Every year on our wedding
anniversary, I often try to think a little out of the box when planning a celebration
related to the traditional and modern gift ideas. For example, the suggested
gifts for two years of marriage are ‘cotton or straw’ (traditional) and china (modern).
As a surprise for my wife I arranged for a limousine to pick us up, complete
with strawberries and champagne,
which took us to our favourite Chinese
(china) restaurant and then onto Cottons
Hotel & Spa in Knutsford.
This
year (our eleventh) the plans were not so extravagant. The traditional gift for
eleven years is ‘steel’ – knowing my wife would not be happy with a stainless
steel toaster or some cutlery (although, I would have been more than pleased
with a Perceval Le Français folding table knife with a Damascus blade and a
juniper handle – hint),
the plan was simple… a meal in the ‘Steel City’ of Sheffield.
There
is only one restaurant in Sheffield that holds a Michelin star – Tessa
Bramley’s ‘The Old Vicarage’, so the
choice was simple.
What
Michelin say: ‘Long-standing, family-run restaurant in an old
Victorian vicarage just outside the city. Traditional, homely lounge. Two
dining rooms - one a wood-floored, bay-windowed room, the other, an airy
conservatory. Refined, classical cooking uses time-honoured techniques and top
quality ingredients. Formal service.’
Despite
having held a star since 1998 and only being an hour and a half away, from our
house, The Old Vicarage has not been near to the top of my list of places to
visit but the ‘steel’ anniversary gave us the perfect excuse to give it a try –
and we are glad we did… mostly.
It
would be easy to pick fault with some elements of the visit - notably the
‘tired’ (shabby) décor; school boy errors; dated plating and poor service (I
don’t want to sound a grouch but servers, please leave me alone to enjoy my
food and if you have to chat, do so between courses).
However,
the truth is, despite The Old Vicarage’s faults, we still very much enjoyed our
evening. Certain elements of the food fell below our expectation of a Michelin
starred restaurant but the old school cooking of the proteins and deep, rich sauces
were exemplary.
What
we ate: (£70 for "four courses")
Canapés:
Sundried Tomato Whirl (dry); Beetroot & Goat’s Cheese ‘Macaroon’
(delicious); Smoked Salmon & Cream
Cheese Roulade (classic); Cheese
Straws and Olives (good).
Light
appetiser course: a Butternut Squash
Soup with liberal lashings of white truffle oil – my wife and I like
truffle oil but there was far too much for our liking as we could still taste
it during dessert. The accompanying spoon of Salmon with Cucumber & Pine Nuts was ace.
My
starter: Roast Quail with deep fried
soft quail’s egg, mushroom duxelle with pea shoots purée and pine nuts –
the classical cooking on this dish and punchy flavours could not be faulted;
the only element which let the dish down was the overcooked quail’s egg.
My
wife’s starter: Scottish Lobster with
lobster and tarragon arancini, cauliflower and vanilla cram, pickled butternut
squash and caviar bisque sauce – we found the arancini to be really quite
poor… decidedly stodgy; but the rest of the dish was good with an excellent
rich, glossy bisque sauce.
My
main: Roast New Season’s Scottish Grouse
stuffed with forcemeat, rosemary roasted potatoes, broccoli with prunes and
lemon with crab apple and thyme jelly – once again the meat and the sauce
was the star of the show; with the turned carrots adding a quirky, retro touch.
My
wife’s main: Roast Fillet of Local Lamb
with confit of the shoulder, baked Jersey Royals and semi-dried cherry
tomatoes, minted peas, with spring cabbage and sautéed sweet breads – more
proper cooking of stunning quality lamb without a water bath in sight; with the
sauce and sautéed sweetbreads pleasing in particular.
My
dessert: Plums roasted in cinnamon and
star anise, pistachio crusted sponge with spiced plum compote, vanilla
semi-fredo with cinnamon crumble and pulled sugar – I ordered this dessert
over another that sounded good mainly due to the description including ‘pulled
sugar’, an element which was sadly not present on the plate presented to me.
Fortunately the remainder of the dish was very good and enjoyable.
My
wife’s dessert: Fresh Cherry Frangipan
and cherry sauce, griottine cherries in kirsch, cardamom ice cream on croquant
– my wife and I both found the ice cream a little lacklustre but the frangipan
and cherry components were nicely put together.
Coffee
was good and the petit fours were homemade and very good.
Verdict
(Would I return?): if we lived in Sheffield we probably
would go back but now we have done it and “ticked it off a list”, I doubt we’d
make the journey specifically again.
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