The Wilderness
IT’S STILL ROCK N ROLL TO ME
It’s Friday lunchtime and my out of office is on ‘til the New Year. It’s also a now traditional get together with a fellow gastronome and bon viveur, Julian. Christmas is the excuse, but it’s a far more pagan affair than that: A celebration that the shortest day will soon be done, and a time to reflect and look forward. Oh yeah… I nearly forgot the boozy lunch with the aim to get absolutely rock n roll tattered.
He’s late and by the time he arrives, the pitying and consoling looks from staff have become more noticeable and I’ve nearly finished a second G & T. He orders a pre-lunch Negroni amidst tales of cancelled taxis and gridlocked roads, although I’m not really listening, preferring to enjoy the atmosphere taking energy from a mostly rock soundtrack blasting from the stage-like, open plan kitchen at the far end of what must be one of the city’s most stylish dining rooms.
It had been empty on my arrival and it’s now around two thirds full. Never mind, the day is still young and we opt for the £100 lunch set meal with £75 wine flight.
First up is a creamy and delicately floral English Chardonnay that could easily be from the Bourgogne. It’s served with snacks in the shape of a celeriac tart with aged cheddar, roasted and pickled celeriac and English truffle packing earthiness, smokiness, sweet and sourness and a final intense cheese hit into two joyful bites.
Celeriac Tart / Lobster Doughnut
The second of the snacks is a lobster doughnut. As doughnuts go, it’s crisp-fried perfect, with a lobster topping and maple syrup sweetness. It’s both sophisticated and trashy bringing happy childhood memories of Findus crispy pancakes.
Crab – Potato – Smoked caviar
Food proper kicks off with a ‘savoury trifle’ featuring exquisitely smoky, barbequed and blistered potato, skinned and then riced with cultured butter; then, there’s a layer of umami and sweetness from black garlic caramel; followed by the freshness of white crab meat dressed with crème fraîche; and finished with a sweet brown crab foamy-bisque and scatter of crisp-fried chicken skin seasoned with furikake providing a proper hit of the sea and crunch. There’s another fabulous wine paring with a lightly fruity and slightly spritzy Txakoli with a delectably aromatic finish.
Poached cod – Iberico – XO
Next is a butter-poached plumped piece of cod, topped with XO—made from dehydrated shrimp and scallop, Iberico ham and crisp strips of seaweed, served in an Iberico broth. It’s another triumph for the palate, spinning effortlessly through savoury, umami, sweetness and smokiness and all the way back again, whilst working in perfect harmony with an old school, medium Alsatian Riesling.
“The Carrot” 2021
The next plate is a riot of colour, featuring roasted carrot cooked in goat’s butter for six hours, carrot puree, a sweet and sour carrot juice reduction and chive oil, all brought into line by the earthy-tartness of semi-frozen goats cheese adding a fresh dimension of pleasure for the palate. Every dish appears to have the goal—and succeeding—in outdoing whatever has come before.
Having been too greedy with the Riesling, I’d left myself dry for the last course, so I’m nothing short of excited to see the sommelier back; this time with the first red. It’s a Kiwi Pinot Noir that’s light, but with enough body, fruit and good acidity that makes it closer to the old world in style.
Venison – Mayan Gold – Black Garlic
Then head chef, Mariuz appears with melt-in-the-mouth, pink venison coated with four different peppercorns, black garlic caramel, caramelised endive poached in walnut oil and potato creamed with smoked butter. Its flavours are pushier than a time share salesman without even mentioning the venison sauce cooked with cherry beer, milk stout and finished with dark chocolate that could well bring on gout, although that wouldn’t stop me scraping up the last evidence of it on my plate.
The G & Ts, wine and water—I’m trying my best to keep hydrated—force a loo-break and walking back into the room I’m hit by the most fabulous wall of aromas, wafts of smoke, cacophony of sound and a room bursting with the energy of excited diners that has me grinning like an idiot and enthusing like a madman when I arrive back at the table.
Anjou Pigeon – Blueberry – Saffron – Maitake
But our sommelier—like the shopkeeper in Mr. Benn—arrives just in time to rescue Julian from my hyperbole and he’s armed with a very decent, full-bodied Napa Valley Zinfandel with hints of cherry and vanilla. It’s another exquisite choice for the Anjou pigeon that looks as much a piece of art as a plate of food; with emulsions of blueberries and saffron, grassiness of maitake mushrooms and the perfumed aromatics of green peppercorns and juniper.
Ch-Ch-Changes
Picking up the art theme and running with it like Usain Bolt is Ch-Ch-Changes, which looks every bit a well ripened banana… but oh, no, no, no. It’s a white chocolate shell filled with a delicately sweet banoffee style pecan and banana custard. It’s so-so-so good.
Ch-Ch-Changes… the pause to take in its magic
And then just when I think this couldn’t get any better our sommelier is back one final time with a honey and ‘marmeladey’ Sauternes that’s another dream pairing; this time for ‘Milk & Honey’. Balls of salted milk parfait, lavender honey—with a genuine hit of lavender, rocks of aerated malt and gummies of acidifed honey gel is every bit the dessert that the meal before it deserved.
Milk & Honey
We end with Hot Lips; a chocolate ganache with mulled wine and vanilla petit four, but my attention is too focused on the drinks menu to pay it much attention. Julian opts for Black Gold—Gesha Espresso, Bergamot & Jasmine Vodka—and I go for a Smoke & Oak digestif with delicate maple syrup sweetness combining with full on smokiness from peated whisky and a macchiato on the side.
Black Gold—Gesha Espresso, Bergamot & Jasmine Vodka
It’s been a stunning meal of conversation-stopping food with an excellent wine flight too. It is, without doubt, my favourite meal in Birmingham this year.
We’ve also managed to add another £70 of booze to the bill which comes in at £460.90 including service charge and now we’re off to the Grand Hotel for cocktails to propel us further on our journey toward being Rock n Roll tattered.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 10/10
27 Warstone Lane, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham B18 6JQ
