Alimentum

I would like to start this with a thank you to Mark Poyton and his team at Alimentum for an incredible birthday lunch and also a sorry as this was back in march and I should have posted about it before now (sorry mate).

I was lucky enough to meet mark when I worked with him on his course for Kai we care back in 2011 and had wanted to go to Alimentum since then, I finally made it down to Cambridge for my birthday this year. As my wife has a couple of allergies I was in contact with Mark about this before our meal and when we arrived I couldn’t wait to see what we would be having.

I am not 100% sure of all the dishes we had as Mark cooked us what he had planned and I never saw a menu but will do my best to remember them, Mark had managed to work out a meal where lizzie and I had a nearly identical meal with only subtle changes to accommodate lizzies allergies.

Some dishes didn’t even make the camera as I couldn't wait to try them. just before we get to the pictures, Mark I'm sorry if the descriptions are wrong and if you can give me the menu descriptions i will put them right on here.

Salmon, broccoli, puffed rice & yogurt sorbet

Crisp, clean flavours a prelude to what was to come 

Heritage carrot salad

The absolute highlight of my meal, amazing carrots that showed what can be achieved with real skill with seasoning and bringing the best out an ingredient. It was served with a goats cheese ice cream, awesome on its own better with a mix of carrots.

Halibut, pumpkin seeds, butternut, savoy & trompette mushrooms

This was lizzie's favourite course, beautifully cooked fish with the seeds adding texture as well as flavour the trompettes adding an earthiness to the dish.

Beef and onions

Perfectly cooked beef with ragu of oxtail, bone marrow and onions cooked in a variety of ways including puree, roast onion and crispy fried onions. this was a plate full of flavour and skill balancing the huge flavour in the oxtail ragu and the richness of bone marrow the different taste and textures of the onions. To me this was a masterclass in putting a main course together, everything on the dish deserved to be there and nothing was there for show.

Pear & rhubarb 

A very elegant dish to finish the meal of pear and rhubarb both done a couple of ways, fresh pear, pear sorbet, poached rhubarb, rhubarb gel and i think brown butter powder. as with everything i ate that lunch it was beautifully presented, full of flavour and original.

Just to finish i would like to add that the service was bang on, the guys really do sell the restaurant and marks vision for it brilliantly. To say i enjoyed my meal is an understatement i will defiantly be going back in the evening at some point to do the full on tasting menu and i suggest if you have not been you get down there, it is defiantly worth a journey thats for sure.

Remember live to eat don't eat to live

New challenge and thanks

So after nearly 4 years at the Best Western Ship hotel it's time to move on, the next chapter in my career is set to be the biggest challenge by far. This post is not about my new job or about the ship but with the amount of time spent looking to for my next step I realised how many people have helped me get this far, and I just wanted to thank them. 

First up is a chef called Neil Wackrill, he was my chef for 9 years and showed me that there was more to cooking than pushing big numbers in Brighton seafront hotels, under his guidance I rose from what I considered a good young cook to his senior sous chef at a large country house hotel, taking in some amazing events and fantastic times between 2001 and 2010. He gave me the courage to cook my own food and encourage the whole brigade to use there own ideas and create not to copy what everyone else was doing. 

The other chefs I want to thank are Ben Miller who I consider the best cook I have ever had the pleasure of working with full time, watching his passion and drive at Lythe hill hotel inspired my to push on as hard as possible and The French Maestro Christophe Ferraro for taking me under his wing and also giving me a proper hard time but teaching me some invaluable life and cooking lessons, he is also responsibale for my ridiculous cookbook addiction I have, after showing me - cooking by the sea by Danny Horseele I knew I had to have it and have bought a monstrous amount since ( cheers frenchy game of caps later with miller) 

 

Also my first sous chefs at the Thisle hotel, Brighton 

Gary Thompson and Andrew Farrell, Andy was a proper task master but was fair and hard a drive that made you want to work hard for him and to succeed in making the sort of food we did there.

Gary was different in his approach to training me but taught me what I needed to know so that I could learn the rest throughout my career, he also was the voice of reason in a very macho kitchen snd all the apprentices really loved him for that. I'm still learning now big man 

Finally 

Lizzie my amazing wife that has put up with the life a chefs partner has to deal with, not seeing each other at Christmas, Mother's Day, birthdays and all those other celebrations and events that most 

people take for granted. She has always encouraged me to push myself and believe that whatever you want you can get and for that support I am forever grateful. I love you Lizzie

So thank you to the people above for helping to shape the chef and person I am today. 

