Hungry Hoss’ - Best of 2011

Inspired my Twitter friends ‘The Critical Couple’ and their ‘Best of 2011’ post (see here) I decided to put together my very own ‘Best of’ to create my ultimate dégustation.

For me, 2011 has been a seemingly nonstop fabulous foodist adventure and deciding which dishes belong on this menu was not an easy task. I have eaten some wonderful food at some amazing restaurants this year - my trip to Singapore was phenomenal (we hope to return in 2012) and the magical meal at Mozaic in Bali was momentous as the place where I decided to start this blog.

In May, Hungry Hoss was born. I find it hard to believe that I have had this ‘hobby’ for only nine months! Through the blog and my Twitter account I have met many good people who have supported, encouraged, inspired, advised, fed and entertained me.

Someone deserving a particular mention, as one of my biggest champions, is Franco (@sausagemaking). Not only does Franco regularly ‘re-tweet’ my posts to his foodie followers, his kind invitation to his @ChromaKnives Charity Supper Club (and subsequent events) remains one of the highlights of the year. At Franco’s, as well as meeting his lovely wife and family, I was fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of other foodie types, such as @ThomHetheringto(n), TV’s @GizziErskine and @GordoManchester  from @mcrconfidential.

Also present at the supper club, I’d like to thank for feeding me (and looking after me) on several occasions throughout the year (and I’m sure next year too) the 2011 MFDF Manchester’s Best Chefs, Mary-Ellen (@_aumbry) and @Laurence_Tott from Aumbry; Monica and Aj from @TheSpiceClub and the hugely talented @aidenbyrne and his partner @SarahBroadleyW from The Church Green.

At Franco’s I also met Niamh Shields (@eatlikeagirl) the author one of the UK’s leading food blogs and the fabulous cookbook Comfort & Spice. Other bloggers who I’d especially like to thank for their support this year are Alan (@sped98) who took the time early on to give me camera and picture advice; @FFTBYD for sharing local knowledge; @laissezfare for including me in his blogroll and supporting my work via re-tweets and, the aforementioned, @CriticalCouple for their inspirational posts.

So after much deliberating, I’ve managed to whittle the menu down to a reasonable fourteen courses:

Canapé: L’Enclume – a delicious Stichleton Sablé biscuit with a silky, smooth Avocado Crème (I have yet to complete my write up from my most recent visit to L’Enclume but I’ll be working on my ‘Top 3’ in the New Year!)

Amuse bouche: The Box Tree – bias aside, the Celeriac Espuma with Bacon Foam that I cooked whilst working at The Box Tree as ‘A Chef for a Day’ was simple, yet packed with flavour.

Bread: Simon Radley at The Chester Grosvenor – the bread selection at Simon Radley’s restaurant is second to none. Full sized breads in an amazing array of flavours: Sourdough; French Baguette; Stoneground Farmhouse; Bavarian Rye; Lancashire Cheese & Onion; Boddingtons & Mashed Potato; Fig & Walnut and Cottage Granary.

Vegetarian starter: Sketch – simply called Tomato this dish was so full of flavour. Having enjoyed Sketch so much, in 2012 we plan to visit Pierre Gagnaire’s eponymous 3-starred restaurant in Paris.

Fish starter: The Ledbury – such a light and summery dish, the Thinly Sliced Courgettes with Hand Picked Crab, Wakame Oil & Frozen Parmesan sums up our wonderful al fresco experience enjoying Bret Graham’s phenomenal two starred food in the sunshine.

Meat starter: James Lowe of The Young Turks – as part of The Fat Duck charity reunion meal at Aumbry, James’ Raw Hereford Rib with Oyster & Wild Watercress was one of the nicest things I’ve eaten all year. When I visit London in 2012, wherever James and his crew are cooking, I will be there!

Fish main: The Fat Duck – again, prepared at Aumbry as part of The Fat Duck charity reunion by Heston Blumenthal’s Head Chef Jonny Lake, the Sound of the Sea was every bit as good as I remember it at his three starred temple of gastronomy.

