293. Folium.

 

  A companion and I set out for lunch at Folium in the Jewellery Quarter on the day it had reopened after the Christmas and new year break. En route we had each enjoyed two glasses of the soothing cocktail Three and half ounces of happiness - making a total of 14 ounces between us - they lived up to their name - at the increasingly simpatico The Alchemist in Colmore Row, nestled very cosily as it is on under the simply stated luxuriousness of the grand Grand Hotel. Thence a slightly unsteady progress along Newhall Street, which in centuries past had once led to the grand home of the Colmore, past the now boarded-up and greatly missed Ginger’s Bar and Purnell’s Bistro where once we had enjoyed such pleasures as Cockney Rhyming Sling and Penicillin, eventually taking a right hand turn towards the beautiful Georgian St Paul’s Square, and thence a short distance up Caroline Street to the rather anonymous frontage of Folium.

  It was good to be back at Folium where the welcome was real and the faces are always friendly. It’s a smart place and looks the part. When everyone is going on about the future of fine dining and when hipster burger joints are breaking out all over in middle class suburbs to overhyped acclamation delivered by internet influencers and a meal’s not a meal without several negronis to precede it, it’s so lovely to still have a calm, tasteful haven in a quiet Victorian Street where very fine food, beautifully presented with originality shot through it, can be enjoyed at a restful pace.

  We had chosen the sensible five course lunch menu and were delighted with the dishes that arrived at our table.

  To start, there was a delightful amuse guele which took the form of a little tube flavoured with burnt onion and filled with fine chicken liver parfait, gorgeously flavoured and silkily textured. 

  After the excellent bread served with cultured butter, which we ate with relish, there followed Amela tomato with bonito vinegar and pretty, tasty little shiso leaves. I thought that this was very tasty; my companion felt that the tomato itself was not as full-flavoured as he might have liked but we both agreed that the dish as a whole was very pleasurable. It may be that a tomato-based course in mid-January is a little incongruous and I really do not know what time of year this variety of the fruit is at its best, originating as it does from Japan where it first appeared in 1996, but the tomato’s original homeland, together with the dish’s dressing and garnish, were a summary of much of the rest of meal - Japan was very much on the cards.

  Next a fine, Orkney plump scallop served with what appeared to be a rather pleasing, small beignet which was described perhaps a little inelegantly on the menu as ‘fried bread’. The scallops, which we both thought to have a spent a little too much time in the pan, were accompanied by an apt and delicious Ponzu espuma. The scallop was served sliced; is this a new trend? I see that Andy Hayler in his inestimable Blog (sadly almost entirely devoted to dining out in London and increasingly almost exclusively to dining at The Ritz, where once Escoffier plied his trade after defrauding and being sacked by The Savoy) also reported experiencing a sliced scallop in the past week which led him to express regret at this particular action by the Chef.

  The main course was really very good. This was Guinea fowl, which Chef Ben Tesh serves quite frequently, served as a ballotine, accompanied by a tasty yeast Béarnaise sauce. It was moist and nicely textured and thoroughly enjoyable. On then to an intermediate dish of iced horseradish with white chocolate shards and sorrel sauce. This was excellent with just the right amount of heat coming from the horseradish to liven up the tastebuds and reexcite the appetite for the final stage which was a toasted hay ice cream with a final burst of Japan in the form of miso and there was toasted buckwheat for a crispy texture. We both felt that the flavour of hay was a little too subtle but we certainly enjoyed the dish and the pleasure of our coffee drinking at the end of the meal enhanced by two delightful mignardises a ‘whisky and peat butterfly bun’ about which my lunch companion fell into raptures using the term ‘whisky baba’ to describe it and a chocolate and lavender choux, which was flavoured absolutely accurately and textured precisely.

Rating:- 🌞🌞

230. The Mount.

 

  Amid much publicity and general food-loving public anticipation, Glynn Purnell’s first ‘pub’, The Mount, (see Blog 223) has finally opened across the road from the excellent Cheal’s of Henley on the main street of Henley-In-Arden. And so, on a bright, warm spring day here I am. And I love the place.

