There was undoubtedly a Man of the Moment - young (21 years old) Evan Holliday who has worked at Simpsons since the age of 16 and now junior sous chef there was giving a barnstorming performance in this week’s Masterchef The Professionals currently been screened on BBC television and he looked likely to advance to the 2024 Quarterfinals (being screened at the time of dinner this evening and to be watched on returning home).
As we ten guests took their places at a long single table in the main dining room with a good view of the kitchen, it was heartening to spot Evan in full view getting on with his part of the kitchen duties which were part of the special autumn extravaganza of ‘Truffles, Game and Mushrooms’ which Luke Tipping, Simpsons’ Executive Chef’, this year celebrating his 30th anniversary of starting to work with Andreas Antona at the original Kenilworth Simpsons, had put together to delight the food lovers who had gathered for the occasion.
We had started off with first rate canapés served in the lively sitting room - memorably crispy hash brown with truffle, a delightful little pumpkin and mushroom arancino feathered by Parmesan and an exquisite tartlet with quail, celeriac and mustard.
Then, in the dining room, a plate of Alba white truffle was displayed to the diners before some was scattered on the first course - a voluptuous savoury miso custard with mushroom dashi. Then exquisitely roasted quail with gem lettuce (normally unloved by myself but here very pleasing) as well as artichoke, truffle purée and hen of the woods and fine slivers of truffle capping it all.
The pleasure of luxury followed - a pleasing Orkney scallop raviolo - excellent pasta - bathed in a sumptuous truffle beurre blanc. This was unspeakably good. Next the guests were invited to watch Executive Chef Luke Tipping plate up the main course of highland venison. This was as fine a dish as one could ever wish for - the venison exquisitely tender and tasty and superbly accompanied by tender salsify, black tropettes, autumnal pumpkin purée and blackberries with a perfectly judged blackberry vinegar sauce. These dishes are so good that the Michelin inspectors should reflect on whether or not Simpsons shoukd finally be served up with two stars.
A pleasing cheese course followed - familiar in Simpsons, it is true - Baron Bigod on malted waffle with Bournville honey, fermented plum and raised to a new level by a generous covering of autumn truffle bewigging the aptness of water cress. Autumn stayed alight in the desserts - a lovely fleur de cacao chocolate delice enhanced by walnut ice cream and a second glistening chocolate dessert.
The appreciative diners called for the kitchen staff to allow them to applaud them - the talented upcoming and the established senior chefs - and they duly obliged. There was much to celebrate at Simpsons and once more I felt I had dined on what has now reached an exceptional level of culinary excellence and achievement.
Rating:- 🌞🌞🌞
14 November 2024.
The following day I had a trip to Harborne to once more have lunch at Tropea. I could not resist reordering the excellent dishes I had eaten there a fortnight or so before - the crispy arancino stuffed delightfully with butternut squash, sage and Provolone, the two remarkably good pastas - gnocchi with with Gorgonzola dolce, walnut and confit red onion and tagliolini with black autumn Staffordshire truffle and Parmesan cream (both pasta and sauces were as good as the first time I ate them - the quality of the restaurant is clearly highly consistent), gorgeous, comforting aubergine Parmigiana, braised pork cheek in sofrito and orange with a fabulous potato rosti, and Savoy cabbage cooked in wine (here the cabbage leaf stalk was not tender enough and hard to cut and eat). I rounded off with affogato which always seems to me like a remarkably clever dessert - if dessert it be - combining with it, as it does, coffee to hasten gastric emptying and stir up the energy to help one get going on one’s way after a very fine meal.
Rating:- 🌞
15 November 2024
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