531. Opheem, An Interlude With Jean Delport.

 

  South Africa-born Jean Delport, opened Interlude at Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens in wealthy West Sussex in 2018 and was awarded a Michelin star there the following year. His restaurant was also awarded a green star in 2023. He appeared in the 2025 series of the BBC’s Great British Menu and became one of the few competing chefs ever to present two of his dishes at the final banquet.

  Delport had been invited by Aktar Islam to cook at Opheem and it seemed a pity not to seize the opportunity to attend what promised to be an interesting evening. I enjoy collaborations but those in which sponsors push their cause too far are trying I find. This is particularly irritating when it is revealed that a sponsor will be talking to the captive audience of diners only once the diners are seated at their tables, netted and entrapped. 

  It evolved that this particular collaboration was organised by Prept, which has been set up to promote cooking, perhaps as a future career, for children. A good cause, among many, I suppose but the representative of the company was slick and pushy and reminded one of a candidate on The Apprentice trying to promote his cause to gain the favour of Lord Sugar and I felt slightly resentful about it all. I’ve paid my money and really don’t want to feel cornered to empty my pockets even more especially when all I came for was to be served a good meal.

  The evening began in the Opheem lounge, as ever, where the exalted familiar amuses gueules were served. There’s no reason to describe them as they have appeared in this blog before but, as ever, they were delicious and all part of the Aktar Islam contributions to the menu.

  Thence to the main dining room. After a delightful croustade on to Delport’s first contribution to the meal - Onion Royale - a delightful, deeply flavoured broth which would have been quite satisfactory all by itself. The N25 caviar, presumably oscietra included  to give added umami, was a luxury for this special dinner, but the broth itself would have stood alone very nicely and sometimes the simple is often the best.

  The dishes presented by Aktar and his team were all familiar to those who regularly (or at least fairly regularly) like to bask in the indulgent pleasure of Opheem’s fine food and the next course brought Badami korma, an immaculately cooked scallop with mooli, apple and almond, prepared as beautifully as we would expect. Alternating with Jean Delport’s dishes there were also our dearest friend Aloo tuk and later, Hiran karahi, unimpeachably cooked saddle of venison with bhuna sauce and Aktar’s refreshing dessert, Seb which put the emphasis on apple and had more to do with Birmingham than the subcontinent and was none the worse for that.

    Delport’s next course - his fish presentation - was aged Atlantic cod with a plump Cape Malay mussel, wild garlic and lardo. It was very tasty and finally cooked though it had the air of sous vide about it and so it never really fully appealed to me. Then on to Delport’s main which was first presented uncut to the diners and was centred on very pink salt-aged duck stuffed with boerewors (a South African sausage) with the accompanying flavour of lid rose which did not work for me. I needy something gutsier - cherry or orange - there’s a reason why they are long recognised flavours for duck. Still, this was an opportunity to dine on food prepared by a meticulous and innovative chef but on the whole I preferred the dishes which had been born in our Birmingham homeland. Delport ended the meal with a delicious dessert centred on chocolate mousse and with that I was replete. 

536. Blacklock & The Fountain At Clent.

 

  Much hyped and opened fully only the day before I lunched there, despite some initial scepticism on my part, Blacklock, proved to be a totally enjoyable dining experience. At times I was alternately groaning and purring with the pleasure of it all. This is the third branch of this chain which strives to revive the era of the chophouse, the first being in London and the second in Manchester. I felt a little prematurely sniffy about it knowing it was a chain, albeit a rather short one.

  Situated in St Phillip’s Square next to Colmore Row and overlooked by the Grand Hotel, where my dog and I live to stay as often as we may, the spacious dining room is located in a building which was a Georgian vicarage in its first incarnation. Time moved on; at one time Brad Carter was planning to open his new restaurant there after he closed his original Moseley restaurant but the plans fell through and he eventually opened his new dining establishment in the Kings Cross area of London but in return Birmingham gained Blacklock from London and it really was a fair exchange.

 A considerable amount of time and money was spent on renovating the old vicarage and the result was an impressively sized, comfortable sort of space where the residents of Birmingham could relax over a dizzyingly modestly priced, delightfully rustic, brilliantly cooked and unimpeachably delicious meal. The service is friendly but efficient and the food is fabulous. This appears to be the beginning of a new era for dining out in Birmingham.

  I started off with an immaculately tasty crayfish cocktail - a generous helping of nicely textured crayfish with crispy lettuce (surely picked just a couple of minutes before!), creamy avocado lurking in the depths of the dish and surely the worlds most exciting Marie Rose sauce, thick and indulgent and provocatively spicy. Caramba! what a start! 

    But the main course was the real star, and how often that fails to be the case. A very satisfactorily sized pork chop arrived looked golden and tempting and for me it was just the right size. It was perfectly grilled, tender and moist, and the smoky flavour was as memorable as that of ant dish which I have eaten. I coupled it with triple cooked chips. The price seemed mildly deplorable - £5 for a small bucket of them - but as soon as I had tasted one  I realised that these were no ordinary chips - they were the greatest chips on earth - yes, really. The crisps were crunchy and the not overstated flavour caused by their being cooked in beef fat was celestial. This was, though rustic and unpretentious, a trip into the realm of culinary paradise and the chips were unsurpassable.