  As I walked down the road from the station the restaurant came into view. There was a flashy car parked outside and a minor madding crowd sitting outside drinking in the sunshine as well as drinking materials rather more liquid. There was a vaguely thrilling atmosphere before I even entered the building. Great stuff - it had the sort of excitement about the place that Glynn Purnell is so clever at conjuring up.

  A good welcome and I was guided to the dining room at the rear of the pub - the place was definitely bigger on the inside than on the outside. The first person to greet me was Chef himself and it was delightful to have a few words with him and shake his hand. He was clearly delighted with his new venture and, from what I could see, quite rightly too. The dining room was bright and modern with a lot of  pleasing art on the walls including some splendid flamingo pictures which could only find a place in a Purnell restaurant - quirky and playful with a twinkle in the eye humour. 

  And what a relief, the joy of Purnell’s former Gingers Bar was restored to me. The cocktail list had some  Gingers Bar classics on it and I enjoyed my scorched lemon and vanilla margarita so much that I lost all control and ordered a second. O, what pleasure.

    And so to the food.  My starter was fabulous - excruciatingly tasty Cheddar custard with equally excruciatingly tasty ‘sweet and sour tomatoes’ and pickled shallots and rocket (which of course I loathe but which fitted in perfectly with this dish). There’s no doubt - new kitchen but Glynn Purnell has not lost his touch.

  Then the main course of Wiltshire pork cutlet, tasty, tender, satisfying, perfectly cooked to my taste and served with delicious mash and charcutière sauce. What real pleasure. Then a pleasingly light dessert of mango parfait with grilled pineapple. All in all, a highly enjoyable lunch. This is a great addition to Glynn Purnell’s list of achievements. As I departed, Chef said farewell and it was a pleasure to have another short chat and hear how pleased he is with the new location which has attracted a scramble for reservations and to hear that he is opening a tapas bar in Edmund Street in a couple of months. That’s another interesting and exciting place to line up to visit.in the near future 

  

Chef and front of house? Why not?

101. More Trees Than The Bois De Boulougne.

  Following on from Blog 100, I have now managed to obtain a fine copy of Henry de Toulouse-Lautrec’s and Maurice Joyant’s  ‘The Art of Cuisine’ in its English translation (by Marjory Weiner) which was published in its first edition in 1966 by Michael Joseph. It’s a fabulous book and full of curiosities. Not of all of it could be viewed as being applicable to Birmingham in the year 2020 however.
  Take this section for instance - “HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN TENDER Poulets a devenir tendres - In order to make chickens immediately edible, take them out of the hen-run, pursue them into open country, and when you have made them run, kill them with a gun loaded with very small shot. The meat of the chicken, gripped with fright, will become tender. This method used in the country of the Fangs (Gabon) seems infallible even for the oldest and toughest hens”. If you think de Toulouse-Lautrec has substance in his recommendations for chicken tenderising and you intend to follow his advice it would be wise to keep quiet about it. It seems hard to imagine one of Birmingham’s famous chefs pursuing a knackered old chicken down Cornwall Street or Waterloo Street or through the Jewellery Quarter to render its flesh more tender.
  Some illustrations from the book:-

Frontispiece showing a Painting of T-L (at his oven) at Misia and
 Thadée Natanson’s at
Villeneuve-sur-Yonne
by Eduard Vuillard, 1898

  It occurred to me that it might be nice to track down any T-L art in Birmingham and search out anything food-related and even if it weren’t at least come face-to-face with some of his joyous works in the flesh. Of course, it still being the time of Lockdown that was not something that was immediately doable (just like sitting down in Purnell’s to his witty dishes is still not doable). A trail of the internet was not very promising and I have only come up with three pieces of his work in Birmingham’s galleries. In Birmingham Art gallery and Museum there seems to be only one piece - Troupe Della Mlle Églantine which has nothing to do with food. I can’t quite see these young ladies showing a leg while diners sit eating their amuses bouches in the formality of Adam’s. I would have thought Adam’s was more pre-Raphaelite than gay Paree.

  The internet suggests that there are 2 T-L works at the fabulous Barber Institute in Edgbaston. Alas again not food-related in subject. Firstly there is A Woman seated in a garden (c.1890)which might do very well for Simpsons.

