300. Purnell’s Plates. A New Bull In Town.

 

  When it comes to Mediterranean cuisine, unlike Greek and Italian food which I find to be, respectively, excruciatingly dull and extremely overrated, I do derive great pleasure from being presented with a plate on which almost any Spanish dish is presented. Spanish cuisine in Birmingham has been significantly unrepresented so I was thrilled that the Yummy Brummie had identified a hole in the market and realised that he was the man to fill it. Hence I found myself ambling along Edmund Street on the first day that Purnell’s Plates opened to the public. It was advertised as selling Spanish tapas which for me at least was highly alluring. 

  The interior is mildly claustrophobic, being a narrow ‘L’ shape opening up into a small square place at the rear, The decor is smart and the restaurant is littered with artefacts such as bull’s horns to remind the diner that this is a little piece of Spain in the city where bulls are embraced so enthusiastically. The walls have art which also generally, though not entirely, emphasise the theme of Iberia. The long bar is the first sight to greet the customer as they enter the restaurant and I was pleased to recognise some old faces there including Adrien Garnier, restaurant manager at the mother ship, Purnell’s, who said he was there for a couple of days to keep an eye on the opening.

  Seated comfortably at my table I noted that the opening lunchtime was a a little slow with a total of only six customers, including myself, there during the time I sat and lunched. I asked for a cocktail but the bar was not yet ready to serve them so instead I had a glass of Madri, a Spanish beer which was perfectly drinkable. I was rather excited about delving into the menu and getting on with the pleasing selection of dishes.  First to arrive was my Anchoas en tostada served with a generous helping of delicious pesto which nicely balanced the fish’s salty delightfulness and which I gobbled down with relish while I waited for my other dishes to arrive. 

  Then the main dishes came out, sauntering their way to the table with a self-assuredness that they were going to pleasure the diners who had ordered them in a comforting, full-bodied, rustic sort of way albeit with some sophistication that only came to the fore when the taste buds had got into gear. Naughty, spicy patatas bravas; very nicely cooked cod, bacalao al pil pil, in a pil pil sauce (garlic, paprika, parsley) and the most triumphant of them all, Chorizo al vino tinto, chunky pieces of spicy chorizo raised to a whole new level by the accompanying, remarkably delicious red wine sauce which was dark and shiny and unctious - I would eat that dish anytime.

  What came next was something of a surprise. I thought of finishing off with crema Catalona but what emerged from the kitchen appeared to be a dramatic genetic mutation of the dish I knew, recognised and loved. Perhaps Purnell’s chefs knew more about it than I (and the rest of the world) did. Ah yes! It was a deconstructed crema Catalana, that was it. There was a heavily whipped cream with shards of caramel emerging erect from it. It just didn’t seem right. In fact it seemed rather lazy. It was pleasant enough but my message would be - reconstruct your crema Catalana as soon as possible.

     The crema Catalana apart, this was an enjoyable meal. Reservations have already been made for a return visit. Rating:- 🌛🌛🌛

  The labrador and I have since passed a happy five days in Weston super Mare which gave me opportunity to visit the legendary Papa’s for some truly fine cod and chips, lovely chunks of cod meat in a pleasingly light batter and some very passable chips to accompany it, and The Ginger Pig Kitchen where the crema Catalana is a triumphant model example of what Purnell’s Plates should be turning out (and the accompanying sable pig is a pleasure too).

  Chef Andrew Sheridan has announced the closure of About 8. Perhaps this is wise. It was always a very personal project, just as Black And Green is also. Alas he could not clone himself and therefore divided his time between cooking at About 8 at the weekend and at Black And Green during the week. About 8 was excellent but possibly too self-indulgent and it was hampering what was taking place in Craft which had been divided up by net curtains suggestive of a harem rather than a restaurant and where the food was not  really to the standard it had previously been.