  And Blacklock had not finished even then. I chose the cheesecake with cherry compôte. It was as indulgent as a dessert could ever be. And it was served from a larger dish which was novel and mildly thrilling. The cheesy cream was gorgeous and the texture of the crunchy element was lovely and the cherry compôte was soothing and tasty.

  This was a very fine meal - one of the best I have had for a long time. In many ways it reminded me of Glynn Purnell’s new restaurant, Trillium, but more spacious and food sold at a fraction of the price and served hot. And this from a chain restaurant. Well, well, well!

Rating:- 🌞

21 April 2026.

 Four days later I enubered myself to Clent. It was a beautiful sunny day, more aestival than vernal, and the pretty, affluent village looked lovely as my Uber man drove through it en route to The Fountain Inn nestled in a quiet leafy road a good distance up one of Clent’s hills. It turned out to be an elongated, white-painted inn of some antiquity and I knew that the previous landlady, Jacqueline Macey, had raised its culinary reputation to a high level although it was never recognised by the restaurant guides. After her death in 2025, The Fountain was taken over by Mike Livesy who recognised its potential as a gastropub and rather smartly snaffled three young men to work there as chefs  - recognisable young fellers late of Simpsons (and for a short time, also of The Wilderness), and two of them Masterchef The Professionals contestants, - Evan Holliday who was appointed Head Chef, Jordan Johnson and Lewis Perks, a talented pastry chef.

  The inn’s interior is spacious, unfussy and comfortable. The service is quiet and unrushed and perhaps just a little too formal for the setting. But I quickly settled in and was given the printed menu and the blackboard specials which included beef Wellington after which I lusted but unfortunately it was only available for sharing by two. There did seem to be room for compromise but I felt I really did not want to cause problems especially as I was lunching quite late. So I ordered Prawn cocktail (for the second time that week), chicken and preordered my dessert.

  The prawn cocktail was excellent and the helping of prawns in it was remarkably generous though perhaps I should have liked at least one more salad element to make the dish more interesting. The lettuce was undoubtedly pleasingly fresh and crispy and theccroutons I suppose were an added textural element and the mildly spicy Marie Rose was delicious. This was an enjoyable dish though it had hard competition from the magnificent crayfish cocktail I had cooed over a few days earlier at Blacklock

  My main of roast chicken with confit thigh, ‘cabbage compôte’,  crispy hen of the woods and a remarkably delicious sauce supreme was excellent. The sauce was silky and full of flavour and the chicken was perfectly cooked, beautifully moist and tender. My only disappointment was the absence of any root vegetable prepared in whichever way the Chef preferred - I think it would have rounded the dish off.

  Then to the dessert - an excellent banana soufflé served with a delicious quenelle of banana and lime ice cream. The lime provided an excellent balance with the sweetness of the soufflé and all things considered, this was an enjoyable fine dessert to find in a country pub.

  Of course, the dishes in general and the soufflé in particular had the ring of Simpsons about them and there is a clear reason why that is the case - the former Simpsons young men who had been recruited to thrill the diners at The Fountain.

Rating:- 🌞

25 April 2025.

534. The (Starry) Wilderness.

 

  It is not unknown for me to dine at The Wilderness. My first visit was shortly after it opened in Dudley Street back in 2016 if I remember rightly, or was it perhaps the end of 2015. Time passes and one forgets details. I remember the shock of the moss covered walls, an exquisite lamb dish and those citric tasting ants lining up to get at the cheese tart. The rest, they say, is history. Ten years or so later, Alex Claridge now has his well-deserved Michelin star. It’s fair to say, I think, as an interested eyewitness, that the ten years leading up to the award have been ten years of relentless struggle but finally the walls of Chateau Michelin have been scaled and the starry flag carried off to be flown at Wilderness Castle. I was happy to be dining at The Wilderness, just a week and two days after the memorable ceremony in Dublin where Claridge’s skill was awarded the recognition it deserved and much celebrating, apparently, took place.

  I was pleased to congratulate Chef and his excellent crew and have a brief chat and then to settle down and be cosseted and regaled with the dishes from the full dining menu - £150 - yes, I know but it was a special occasion  - which was as full of luxurious items, almost all finely cooked, as one might expect - unimpeachable A5 wagyu with an astonishing crab velouté and alive with tamarind, excellent, gorgeously flavoured saddle of lamb and perfectly cooked, gorgeous venison perfectly matched with beetroot and sweet plum. Unfortunately the preceding halibut was served cold and undercooked which was embarrassing for everybody given the so very recent award of the Michelin Star but the problem was quickly rectified and another dish was served, appropriately hot and nicely cooked. Mistakes happen sometimes.

  The pre-dessert was great fun with jalapeno and sorrel combined with the sudden sweet sting of grape and the dessert was mildly challenging as rocket elbowed its way in to a dish of nicely cooked rhubarb and pistachio. Fortunately the rocket did not elbow its way in too much as I really couldn’t taste it and so all was well that ended well at this newly starry but long-established Jewellery Quarter restaurant with Alex Claridge remains uncompromising in his drive to bring his dinners the good,the inventive and the sometimes challenging. No ants though, thank heavens.

Rating:- 🌞🌞