And secondly there is Le Divan Japonais (1892) which might sit well in one of Birmingham’s cocktail bars and Gingers Bar feels rather suitable considering the appearance of the lady in the picture.

  Finally one must think that The Wilderness is definitely more Goya than Lautrec.

  I think that vibrant numbered and signed printed menus by suitable local artists, their style to match the restaurant, served with meals, perhaps on special evenings if the expense is rather great, could be a great draw to bringing the fearful back to our restaurants once they are allowed to reopen. It could open up a new collectors’ market.

  It’s worth recalling that in the mid-20teens, Birmingham did indeed have a restaurant which attempted, to a limited extent, to recall the Parisian restaurants of the Belle Époque. The large restaurant at the far end of Corporation Street where one turns the corner into Steelhouse Lane was named Annexe and looked rather smaller as one walked past it. The location was awful with very little passing trade except, I suppose, from persons having business with the nearby Victoria Law Courts. The restaurant was also graced by employing one or two staff who thought that they were Parisian waiters and treated their customers with the appropriate degree of disdain and condescension. The food was expensive with nothing innovative about it which at least would have made the high prices demanded for shockingly small helpings of food more defensible. The interior was rather dark and gloomy and had nothing to do with the bright scenes depicted in the work of Toulouse-Lautrec. Special event evenings were held including the showing of classic French movies - that much at least was innovative and imaginative - and these, for a while at least, made the restaurant wildly popular  avec Les Tripadviseurs of Birmingham who rated it the number 1 restaurant in Birmingham until they probably became fed up of leaving the restaurant hungry despite having paid a large bill and having the experience of being treated with contempt by the waiters. Perhaps they thought that they were being given the genuine French expérience. 

  Annexe closed in July 2017 with the management announcing that their landlords, the owners of Central Hall, wanted to sell the entire building containing the restaurant. Before closing the restaurant did host a Bastille Day celebration.

  Apart from my first visit, when I noticed the restaurant as I was passing (probably the only passing trade it ever got), I sat at a table on the pavement outside downing a small quantity of some extravagantly priced but admittedly tasty onion soup with an equally small amount of bread (a table at nether-Corporation Street alas does not mimic Montmartre sufficiently) I visited Annex only one more time for a mid-week dinner - it seemed to be struggling to attract customers but that had had no effect on the chef’s inability to provide an adequate plate of food or the front of house staff to behave vaguely politely. It seemed likely that it was a restaurant with a limited life expectancy. Pity it could have been a great hit but it’s poor location and tight-fisted and ungracious approach to its customers ensured its doom.

78. Lunch At Purnell’s Bistro.

  Over the years, since Glynn Purnell opened it as his second string city centre restaurant, firstly with the name The Asquith (originally located in Edgbaston), in 2011, the food at Purnell’s Bistro in Newhall street has been rather inconsistent in its quality.

   Purnell had opened the Edgbaston Asquith in the building in Montague Road which had been home to Jessica’s where he had earned his first Michelin star till he decided to move on to open his own restaurant, Purnell’s, in Cornwall Street, but after only 6 months and after problems with his landlord, he decided to move The Asquith to its current location. The head chef in Edgbaston had been Jason Eaves and he moved to the Newhall Street location when the Asquith was relocated but he decided to go travelling internationally in 2012 and Purnell decided to close and rebrand the restaurant as Ginger’s Bar and Purnell’s Bistro. 

  Although the Edgbaston Asquith closed before I got around to eating there I did dine at the Newhall Street Asquith in early March 2012 when I think Jason Eaves must still have been Head Chef and I had a thoroughly good evening of cocktails from Ginger’s Bar followed by a dinner of Brixham scallops served with leek and potato velouté, leek fondue and ‘bacon crumble’, braised ox cheek Rossini accompanied by puy lentils, pomme purée and fois gras and vanilla panna cotta served with a red current sorbet. The menu sounds that little more sophisticated than it reads now. And it was very good.

  After Jason Eves departed the standard of food remained very satisfactory and I enjoyed a birthday dinner there with 11 guests in May 2013 but since then experiences at Purnell’s have been variable from both the food and service points of view. Despite being a fairly frequent visitor to Ginger’s Bar I had not eaten at Purnell’s Bistro for a year or two so I was not quite sure what to expect when I lunched there with friends recently.