I know today's post is not what I normally write about and normal service shall be resumed very soon as I have amazing meals at Mark poytons Alimentum and Alyn Williams at the westbury to post about.

Remember live to eat don't eat to live

Im Back

Hello everyone, well it’s been nearly 6 months since I posted on here and what a hectic 6 months it has been. At work we have been getting busier and busier whilst trying to push the food offering forward, to help this and to give me a bit more freedom we have stated to do one of tasting menu events. The last one was my take on burns night which went down a treat with our guests and a really good night was had by all involved. 

What else is there to say, not a lot really the team and I are knocking out great food in my opinion and are pushing to make us the place to eat in Weybridge. I am writing this as I take a break from writing the menu changes for the coming weeks with spring just around the corner we are already seeing wild garlic and there are lots more exciting produce just round the corner. I am looking forward to getting my hands on some local asparagus again this year from either Crockford bridge farm (http://www.crockfordbridgefarm.co.uk) or Garson’s Farm (http://www.garsons.co.uk/c/esher-farm-shop/) last year we got some cracking vegetables from both and the selection in both shops is great.

Last year we served our asparagus very simply, we blanched it for 1 minute in heavily salted water then refreshed in plenty of iced water to retain its brilliant green colour and fresh flavour. It was then chargrilled and served with a poached duck egg, wild garlic oil and shaved Cornish yarg a really good spring starter that went down well with our guests. We will be bringing that back this year but are currently working on some tweaks for it.

Whilst being busy at work  I have still found time to eat out at a few places most notably I have been back to Michael Wignall at The Latymer, Pennyhill park (http://www.pennyhillpark.co.uk/EXCLUSIVE_HOTELS/eating_and_drinking/the_latymer.aspx) . I said when I first went that it deserved 2 stars in my opinion and since that post it has been awarded its second star so massive congratulations to Michael and his team. That meant that I had to go back and eat again, it did not disappoint the meal was flawless, my favorite dish was

“Lightly Salted Cod, Textures Of Cauliflower”

Which as you can see was treated to a good covering of black truffle.

I also went back to Drakes in Ripley (http://www.drakesrestaurant.co.uk).I think the food that Steve is producing is among the best around, incredible flavours, brilliant presentation and executed perfectly and to boot he is a real gentleman, I am really looking forward to staging there very soon. The highlight of my last meal at Drakes was

“Pork Belly Cooked in Masterstock, Quince, Langoustine”

Awesome plate of food.

Right well I will try not leave it so long to post again. With my birthday next week and a lunch booked at Mark Poynton’s, Restaurant Alimentum I’m sure I will have something to talk about and some pictures to share.

Thank you

Remember live to eat don’t eat to live

Stage at the Pass

Well here we are at the end of the summer (I hope not, got a week off coming up), work has started to pick up in numbers with people going back to the office and conference season stating again. The new ala carte menu and my new fixed price menu is going down well with numbers picking up in the evening in the restaurant and bar, which in turn keeps the bosses happy.

What else is new, well I have just spent 3 days working with Matt Gillan and his team at the Pass Restaurant, south lodge hotel. Yes its also the last place I wrote about on here so that goes to show you how highly I regarded that meal.

Arriving on my first day I meet the team and cracked on with some prep, the only real way to learn something is to get involved and get your hands dirty. I spent the first day with Donna and Caz on garnish, a great insight into the way Matt puts his plates together, full on flavors cooked a variety of ways using modern and traditional methods to create perfect results.

The second day was spent helping Ben on meat and fish, this day brought 6 kilos of langoustines to prep meaning I had shredded my hands come the end of that job but I also got to prep a goat for the first time as the guys changed the main course on one of matts tasting menus whilst I was there.

My final day I helped Charlie on pastry although with Charlie about during service you have to be quick or else he would plate everything whilst holding his own section down (a sight to behold, Charlie in full flow). First job we made the restaurants bread a small loaf per person but containing 4 separate balls of dough 2 white 2 brown all made from a starter that has been on the go for a while giving it a really nice but subtle sour taste.

In a nutshell I had an amazing 3 days with a great team of chefs, they were all very helpful and always happy to explain why or how they did something.

