461. Return To Albatross Death Cult; 2025 Michelin Awards Ceremony.

 

  I had very real expectations that Alex Claridge’s Albatross Death Cult would be awarded a Michelin Star in the 2025 Awards Ceremony held in Glasgow on 10 February and so, in anticipation of being present at the first service after a notable recognition, I reserved a table at ADC to scent the sweet smell of success at first hand. It was not to be, unlike last year when I had reserved a table at Opheem the first service after the award of two stars to Aktar Islam’s very fine restaurant. Alas, Michelin is a law onto itself and one should never assume that one knows what they are thinking. 

  Not that the news was all bad. The wonderful Ash Valenzuela-Heeger of Riverine Rabbit almost opened the proceedings by being awarded the Young Chef Award and her and Erin, her partner’s, restaurant was deservedly awarded a Bib Gourmand, the first seen in the city in many a year (though Rabbit was joined by Tropea in receiving the Bib).

  And further afield in the West Midlands, both Native in Tenbury Wells and Wild Shropshire in Whitchurch were awarded Green Michelin stars.

  Regardless of what did or did not come to pass, I was back at Albatross Death Cult, seated at the shiny counter and not sorry to be there. I was happy to chat to my neighbours - one on a visit to Birmingham from Chicago, interested very much in dining out especially at seafood restaurants and drawn to the ADC by its sphinxian full name. He felt that people dressed more nicely to go out and eat in England than back home in Chicago but then he hadn’t visited a Weatherspoons so he wasn’t fully in possession of the facts. My other neighbour was a young woman who had settled in Birmingham and now had more time to go out and visit our fine eateries and was gradually working her way through the Birmingham section of the Michelin Guide. She was enjoying herself and, like our visitor from the Windy City, was very impressed by ADC and all the dishes as they came out.

  Head Chef Piotr Szpak was in reassuringly good form with a slightly revised coiffure and an opening gambit of his familiar greeting, “Long time no see” although it had only been a couple of weeks since my last visit. It was also a pleasure to see the remarkably talented young senior sous chef, Oliver Grieve, back at his station and to have my drinks needs admirably addressed by sommelier Camilla Bonnannini.

  I have detailed a number of the dishes which were presented this evening and which were familiar from previous visits and I will not cover old ground save to say that each dish was as immaculate as ever and as deserving of a Michelin star as ever. The usual little snacks which started off the meal were gems in miniature of the culinary art in themselves - I have described them in previous Blogs - and then came a top rate dish of delicious smoked trout roe mousse with the orange pearls of trout roe and the joyous kick of wasabi. A real star, beyond a doubt.

 The tuna nigiri was beautifully textured and had all the characteristics of a beignet topped by tuna though of course it was rice rather than dough - delicious. Then came another dish to me - finally cut sea bass with umami tare sauce which could not help but be riven through with flavour. The apple with crab is a familiar favourite - the crab shone through which, elsewhere, is not always the case and the apple provides a perfect companion to it. Then accurately cooked opalescent cod wrapped in nori with the sun-gold yolk of a quail’s egg - again absolutely spot on cooking with the yolk still runny inside. Such delicacy of preparation - the cheerfulness and lightheartedness of the chefs does not prepare the diner for the precision and obsessional care with which they prepare the dishes.

  The mussel-black pepper-Iberico must be one of the very best dishes on offer in the region at the moment - the mussels tender and pepper-spicy and the Iberico adds an almost overwhelming saltiness as well as little spicules of comforting texture. But there were still jewels to come - the red prawn with its punchy prawn head sauce and then the delicious hamachi with the bracing flavour of sesame.

   There was just the divine pleasure of the sushi rice ice cream to come and a happy petit four jelly and it was time to go. Star or no star - ADC remains truly remarkable. I have little doubt that if it had been located in London and only been a fraction as good as it is, then Albatross Death Cult would have been celebrating the award of a star. But, Michelin is a law onto itself though, as Mr Bumble is quoted as saying, “The law is an ass”.

Rating:- 🌞🌞🌞

  Back to the Michelin Awards ceremony - it was overblown, preposterous, pretentious, arrogant, full of hubris and really quite silly. It had a big organ, a piper, a plethora of overwrought Scottish politicians, a Frenchman with an ‘Allo ‘Allo accent in charge of it all and long drawn out promotions of its sponsors including the repeated and time consuming disrobing of the award winning chefs in order that they may put on chefs’ jackets produced by one of the ceremony’s sponsors. A video promoting the advance of women in the restaurant industry was shown and included appearances by Ash and Erin Valenzuela-Heeger filmed inside a rather poorly lit Riverine Rabbit but Michelin’s presumably well-intentioned presentation brought more criticism than praise afterwards. 