Meat main: Aumbry – served at the Chroma Knives Supper Club, the Slow Cooked Cumbrian Boer Goat, Pearl Barley, Cauliflower & Smoked Shallot was undoubtedly the star dish of the evening.

Meat main (2): Les Amis – Les Amis, in Singapore, is one of Asia’s and indeed the world’s most prestigious restaurants. The Chargrilled Wagyu Rib Eye cooked in hay, Sunchoke, Spinach & Sauce Périgourdint has to be considered my most supreme steak of 2011.

Cheese course: Le Gavroche – as well as visiting the International Cheese Awards at Nantwich this year, I have had some wonderful cheese boards in restaurants and found some great cheese shops and suppliers, such as the excellent Cartmel Cheeses (see here). Of all the cheese boards Le Gavroche’s was by far the most comprehensive and the Plateau de fromages included the wonderful Boulette d'Avesnes.

Pre dessert: Fraiche – one thing that I am certainly looking forward in 2012 is the publication of Chef Marc Wilkinson’s first cookbook; mostly because he assures me that it includes the recipe for his amazing signature pre dessert, the Lemongrass & Vanilla Panna Cotta with Sour Cherry.

Dessert: Aiden Byrne’s British Grill – of all the desserts I’ve had this year, Adien Bryne’s Triple Chocolate Mousse with Gingerbread & Warm Cherries may not be the most ground breaking or intricate; but what it lacked in terms of theatrics, it more than made up for in flavour! The gingerbread was simply perfection!

Petit fours: Café de Paris (Malaga) – brought out as part of the ‘tapas’ upgrade: a chocolate macaron; an iced orange bonbon, a sticky sweet financier; a passion fruit cheesecake and a dusted chocolate rock. All were great – my favourite the passion fruit, a great intensity of flavour.

The final decision is where to eat this perfect meal? Winning hands down, the paradisal lush, tropical gardens of Chris Salans’ Mozaic in Bali.

Here’s to 2012!

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Simon Radley at The Chester Grosvenor

Chester, in Cheshire, is an ancient and beautiful city that is steeped in history. Tudor revival buildings and cobbled streets provide the town centre with its quintessential British charm. The ‘Rows’ that date from the medieval era (including what is believed to be the oldest shop front in England) are magnificent to walk along when browsing the town’s diverse range of designer boutiques and independent specialist retailers; the department store, Browns of Chester and of course, the big named high street stalwarts. 

Walking around the original city walls (the most complete example in Britain), you can see some prime examples of the town’s history from the last 2000 years: the Roman amphitheatre; the Norman castle; Georgian and Victorian buildings and canals as well as the wall itself; including the intriguingly named ‘Goblin’ and ‘Bonewaldesthorne’ Towers.

If you are interested in the Roman period of history, I recommend a visit to the Spudulike restaurant on Bridge Street. I am however, unable to vouch for the potatoes but here, in the basement, you can see an original Roman hypocaust system or ‘under floor heating’.

Although, do be careful if you are Welsh: an archaic bye-law states that any Welshman ‘loitering’ within the city walls after sunset may be shot with a longbow or decapitated. Following the Welsh Revolt, King Henry V passed the law, which was never repealed and still officially stands on the statute to this day (although it no longer provides protection against prosecution for murder).

The Chester Grosvenor

The Duke of Westminster and his ancestors have, for centuries, owned a substantial amount of land in and around Chester and the Duke’s family name of Grosvenor is inextricably linked with the city: The Grosvenor Museum, Grosvenor Park, Grosvenor Bridge and The Grosvenor Hotel are the more obvious connections. The hotel having been owned by the family since 1815 has always had a reputation for quality. The hotel’s restaurant, Simon Radley at The Chester Grosvenor, is one of only four in the country to have held a Michelin star for over twenty consecutive years (The other three being: The Waterside, Le Gavroche, and Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons).