  Now Craft is being converted into a brasserie and reincluding the space previously occupied by About 8. At the same time the dining pods in the ‘garden area’, which I always thought looked rather tacky, though they did help to see Craft through the COVID-19 lockdown crisis, have been removed. It seems Craft is going upmarket in image at the very least and hopefully the food served there will return to its previous heights in parallel with the look. About 8 is relocating to Liverpool from where Sheridan originated and it is not clear in Sheridan’s announcement whether he himself is planning to return there which would obviously, even if unintentionally, affect the personality of the food served at Black And Green. Sheridan is also planning to open a new restaurant, Severn and Wye, at Newent in Gloucestershire, south of Malvern as well as opening a gastropub in Newent.

285. Black And Green. Back to Barnt Green.

 

  Michelin has recently added Andrew Sheridan’s Black And Green to its list of recommended restaurants which did not surprise me after my experience there earlier in the year, soon after the north Worcestershire restaurant had opened. I had made a reservation to visit there a few days before the announcement of Michelin’s recommendation so the new added status of the restaurant, which I had previously enjoyed very much, added spice to the anticipation of my second visit.

  It was clear that the restaurant really is now functioning at a very high level. Andrew Sheridan told me that he himself works at Black and Green on week nights and is in his city centre restaurant, 8, on Fridays and Saturdays. He also mentioned that he is planning to open another restaurant, with, I think rooms, in Herefordshire during 2023 - an exciting prospect.

  Meanwhile the six course menu served on the evening of my visit to B & G  was very impressive and the dishes were generally thoroughly enjoyable. Appetisers were made up of olives, a fine plump oyster and a generous helping of tasty bread with cultured butter. The first course was marvellous - scallop with a bountiful amount of caviar and  a buttermilk emulsion. then, equally enjoyable, sea trout with plump little mussels. Immaculately cooked, delicious wagyu with ceps and robustly flavoured truffle shards was the centre piece of the meal and there was a happy dessert which apple, yoghurt and white chocolate. 

  This restaurant is so very good. Is it possible that it may soon be a new star in the firmament when Michelin makes its 2023 awards? It just might be.

Rating:- 🌞🌞.

250. Black And Green, Barnt Green.

  Barnt Green, a quiet little village just over the city border from Rednal on the way to Bromsgrove in north Worcestershire, home to some seriously well-off people, “it’s where the footballers live” (I’m not sure precisely which footballers), and now home to chef Andrew Sheridan’s latest culinary business venture, Black And Green, which serves a five or six course tasting menu.

  This sounds like a clever move. Southwest Birmingham and northWorcestershire can seem a long way from the city centre of Birmingham, especially if public transport is used (as we are all told to do) when contemplating eating out, especially in the evening, and Barnt Green seems the place to take the plunge. 

  Longbridge too, though sitting at the edge of the ‘deprived’ constituency of Northfield, might pay dividends for any food entrepreneur willing to take a risk on opening an upmarket restaurant in the new ‘town centre’, risen like a phoenix from the flames of Herbert Austin’s motor car industry, as comfortably off middle class socialist hipsters (a 2020s version of Champagne socialists),  start moving (they already have) to the ward of Longbridge West Heath where property can be bought at a fraction of the price they might have to pay in their natural nesting grounds of Moseley, Kings Heath and, latterly, the ultra-cool Stirchley. Longbridge town centre, with its fresh air blowing off the Lickeys, and its ever increasing facilities such as Herbert’s Yard, home to a working class suburban version of Digbeth Dining Club, might yet be home to a sort of Carters of Longbridge.

  But back to Barnt Green. Andrew Sheridan opened his new restaurant on 9 June 2022 to run in parallel with his triptych of Craft, About 8 and Divide all in the International Conference Centre in town. It has been said that the aim is to serve “more accessible” food than that at 8 which, in honesty, I find to be thoroughly accessible if perhaps rather more rich than my elderly digestive system can cope with. Having said that, now I am on regular proton pump inhibitors it’s possible than the glorious dishes served at 8 are no longer too rich and I should return soon to investigate the wonders of modern medicine and the glories of Craft dining. In the meantime, the food served at Black and Green was available to remind me of Sheridan’s culinary expertise.