  What I had, the pleasure no doubt boosted by two doses of Ginger’s Bar’s admirable whiskey-based Penicillin cocktail, made for a highly enjoyable lunch. I started with the thoroughly tasty Chicken and ham hock terrine nicely accompanied by a celeriac remoulade and apple purée. It looked simple but was truly delicious. 

  And so on to the main course. Much musing took place as to what to choose but I couldn’t resist what turned out to be unimpeachable Beer battered fish and chips with wonderfully cooked cod in perfectly crispy batter, highly successful chips, a spot-on tartare sauce and perfectly adequate mushy peas. I opted to have a vital additional element - malt vinegar served in a dinky little bottle. Perhaps that little bottle of vinegar should be served with the dish without the need to ask for it, just for perfection. The very best fish and chips I have had for a long time (yes of course it’s also the most expensive plate of fish and chips I’ve had for a while but really I can’t wait to go back to have a second helping and hope that the excellence of this first plate will be repeated in the second).

  I had a wonderfully enjoyable dessert in the form of a perfectly coconutty coconut parfait accompanied by pineapple and when consumed with the recommended drunk, a delicious rum, one found oneself eating and drinking a deconstructed pina colada. A modest little classic. I’ll eat that any day. 

  Purnell’s Bistro has been returned to me. I shall return to it.

  And on to another notable name in the increasingly spectacular Birmingham restaurant scene - Aktar Islam, he of the Opheem fame. Apparently we are now only a few days away from the opening of his Argentinian-style restaurant, Pulperia, in Brindley Place (see Blog 65). On Twitter some devastatingly enticing images can be seen of some of the food which will be on offer. The stuff that dreams are made of:- Galician prime rib, truffle mushroom tagliatelle, Morcilla, Fresian Cider House ribeye:-

  Don’t cry for me Argentina.

25. Colmore Food Festival 2018.

  In burning sun, the 8th Colmore Food Festival opened today in Victoria Square. As Lucy The Labrador and I walked up to the square, keeping in the shade as much as possible, we heard the sound of a steel drum band. We entered the square at the Town Hall side where two stages were set up - one for cookery demonstrations and the other for other entertainments. After the necessary opening speech by the rather dreary Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council (politicians so lacking in charisma really shouldn't be seen at such fun public events) the show got underway with a fine cocktail-making demonstration by one of the excellent bar men from Purnell's Bistro but the dog and I had to move away after a few minutes because the scorching sun to which the audience, accommodated appropriately in deckchairs, was getting just a little too hot for the Labrador to bear.

  We went in search of food and shade and dealing with the first need we headed for the Asha's stall and bought a helping of some magnificent chilli garlic chicken tikka which was truly delicious. On to the stall belonging to The Old Joint Stock where I selected a fine Mini chicken tikka pie with coconut and coriander served with an excellent mash and red wine gravy. Lucy and I sat in the shade at the end of Waterloo Street sharing the excellent pie - fine pastry indeed - and then we prepared for Round 3. Before we could set off however a man dressed as a large red chicken came along quite unexpectedly and Lucy amused the surrounding crowd by having a sustained loud bark at the strange creature, a performance she was to repeat later when 2 human pigeons strutted along beside us.

  Round 3 proved to be disappointing - I bought a Chinese tapas from Chung Ying Central - the deep fried prawn was satisfactory and the prawn dumpling seemed to be generously stuffed with prawns but the Vietnamese spring roll was quite horrible, the contents tasted quite unpleasant and the surrounding pastry could easily have been constructed from old leather.

  Finally after another sit in the shade, Lucy and I headed for the Zen Metro Thai Restaurant stall and thoroughly enjoyed the generous helping of Spicy wok chicken which indeed was very spicy. I definitely needed to cool my mouth down so we rounded off our visit to the Colmore Food Festival with a visit to Gingers Bar stall and I had a most refreshing Thyme For A Pimms cocktail.

  The Colmore Food Festival, which this year hosted stalls from about 30 Food and drink businesses homed in the Colmore Business District, is now well established as an important feature of the Birmingham food scene - it seems to grow from strength to strength.