The restaurant was previously known as ‘The Arkle’ after a famous racehorse owned by Anne, Duchess of Westminster but was renamed and restyled in 2008 in honour of the Chef that, for such a long period of time, has been so influential in its success. The legendary horse had a short but celebrated career in the sixties, winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup three times before retiring early due to injury. The equine connection can still be seen in the many works of art that decorate the restaurant’s comfortable Arkle Bar and Lounge area.

To learn more about the town’s history, the Grosvenor Museum, on Grosvenor Street, is a great place to head. As is, The Dewa Roman Experience, which has hands-on exhibits and a reconstructed Roman street. Naturally, being a foodist, I was keen to find out what the Romans ate: discovering that the food had many “similarities” to what we ate, that evening, as part of the Tasting Menu.

The poorer Romans mainly ate bread, soup and porridge. And after our tasty amuse bouche of White bean mouse with minted peas; Parmesan Gougères with cream cheese and spring radish; Ham hock jelly with crispy bacon and Grissini, which we ate in the lounge, we were shown into the dining room and presented with a trolley of the most fabulous breads that I have ever seen in a restaurant.

Poor people's small wooden or mud brick homes didn’t have kitchens. So they often took food round to the baker, to cook in his oven. Our breads, freshly made by ‘Barry the Baker’ (who, to me, sounds like a character from a Guy Ritchie movie) were excellent. The choices, which I greedily eagerly worked my way through over the first few courses were: Sourdough; French Baguette; Stoneground Farmhouse; Bavarian Rye; Lancashire Cheese and Onion; Boddingtons and Mashed Potato; Fig and Walnut and Cottage Granary. Sourdough is always a favourite of mine and this one did not disappoint. The real star however, was the Boddingtons (a nod to the Chef Radley’s Mancunian roots?) and Mashed Potato bread – beautifully moist with a subtle malty flavour.

Amuse

Although the Romans would have regularly eaten soup and salmon, from the River Dee, I am sure never with the refinement of the next course. Simply, with the Chef’s typical understated restraint, called Amuse - a clean tasting cucumber gazpacho, with delicately pickled salmon and a little crunchy texture from delightful miniature croutons.

Composition

For ordinary Romans, meat was a luxury, unless they lived in the countryside and could go hunting or fishing. The next course certainly was luxurious (and my favourite of the evening), called Composition - Native lobster, sweetbread bonbons, girolles and summer pea. The girolles had been pickled prior to cooking and added a lovely acidity to the dish. The batter on the ‘bonbons’ was delightfully light and crisp.

Micro crab

Two ingredients that people would not have had access to in the past are Hass avocado and the phenomenal Kalamansi lime (a flavour, I imagine the Chef became familiar whilst working in Asia) which were combined to great effect with Dorset cock crab to produce: Micro crab. One complaint I have, is that my wife appeared to have more of the Kalamansi jelly on hers (or maybe I just said she did so she would give me some of hers?)

Morue

The next dish was Morue - creamy salt cod ravioli with local nettles and flowers. Ancient Romans, despite their ‘Italian’ origins would not have had ravioli; Roman soldiers did however bring their own nettle to the British Isles. I don’t know if they ate them, but they did use them during long, cold and wet marches, to stimulate circulation on their tired and pained legs, using a practice called ‘urtification’. Personally, if they are going to be prepared with the skill and creativity of Simon Radley, then I’d rather stick to eating them.

Landaise duck breast

Richer Roman ‘citizens’ had food cooked at home in the kitchen by slaves. They ate dinner in late afternoon, with a starter, a meat course followed by fruit or nuts.  Our meat course was Landaise duck breast with Stuffed neck salami, crispy rillette, fondant liver, and olive. The neck salami was stuffed with pistachio nuts, which provided a great texture variance. The duck rillete kromeski was full of flavour and delightfully crunchy. My only criticism was the duck was a little too chewy for my taste. The lightly sautéd duck liver in olive oil was sublime.

