"Best Of" Tasting Menu 2013

This follows the same approach as in each other year since this blog started. The blog started based on visits to Hibiscus and much missed Roganic and a conversation with the Critical Couple over a glass of Glenfarclas and is now just over two years old.

First thing to sort out is the venue and there were two places that were special for very different reasons. My favourite setting was The Cottage in the Wood in Whinlatter Pass. The view from the dining room is lovely in itself but the constant presence of birds on the plentiful feeders and the occasional visits from red squirrels helps seal it as a special venue. Visiting it in August should have been more spectacular than it was but Cumbrian weather proved uncooperative. The best winter venue was Ekstedt in Stockholm. After wondering round the city taking night time photos and trying to retain use of my fingers it was wonderful to step into the welcoming, wood dominated dining room where the cosiness was emphasised by the gentle smoky smell that permeated thanks to the open fire that everything was cooked on.

The list is effectively my favourite 25 dishes arranged as a tasting menu, with accompanying breads & spreads.

Although food is the main focus of visiting restaurants, their take on accompanying drinks can be fascinating too. The two most memorable drinks of the year were the Picon cocktail at Perry Street, a simple blend of Kronenbourg 1664 and Picon orange bitters liqueur and the Pimm’s Cup at Saxon and Parole. 

The bacon fat popcorn given to all diners while you make decisions about the menu at Salt & Fat was a wonderful surprise. I’ve never been a big fan of popcorn but the addition of rendered bacon fat was exceptional and neither my son nor I could get enough of it. 

Moving onto amuse bouches and small bites before full meals, the salt cod and potato mousse at Van Zeller showed off all the intense tastes of fish and chips in a small bowl and was utterly lovely.

The deep-fried goodies (salsify, chestnut, cod skin and cavolo nero) with smoked herring roe served up at The Dairy was another exceptional act as a prelude to a meal. With lots of different elements it was impossible to tie down what was best beyond the roe because the contrasting taste of each nibble was charming.

The sardine crostini with Iberian fat at Tickets was a consumed in a few bites but the combination of tastes was phenomenal. The fresh oily fish had a perfect partner in the ham fat and the crunch of the crostini was a simple but necessary textural contrast.

The truffle mousse with chicken Madeira jelly, chicken Madeira foam and truffle foam topped with a potato crisp at the Square was dish that yielded more as you delved into the glass. The intense flavours in each layer were rewarding and they all added up to an incredibly satisfying whole.

It’s always interesting to see what breads are served because a poor bread can derail a meal even when it seems like a relatively insignificant course. My favourites of the year were the marmite and cheese bread at the Pig & Whistle in Cartmel, the Sneck Lifter bread at Cottage in the Wood and the whiskey bread at Gwynnett Street.  The whiskey bread was really good but it was the honeyed lardo that accompanied it that took it to another level. The Dairy in Clapham excelled here too. The pat of smoked bone marrow butter presented on a large pebble had an astonishing depth of flavour and if that wasn’t enough for you the chicken liver mousse prepared from blitzing the livers with onions sweated down with butter was truly special. 

Moving onto savoury courses, the first of my top dishes was the pan-fried cuttlefish with artichoke, pomegranate, cuttlefish ink sack sauce and cuttlefish sauce at Hedone. The firm cuttlefish had delightful flavour that combined superbly with the earthier artichoke and the balance provided by the acidic pomegranate and rich cuttlefish sauces was exceptional.

Staying with fish, the poached Nova Scotia halibut dressed buttermilk whey sauce at Atera was a revelation for someone who had never been too impressed with halibut before. The delicate fish was a delight but it was the pairing with camomile in the buttermilk sauce that made a world of difference. 

2013 saw the closure of my favourite place in Yorkshire when J. Bakers in York shuttered in July. A planned return to Anthony’s in Leeds was also ruled out when that group went into administration. Travelling in the north-east meant looking for new places and a review from Zoe Williams alerted me to Van Zeller in Harrogate. The first course after the salt cod amuse listed above was pork belly, squid, watermelon, basil, sesame and tapioca. Building from pork and tempura squid that were bursting with flavour the additional components all worked together for a wonderful dish. The sweetness of the charred watermelon was superb with the pork similar to the pork belly dish at Fatty Crab sampled later in the year. But it was the little touches that meant this was the better of the two dishes. The piquant squid ink purée prepared with lemongrass and the nutty sesame snow and crackling were all vital.