   The mission of B & G’s seasonal tasting menu is to offer “a modern interpretation of British flavours, centred around local ingredients of the highest quality from micro-suppliers and neighbours”. So did B & G fulfil its brief?

  I rather think it did. The restaurant is modern with the usual chic decor using a palette of rather dark colours as we have come to expect. It is small and the claustrophobic may not like it but there are some clever touches such as little spots at the edge of the table from which a jacket may be hung and the lighting is quite satisfactory. The tables are small, a necessity I suspect because of the restaurant’s size, and the seating could be a little more comfortable but on the whole the restaurant was well designed though I was somewhat mystified as to why my place setting was laid so that I was looking away from the  open kitchen and hence I could not watch the proceedings. Then again the restaurant has only been open a week so perhaps subtleties such as this had not yet occurred to the front of house staff.

  Service was very efficient and friendly if a little fussy with the items on the table being rearranged several times more, I thought, for a rather obsessional neatness than for practical reasons (perhaps entities such as Michelin demand such behaviour). But the food is all.

  The amuses gueules were cleverly conceived. No fussiness here just good down-to-earth indulgences - a delightful little cheesy tart and a delicious oyster (chef, you are spoiling us) and some very edible olives. Along with these came excellent soda bread with my favourite ampersand butter. A Hendricks and tonic and a glass of English sparkling wine, the first indulgence of the flight, and I was happily submerged in the pleasure of the meal.  

  This was a true ‘tasting’ menu with the quantities on the plates being adequate to inform the diner of the chef’s abilities without being overwhelming though now I think about it, a little more pork might have been enjoyable. On to the gorgeous slice of A5 wagyu beef beautifully matched by what was described on the menu as a root tarter (I’m not sure if this was a rather obscure play on words or a spelling error but there was a very fine tartare under the slice of meat).

 

  One of the highlights was a scallop ceviche which looked particularly pretty and was delicious with the flavour of coconut soothingly and refreshingly matched up with the scallop and accompanying caviar and texture of pickled cucumber. A great dish. Next pleasing pork loin and rib - very tasty - with a delightful parsley and broccoli purée. The dessert had the admirable flavour of kalamansi, a citrus fruit said to be half way between orange and lime, though for me more orange than anything. This was paired so well with a chocolate mousse that I feel it is time for Terry’s to start producing a Chocolate kalamansi to rival its Chocolate orange.

  The final course was a good straightforward selection of three tasty cheeses served with a little chunk of fruit bread which was not quite adequate in amount for the amount of cheese.

  Andrew Sheridan, who came out to deliver the dishes to, and to speak to, the little select group of diners gathered in his new enterprise, has brought a promisingly fine restaurant to an area sorely in need of somewhere special to eat, which the people of southwest Birmingham and north Worcestershire have long been awaiting. Good move.

 Though perhaps not served in great quantities per plate, there were luxury ingredients in the meal - scallops, wagyu, caviar - which made it all seem rather special and very sensibly priced. Another good move.

  And finally, in case the reader is wondering, on a personal note, my proton pump inhibitor is working 100% efficiently.

    There are many restaurant awards in The United Kingdom every year now. It is pleasing for the Chefs and restaurants which are recognised by them. But it seems that some chefs are now more likely to be found at an awards ceremony than in their own kitchens. True, the latest Awards extravaganza, the grandiosely-named Estrella Restaurant of the Year, was held on a Monday evening when most restaurants are closed but it is beginning to look as though chefs are following in the footsteps of university academics who spend all their time at various national or international (which they prefer obviously) conferences lecturing to the same audiences on the same subjects but just in different places, the more exotic the better.

  The outcome of these awards is all very predictable with London restaurants and chefs being awarded the lion’s share of the plaudits with our own excellent West Midlands restaurants being poorly represented. Thus in the top 100, only two West Midlands restaurants are featured - congratulations to Brad Carter’s Carters of Moseley at number 80 and Aktar Islam’s Opheem at number 88 - while 59 London restaurants appear in the top 100 list, seven of the top ten being located in London. What nonsense.