We followed our meat course with cheese from the board as an alternative to the Crumpet - Fig and apricot, organic Cheddar listed on the menu. The cheese and condiment selection at Simon Radley is superb.

Trifle

Romans would serve lettuce at the end of a meal, believing it helped them to sleep. Fortunately, instead of a salad leaf, we were served Trifle.  A refreshing palate cleanser consisting of an elderflower jell, concealing a delicious plump gooseberry. The Romans certainly had gooseberries, as mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his book Naturalis Historia published circa AD 77-79 (around the time of the Roman’s arrival in Chester).

Forét Noir

The final offering on the tasting menu was Forét Noir - Caraibé chocolate textures, warm cherry. An imaginative and innovative take on the classic pudding – it was tantalising to watch the thin disc of tempered Caraibé chocolate melt and sink as the warm cherry sauce was poured on.  The ‘cherry on top’ was a cherry on the top made more lustrous by a slither of gold leaf.

Coffee and Petit fours

To finish the evening, we returned to the Arkle Bar and Lounge for another Italian import, an espresso; served with a fantastic selection of petit fours: dark chocolate truffle, cherry jelly, popping candy rice crispy cake, banana and passion fruit macaroon, strawberry lollipop, lemon cannelloni, honeycomb, chocolate cornflake cake, raspberry financier, nougat, marshmallow, pistachio puff, citrus sorbet.

So there we have it; I’m sorry if you clicked onto this blog expecting to read about food and ended up with a history lesson. If that is the case, I’ll summarise for you: Simon Radley at The Chester Grosvenor is a magnificent restaurant and well worth visiting.

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Le Gavroche

The Routemaster Bus, the Fender Stratocaster Guitar, the Aga Cooker, Levi 501 Jeans, the Supermarine Spitfire and Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars - a list of classic design icons that could go on and on.

Ok then, I’ll give you a few more… it’s great fun thinking of them: A Rolex Oyster Perpetual, Clarks Wallabies, the VW Beetle, the Dualit Toaster, the Zippo Lighter, the K6 telephone box, the Raleigh Chopper…

The best of their kind? Perhaps so… or maybe not? After all, Chris Hoy does nae ride a Raleigh Chopper! One thing they do all share however is the status of being absolute design icons. Classics. They each have an enduring quality - an excellence. They have stood the test of time and hold a permanent place in our hearts. The originals. The innovators. The trendsetters.  

You can see where I am going with this, can’t you? There is one more that I must add to the list - Le Gavroche.

Of course, there are restaurants now in London with more stars and higher rankings in the Pellegrino list – there are restaurants that serve more technical and progressive food – there are those with more modern, lavish and breathtaking dining rooms and settings - but there are few restaurants that can boast the pedigree and heritage of this most influential and iconic Mayfair institution of gastronomy.

What can I possibly write about this celebrated colossus of cuisine that has not been already written?

You will know that Michel and Albert, the legendary Roux Brothers opened it 1967. You will have read that it was the first establishment in the UK to be bestowed one, and then two and then three of the coveted Michelin stars. You will be aware that Marco Pierre White, Philip Howard, Marcus Wareing and Gordon Ramsay all trained there. The only London restaurant in Les Grande Tables du Monde. And, we all know it is now in the superbly skilled hands of the master of the professional master-chefs, Michel Roux, Jr.

Booking a Michelin starred restaurant always makes me feel special, but when I booked Le Gavroche I felt more that that – I felt honoured. Privileged. Then, after much anticipation, as our taxi dropped us outside the famous address, those feelings came flooding back. A quiver of excitement travelled through me as I looked up to behold the sign above the door, and thought of the glitterati that have graced the grand gabled doorway. 

The splendour continued, as we were welcomed into the lavish and elegant bar area. The plush red walls, oak furniture and artworks are delightfully dated – like those in a stately home. As we descended the stairs to the dining room, the opulence and magnificence came into it’s own. The low ceiling reinforced the ambience of an exclusive Gentlemen’s Club. Adorning the walls, original works by Picasso, Chagall, Miró, Giacometti and Dalí aspire to feed your mind as effectively as the artists in the Roux kitchen feed your appetite.