A dish that the best example of its genre was the French soup onion rings at Alder. Wylie Dufresne’s bar opened in April 2013 and provided a chance to sample his unique take on food in an informal setting. Two visits provided the opportunity to try a number of different dishes and I’d happily eat them all again. The onion rings were introduced to the menu shortly ahead of our October visit. Crisp batter encased juicy onion slices and they were topped with melted Gruyere that gooily bound the rings together. So far so good but it was the intensely flavoured thickened beef gravy at the base of the dish that had us wanting more. A seemingly simple dish that saw me recommending Alder to everyone travelling to NYC in the last two months of the year.

The crispy chicken skin with mushrooms and crispy kale from the Dairy was one of the most intensely flavoured dishes of food of the year. The salty crispy skin and rich chicken oysters worked with the buttery oyster mushrooms and nutty chanterelles for a wonderful mix of flavours. The kale worked superbly here with its seaweed like flavour. And if all of this wasn’t enough the thick mushroom sauce coated everything to crank all flavours to 11.

A dish that generated a lot of discussion on many blogs & reviews was the ox in coal oil with kohl rabi, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds at The French by Simon Rogan. Most feedback had been full of praise although Marina O’Loughlin in the Guardian complained how the coal oil dominated everything too much. For me, the flavour of the grape oil boosted by charcoal was fairly subtle but its effect on the beef was outstanding. The nutty pumpkin seeds, crunchy kohl rabi spheres and fresh sunflower shoots were all wonderful partners to the beef but the understated star of the dish were the dabs of pumpkin emulsion dabbed on the tartare.

Back to The Dairy for another exceptional dish. The salt cod with charred leeks, sorrel and fried bread was an excellent example of how good cod can be from the incredibly tender cod meat to the intensely fishy crispy skin. This illustrated that even when the main ingredient was good it needs the input of everything else to make it exceptional.  The mildly oniony flavour of the leeks tied the whole dish together and the smoky ling roe made everything sing.

I would never have found this next dish if I hadn’t had to go on college visits with my daughter. We live near a college town where good food options are scarce so I didn’t have major expectations when we visited New Paltz. I’ve long been unimpressed with the bog standard Italian restaurants that seem to be everywhere but something about A Tavola’s menu meant that was my place of choice on the Saturday evening there. The roasted cauliflower with hen of the woods mushroom, poached Karl farms egg and shaved pave confirmed that decision. The cauliflower was superb with its contrast between the crunchy outside and juicy, tender core and the combination with hen of the woods was a delight. The egg yolk and cheese added subtle additional dimensions to the dish that fully justify its inclusion here.

There are certain ingredients that will almost guarantee I will order a dish if I see them on a menu. For fish dishes, mention of bream, mackerel or John Dory means I’m hooked. I had two outstanding John Dory dishes and of those the Newhaven John Dory with quinoa, almond and black rice crust, celeriac broth, Jerusalem artichokes and baby vegetables at Bonnie Gull Seafood Shack was the one that worked best. Freshly available on the evening, the John Dory was cooked so it was bursting with flavour and the differing tastes in the crunchy crust were delightful partners. Autumnal vegetables including mushrooms, turnips, carrot and celeriac were all very complimentary to the fish. To top everything the marriage of Jerusalem artichoke with the John Dory was stellar and this was a perfect comforting plate of food. 

All foods appeal to me but inclusion of fish and meat is usually going to drive my choice of savoury dishes. The late summer offerings of vegetables, herbs, flowers and lovage salt at the French by Simon Rogan was an astonishing dish. Half the fun was trying to identify the individual components but it was impressive how the whole dish held together even though there was a multitude of different ingredients including  spring onions, gem lettuce, broccoli purée, swede, kohl rabi, peppery nasturtium leaves and flowers, watercress oil, pea shoots, pickled onions, thin slivers of pickled cauliflower, watercress purée and chive flowers.