  Perhaps it would be best if Michelin allowed the British to stage their own version of the Awards ceremony in future years without too much interference from France. After all, the French are hardly known for being able to put on a good show, at least not since the days of Toulouse-Lautrec and Fin de Siècle Montmartre and the Moulin Rouge and the Folies Bergère  and all that sort of stuff. The Michelin Awards ceremonies, since they commenced in recent times have always been, at best, discomforting and, at worst , toe-curlingly embarrassing but every year that goes by, they are taking longer and longer to do what they are there for - that is - present awards to a tip-of-the-iceberg selection of some of Britain’s best chefs and thereby devolving into a tedious two hours lost from one’s life that one will never recover. No matter, it’s good to see our accomplished chefs rewarded for making dining out a pleasure, even if it’s not always affordable.

  At the end of it all, the West Midlands region now has 75 restaurants mentioned in the Michelin Guide which is far too few but an increase on this time last year.

128. Kray Tredwell Is Only Michelin Winner In Birmingham

 

  In one and a quarter hours of excruciating French accents and mangled English words and more film of Paris and New York than of London, the 2021 Michelin stars winners were announced in an online broadcast on YouTube that left Davina McCall looking horribly socially isolated but generally it all seemed a big improvement compared with the last two online-broadcast Michelin reveals (I prefer to say “reveals” as the official title word, “revelation” makes me think too much of the apocalypse which our restaurant industry may well be facing) with all the toe-curling embarrassment they brought with them.

  As is so often the case Birmingham and the West Midlands were largely ignored by the Michelin inspectors, currently obsessed with restaurants in Ireland, chefs with French accents, expensive London-based sushi restaurants and seemingly rarely finding their way out of London and the Home Counties apart from boarding planes heading for Dublin. There was an interestingly large proportion of Irish sponsors of these awards which may tell us something.

  We all know the Michelin awards are a waste of time for our region of England but they are important because people like to say, for no obvious reason, that they’ve been to a starred restaurant and that helps to make a chef’s reputation and often ensures his restaurant’s viability. In this Blog additionally they do at least provide a record of those local successful and accomplished restaurants which came and went over the decades and for that reason they do have a historical importance which, despite my reluctance, I have to acknowledge. We all know that the film which wins the ‘Best Picture’ Oscar is not, almost certainly, the best film of the year and the same is true of the Michelin awards. Here in the Midlands we are pragmatic, recognise the silliness of the Michelin awards but go along with them. Let’s face it, we’re not treated with the contempt with which Michelin regards Manchester (England’s self proclaimed second city, ho! ho!) so things could be worse. And our brilliant local chefs are always pleased to be recognised by Michelin more than they are by any other Guide, being frequently moved to tears by the success. And why not?

  So no new stars in Birmingham or the West Midlands and no extra stars for our 5 starred Birmingham  restaurants or elsewhere in the region. Still at least no-one lost a star. In addition there were no new Bibs Gourmands but there were new Michelin Plates and a couple of other interesting awards.

  And a great and pleasing surprise at almost the beginning of the show was the announcement of the award of the title Young Chef of Great Britain and Ireland 2021 to Kray Tredwell (see Blog 83) now well-established in his Digbeth restaurant 670 Grams (lockdown allowing) named after the birth weight of his child born last year. Along with this outstanding award came a Michelin Plate placing his restaurant at this early stage among the top 16 in Birmingham.

  The other well-deserved Plate winner was Andrew Sheridan’s extraordinary 8 in the International Convention Centre which joined its sister restaurant Craft among the Birmingham Plates first eleven. Aktar Islam’s Pulperia also found itself joining that particular rank while of course his Opheem held on to its one star (joining Purnell’s, Simpsons, Adam’s and Carter’s of Moseley in doing so). While still in Moseley we might also note that Chakana was awarded a Plate thereby joining Asha’s, Folium, Harborne Kitchen, Opus, The Oyster Club and The Wilderness in the prized group of eleven.

  Elsewhere in the West Midlands little else to report except that Daylesford Organic Farm restaurant, described in the programme as being in Stow-On-The-Wold but described on the restaurant’s website as being in Moreton-on-the-Marsh in Gloucestershire, was the only dining place in the region to be awarded one of the new Michelin Sustainability Green Stars. Good for them.

Summary of Birmingham restaurants’ Michelin status 2021:-

One star,  ⭐️ Simpsons, Purnell’s, Adam’s, Carter’s of Moseley, Opheem.

Michelin plate, 🍽  Asha’s, Chakana, Craft, 8, Folium, Harborne Kitchen, Opus, The Oyster Club, Pulperia, 670 Grams and The Wilderness.

  Finally, is it wrong of me to say that I think I’ve aged rather better than Gordon Ramsey has? ....