The finery of the table settings was exceptional. Crisp white linen, crystal glasses and bespoke polished silver, featuring Gavroche, the street boy or urchin from Les Miserables, that inspired the restaurant’s name. Unique sculptures crafted from silver cutlery sit prominently on the tables providing a talking point, fun and individuality to the tables. A quirky touch was the plates featuring an image of Michel Roux Jr. (One thing that I didn’t welcome being on the table was the little card offering for sale, signed copies of the chef’s books – this felt a little cheap.) 

As we took our seats, I was excited to note that sitting on the next table was the mighty Albert Roux himself. His presence and aura as the head of the Roux Empire and as a person was immense. It was great to imagine what may have been going though his mind as he sat, surveying this restaurant, which he established all those years ago and how proud he must be to eat the food prepared by his son, continuing his legacy.

My wife, and Albert Roux in the background. 

The real majesty of Le Gavroche comes not just from the old school luxury of the dining room but from the flawless service and fabulous food. I am not going to go into detail about every aspect of the menu. Suffice to say, each dish, both my wife’s choices and my own, showcased the finest produce, and were, as you would expect, cooked and seasoned to perfection. 

Our first amuse bouche, served on the bespoke Le Gavroche cutlery. 

One stand out memory was the lemon, honey and mustard dressing on the second of our amuse bouches, which was simply divine! Naturally, I have had this classic flavour combination many, many times but the balance between the flavours on this occasion was wondrous; the bitterness of the lemons, the sweetness of the honey and the sharp heat from the mustard working in perfect harmony – simple, masterful cookery.

The smoked salmon amuse bouche featuring an amazing lemon, honey and mustard dressing. 

Another outstanding dish was the Médaillon de porc grille et jus lié a la páte de coing: top-notch, quality pork medallions, teeming with phenomenal flavour. Possibly the best pork I have ever tasted! (The other pig in contention was the one I ate at Northcote Manor).

Médaillon de porc grille et jus lié a la páte de coing.

Another amazing part of the meal was my Plateau de fromages – the cheeseboard was the largest and most comprehensive I have seen in any restaurant. After much deliberation and feeling like a kid in a sweetshop, I chose five French cheeses. A Crottin and a fine Camembert au Calvados caught my eye; I then opted for two of my favourites in a Beaufort and a Livarot. My fifth and final choice was a cheese, which I have never tasted before, Boulette d'Avesnes - conical shaped with a soft and crumbly texture, ensconced in a rusty-hued beer-washed rind, flavoured with paprika. The cows milk curd itself had an intense herby flavour; predominantly tarragon with peppery and parsley notes and a hint of cloves. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for this one in the future – an intriguing cheese to have on any cheeseboard - a real find.

The amazing cheese trolley.

My Plateau de Fromages.

Our key waiter for lunch was Assistant Manager, Enrico Molino. Enrico presented with a faultless balance of attentiveness – as an individual, the best service I have ever received. General Manager, Emmanuel Landré came over to our table at the end of the meal – a thoroughly charming man and a testament to the renowned impeccable Le Gavroche service created by his mentor Silvano Giraldin, the godfather of ‘The Art of the Table.’

Les oeufs d’oie brouillés biodynamiques ed homard tiede.

Émince de veau et risotto aux herbes.

Pavé du saumon rôti, pommes écrasée et jus de homard.

Petit fours and Soufflé aux pêches et crème a la vanille. 

Our lunch at Le Gavroche was a truly special dining experience. Le Gavroche is classic. Le Gavroche has an enduring quality - an excellence. Le Gavroche will now hold a permanent place in my heart. An original. An innovator. A trendsetter…  In the words of Michel Roux, Jr. Le Gavroche is, “Top notch!” 

Le Gavroche has ranked as high the Restaurant Magazine's 22nd Best Restaurant in the World (2008).

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