him by standing for ‘Death cult’. This, at least to an outside observer, seemed somewhat pessimistic as earlier in 2023, Marius Gedminas, Head Chef at The Wilderness, with Sonal Clare, had hosted some spectacular evenings with the temporary restaurant opening for a limited period under the guise of Counter, taking its name from the counter around which diners sat while Gedminas prepared wonderful Japanese sushi and sashimi dishes in front of their eyes and, delightfully, under their noses.

  A_D_C was designed to open just three evenings a week, serving a broader range of dishes - fifteen in total from an inventive tasting menu - but still with an extremely heavy Japanese and Far Eastern inspiration. The dishes were curated by Gedminas and prepared meticulously by two chefs from The Wilderness and presented by them with meticulous preparation, using exquisitely high quality ingredients - many from Japan - as well as with wit and humour. This was very much a restaurant for those who know, though that may not have been the intention. After dining there twice, including on the first evening of service to the dining public, I was reminded very much of Grace And Savour though Aa_D_C’s dishes were more consistent and mostly faultless.

  The opening of A_D_C was very much the gastronomic event in Birmingham in 2023.

  The greeting on arrival was professional and friendly as the staff, old friends from The Wilderness, recognised customers of that establishment who wanted a bit of the new action. There was a range of sake to choose from as well as wines and cocktails but it was necessary to be cautious in the alcohol area as many of the dishes were light, though admittedly numerous, but unwise alcohol excess might well have brought later regrets.

  But at the end of the day it was the food I was there for and after observing  the theatre of preparation, the audience was rewarded by a culinary performance to rival an Olivier or a Gielgud. There was no holding back - first off a lovely nori crustade with kombu trout and smoked trout roe. The sea was washing inshore and the flavours were delightfully maritime. Then, exquisite sea bass sashimi, the flesh glistening like a thin sheet of rare metal and a heat from jalapeño and a sliver of rare olive. A very fine dish indeed.

  Then followed silvery slices of mildly charred mackeral, its oiliness soothed by sweet nashi pear and served with the slight spice and mild bitterness of marigold. Remarkable. There were slices of raw Orkney scallop, gorgeous, with the sweet and cheeky shock of melon as well as yuzu, all of which worked together to shine a new light on scallops. And then, an instant favourite - ‘crab doughnut’, what could be more enticing and disgracefully enjoyable?

  Dishes came out, paced nicely - an excellent and original kombu celery with sweet toffeed walnut, the a sublime chutoro sashimi with a smidgen of rare and expensive wasami (beautifully executed, the meat of the fish quite sublime). There was the witty frippery of a splendidly crispy Yukon Gold chip (you can see we had drifted some way now from classic Japanese cuisine) surmounted by a fabulous Wagyu tartare and a nasturtium leaf.

  Chef continued to indulge the diners with the happy jest of three crispy mussels and a tangy marsupial curry. More restrained but full of flavour, a lovely chunk of tuna, caught off Portugal, shipped to Japan and then shipped here. No matter how many air miles it had collected it was a wittily sophisticated dish.

  Cod poached to perfection was accompanied by XO - another excellent dish; then Iberico pork cheek served with char siu raised a gasp of approval from those gathered around the counter.

And so to desserts which, as we might expect, brought with them as much originality and pleasure as all that which had preceded them. Crispy slices of miso apple, sweet and umami, combined with the warming effect of sesame made this a dessert to remember and the meal came to an end with a rollo-like chocolate and vanilla invention with soft toffee at the centre splendidly shot through with mildly discernible fishy flavour of katsuobushi. This was a brilliant creation. Marius Gedminas seems to have no boundaries to his brilliance. 

What a night. And just to completely indulge myself I returned to A_D_C the following week to eat all the same dishes again. My repeat visit was no less enjoyable the second time (if anything two or three dishes were even slightly better.

All this brilliance for £75.

Rating:- 🌞🌞🌞