A special thanks to Matts sous chef Jonny whom I spent all 6 services at the pass, for his patience and for letting me help plate whenever possible.

For anyone who has not eaten at the Pass yet I suggest you get down there soon. That team is on fire and being lead by one of the most driven young chefs I have met, trust me the food really is worth the trip regardless of where your driving from.

So to end this post, a recipe from my new menu we serve this with hazelnuts, beetroot, sour cream and fennel.

Beetroot & vodka gravlax

1000g       salmon fillet (skin on)

600g         cooked beetroot (purred)

100ml       vodka

400g         sea salt

400g         sugar

Place salmon in a tray lined with cling film, rub the vodka into the fish.  Then mix together sugar and sea salt, spread evenly over the salmon and pour over the pureed beetroot.  Wrap tightly in cling film, leave in the fridge for at least 48 hours.  Take off the cling film out rinse off marinade, leave in fridge uncovered to dry for 2 hours, and then slice as needed.

The Pass At South Lodge Hotel

The pass, what can I say about Matt Gillan cooking that has not already been said, probably nothing but he ho will give it a go.

Also to those that complain my post are always positive and I never have a bad meal, that’s simply not true I just choose not to blog these as who am I to judge others on what there are trying to do. I may comment to the restaurant on the day I am there but don’t feel posting a negative review helps anyone in the long run and just makes peoples lives more difficult. So I choose to eat in proven restaurants as with limited time off and funds to eat out I don’t really want to be disappointed, right rant out the way lets crack on with what was an exceptional lunch.

I choose to go for the gourmet experience that at £35 a head is superb value for money considering you are eating Michelin star food.Talking to matt about his Michelin star its was humbling to hear him talk about winning the star again this year not just retaining it which goes to show the frame of mind and the commitment in that kitchen. Matt also talks very highly of his executive chef Lewis Hamblet and the support he gets from him, I was lucky enough to meet Lewis during my meal and you can tell he is immensely proud of what his boys and girls are achieving not just at the pass but in the camellia restaurant and across the whole food and beverage team at South lodge hotel.

First up was some canapés, sorry matt if I get some of the descriptions wrong but I was distracted watching the kitchen in full flow whilst having the dishes explained to me, but I remember the truffle cream cheese fondly.

The bread arrived and something I had not seen before was bread loaves made with both white and brown bread with the loaf, very clever but more importantly very tasty.

This was followed by an amuse bouche of white onion veloute Garnished with lovely little garlic chips and hiding all sorts of textural element’s underneath. The veloute was creamy and rich without being overpowering.

The first course of the menu proper – pressed rabbit leg, aubergine puree & gingerbread parfait, hot crisp bread rabbit leg, cool but sweet aubergine and a liver parfait packed with flavor, the gingerbread crumb adding a nice spice note to the dish.

Up next was the stand out dish of lunch for me – roasted sea bass, spring onions chickpeas & watercress. Perfectly seasoned and cooked sea bass, a film of onion jelly encapsulating the fish, a powerful watercress puree that almost acted as a palate cleanser and then chick peas chopped down adding a bite and some light spice to the dish, as I said STAND OUT DISH worth the trip just to eat this.

Meat course next- rump of beef, poached rhubarb, Jerusalem artichoke, hispi & golden beetroot, not really expecting anything else but never the less again perfect cooking of the beef meant that this under used cut was sweet and tender whilst fully flavored. The garnish worked really well with the rhubarb giving a nice acidic note to help cut the richness, silky smooth Jerusalem artichoke puree and hispi cabbage cooked melting tender but still retaining freshness is a skill in its self.

First of the dessert course was –lime jelly, mango & coconut sorbet, a real palate cleanser but the coconut sorbet with enough sweetness to stand up to the sharper flavors of mango and lime.

Final course – apple parfait, caramel, apple sorbet & crumble, classic flavors but giving a new lease of life, spent about 30 seconds trying to work out where the caramel was then broke into the parfait and found it encased in the middle, stunning dessert because its something your palate recognizes from somewhere in your past but in a completely new style.

Of course you have to have a coffee and sample the petite fours and these too where top notch, the service team do a great job at explaining the restaurant and who is working where so you get a real feel for the place and how proud everyone involved is.

I will defiantly be going back, hopefully first to do a stage and see it from the other side but also as a customer as in my opinion this is easily the best restaurant in Sussex 

Remember live to eat don't eat to live