My preference is always for stronger tasting fish so I wouldn’t necessarily order a plaice dish. However, by going with a Simon Rogan tasting menu the kitchen is going to give you things to eat that you wouldn’t always consider. One example of this was the plaice with bone marrow, carrots and nasturtium at the French. The fish had a good presence but this was brought out further by the crispy bone marrow fritter and bone marrow jus. The sweet carrot purée combined with the plaice for an intriguing fish and chip type flavour and the whole dish was just wonderful.

Another outstanding fish dish was the Loch Duart salmon with sea vegetables and oyster soup at Restaurant by Sat Bains. Tender slow-cooked salmon partnered perfectly with pickled cucumber, pickled mushrooms and crispy rice for a superb blend of fresh tastes. The oyster soup and samphire were a glorious touch of the sea and the subtle smoky hit of the squid ink dyed herring roe was a brilliant crowning touch.

Next up is a dish that I’ve eaten many times and knowing what’s in store makes it easy to overlook just how brilliant it is. The duck egg tart with red wine sauce, turnips, lardons and duck hearts from Medlar shows a perfect balance of contrasting flavours. The focal point of the dish is the seasoned fried egg with its luscious runny yolk and everything else aligns perfectly and kicks in different tomes that play wonderfully with the egg. Just superb.

The focal point of the tasting menu at Hedone in January was the roasted breast & leg of squab pigeon with salsify, watercress and Jerusalem artichoke foam and proved to be a sensational dish. The offal based gravy complemented the rare meat perfectly and all other accompaniments partnered really well with the pigeon.

The menu at Kitchen W8 was another pleasant surprise earlier in the year. The chosen main of smoked haunch of venison, Jerusalem artichokes, roast onion, bulgur wheat and port soaked raisins was an excellent dish building off the venison. I’ve always liked venison but the smokiness gave it an impressive depth of flavour. The Jerusalem artichoke puree, roasted onions and softened peppercorns all partnered really well with the venison and the bulgur added a wonderful nutty, crunchy edge to the dish.

Last of the mains is another dish that dealt with bold, contrasting flavours was the braised Cumbrian beef with celeriac, wild mushrooms and watercress from Cottage In The Wood. Tender braised beef partnered really well with the celeriac puree to give a strong foundation to the dish. However, it was the inclusion of nutty chanterelles and black trumpets that made the dish truly special. And if you wanted an extra special indulgence then the slice of air-dried bacon kicked in a nice contrasting salty crunch.

Moving to desserts, the parmesan ice cream sandwich with lemon honey at Tickets was a wonderful combination of clean, intense flavours and acted as a palate cleanser whilst being totally delicious.

The baked English custard at Launceston Place was the relatively low key part of the dessert. It was the various treatments of apple that made this dish from the Cox apple cooked in caramel to the Calvados cream and the intense compressed slices.

The pear financier at Medlar centred round a wonderful light sponge with a slice of pear through the centre. The cake was delicious and the inclusion of candied walnuts and choc nib ice cream as accompaniments was inspired.

The year started with a wonderful Seville orange soufflé at The Square that ranked as one of the best desserts I’d eaten in a long time. However, it was eclipsed by the Agen prune soufflé with Armagnac ice cream from Marianne (My last restaurant visit of the year). The mixture of flavours was superb. The mild prune flavour of the soufflé was not overly sweet and was boosted further by a stronger flavoured prune syrup in the base on the ramekin. The combination of Armagnac with prune was wonderful.

A dish that turned expectation on its head was Restaurant Sat Bains’ tiramisu. From its aerated and frozen mascarpone base to the chocolate crust, amaretto gel and coffee crumbs, it had combined all of the expected flavours of tiramisu but in a wonderfully bonkers package.

And to finish things off you can’t beat a coffee and a cigar, particularly if you’re in Tickets in Barcelona where the coffee is a hazelnut ice cream liquid and the cigar was a gold leaf wrapped chocolate shell filled with Bailey’s ice cream.

All in all, 2013 was a great year for food in a wide range of places. I could easily fill this list twice over and still be highlighting dishes that were phenomenal. Roll on 2014.