Eating Out in June

As June started we were still in the Lakes, it was another exciting month of food, kickstarters and learning about food.

Gilpin Spice

This place is just wonderful. The decor and the food is vibrant and exciting. The joy of small plates also means you can try lots of things and a seat (well more a sofa) at the bar meant we saw everything. The pork belly – sublime!

A Kickstarter Lunch at Norse

It was great to see Norse in its new home and enjoy the lunch we’d bought as part of the Kickstarter. Norse feels much more grown up in its own venue. The decor is beautiful and the food refined.

A lesson in Italian cookery with Sara Danesin and a BBQ afternoon at Cave du Cochon

I love my husband’s family. They organised for me to have a lesson in Italian cookery with Sara and what an afternoon it was. I was so grateful to Sara who planned a menu for me to work on that also focussed on some core skills and flavours. It’s a lesson I’ll never forget.

After the lesson I had a great afternoon in the sun with friends. Those of you who follow me on Instagram will know that Cave du Cochon is a favourite place of mine. Mr F and I enjoy nothing more than an evening with a glass of wine or two sat at the bar. It was great to enjoy a sunny afternoon with friends and Josh Overington cooking chicken on the BBQ.

The Pig and Whistle

I’d been following the lead up to the Pig and Whistle’s opening on twitter with great anticipation and was eager to see what James Allcock would bring to Beverley. We were not disappointed! The menu is a great mix of charcuterie, cheeses and small plates. I was particularly pleased to see Young Buck cheese on the menu ( I’m fiercely loyal to my homeland and home town and I LOVE cheese as you know) Mr F woke up the next morning and his first words to me were ‘ that tartfilette was amazing!’

Blanchette Brick Lane

A work trip to London allowed for a visit to the newer branch of Blanchette on Brick Lane. Just as fantastic as their Soho restaurant. Wonderfully flavoured small plates that bring a smile to my face.

Eating out in May

So it turns out May was a pretty spectacular food month!

The Man Behind The Curtain

I have to admit I wasn’t sure what to expect or whether Michael O’Hare’s food would be my thing but I could not fault the creative flare or skill that went in to this meal. It was extraordinary and well worth a visit.

A return to Northern Ireland: Brunch at Haptik

Newtownards is definitely a much more interesting place now that Haptik is in town. Rachel and Jonathan McBride have created a fantastic place for enjoying coffee and simple but high quality brunches and lunches. Just look at those Baghdad eggs!

Lunch at Bull and Ram

What a place! Opened in an old butchers shop in the centre of Ballynahinch is one of the best places I’ve been in Northern Ireland for food. Serving Meat Merchant ( JIm and Peter Hannan) Himalayan salt chamber aged beef amongst other local produce to the highest quality. The day before we went Xanthe Clay had visited and had the finest looking langoustines I’ve ever seen (the power of twitter intelligence!) when I looked on the menu they weren’t there. I was devastated, but I asked and 5 minutes later I have my very own langoustines starter. Now that’s what I call service!! Perfectly cooked steak for main, bread and Abernethy butter on the side and the most wonderful pannacotta for pudding. Made my year!

Sara Danesin’s supper club

Mr F’s family love any excuse to go to Sara’s supper club. I’ll never complain about that as it is always a fantastic evening of the most wonderful Italian food and great company. Sara’s passion for food shines through in everything on the plate.

A trip to the lakes: many visits to Homeground Cafe

This place ticks all of the boxes. Great cofffee, great cake, great food and the best hash browns ever known to exist.

A 19 course lunch at L’enclume

Mr F and I love Simon Rogan’s food and we were lost for words on this visit. The food is absolutely sensational. It just gets better and better. The Herdwick lamb over charcoal was a particularly stunning dish.

Eating out in April

I’ve had a bit of a hiatus from blog writing over the last few months but that doesn’t mean I have stopped enjoying food and eating out, far from it. I thought in preparation for getting back into writing I’d create a month by month summary of where I’ve been. Turns out April this year was busy!

An Italian Night at Mannions in York

Mannions is one of my favourite places to go for lunch in York. Great ingredients and great flavours in a relaxed setting. (they also have a rather fabulous spanish sauvignon blanc on their wine list, you can thank me later) They occasionally do themed nights and it is definitely worth booking in. The salt cod and mutton ragu dishes were particular favourites of mine. Everything was executed beautifully and there was a fantastic buzz throughout the evening.

Our Annual Pilgrimage to Northumberland

I love the sea and find every opportunity I can to be near it. A highlight of our year is our stay up near Craster. Every visit includes a walk to the The Ship Inn at Low Newton by the Sea for a crab stottie and a pint. In a departure from tradition Mr F had lamb koftas and crushed new potatoes which was also really tasty.

After a successful visit to the Old Boat House in Amble last year we visited their new addition to the harbour side, The Fish Shack. We were not disappointed. A quirky set up with the focus on simple, superbly cooked fish and seafood and a rather stunning chocolate cake with caramel sauce for pudding.

Birthday Dinner at Le Cochon Aveugle

Josh Overington’s food just gets better and better. I always leave Le Cochon feeling challenged and excited by the combinations of food I have just experienced. The black pudding macaron was out of this world!

Birthday Dinner at Skosh

Yeah I know, two birthday dinners in one week, but why not when we are spoilt in York with fantastic independent restaurants. Skosh is my favourite place to eat; It never ever disappoints. The combination of ingredients and spices used work perfectly and always leave me wanting more.

Fish Night at The Bridge Bistro Sandsend

My favourite thing to eat is fish and seafood, so the discovery that the Bridge Bistro did a Friday night fish and seafood tasting menu was rather exciting. It’s a tiny place with big ambition, I’d highly reccomend trying it out.

Harry’s Craft Village, Derry

I’ve had somewhat of a hiatus from blog writing over the last few months. I’ve not however stopped eating food and enjoying trying new places. In fact it’s a visit to Harry’s in Derry that has cured my writers block.

I’ve always loved Harry’s Shack in Portstewart. It’s the first place we book for any visit back to the Causeway Coast (if you haven’t been, book a flight, hire a car, drive up the coast road, eat local fish and seafood at Harry’s Shack and you’ll never want to leave)

Anyway, a day trip to Derry on the train, the most magical train journey by the way, gave us opportunity to book lunch at Harry’s. Harry’s feels like the ‘grown up’ sibling of Harry’s Shack. There is a familiarity about the style of food but a delicate touch and refinement that sets it apart from Harry’s Shack. That is no disrespect to Harry’s Shack, their food is sensational and fits the surroundings, but at Harry’s in the Craft Village they are definitely showcasing their craft by focusing on seasonal ingredients grown in their kitchen garden alongside the bounty of local seafood the Causeway Coast is gifted with.

My starter of warm garden pea, broad bean, leek and summer truffle tart with soft duck egg and chervil was stunning. The vivid green when it arrives does not prepare you for the delights hidden within. Cutting through the most delicate of filo pastry uncovered a beautifully soft set duck egg adding richness to the dish, alongside what has to be one of the finest tastes of summer in fresh peas and broad beans; finishing with the luxury of summer truffle leads to the most satisfying of dishes and a great start to our meal.

Mr F had the breaded mackerel fish cakes, pickled garden beetroot, dulse and horseradish curd. The beetroot, lightly pickled and bursting with flavour was the perfect accompaniment for the rich mackerel. The background flavour of local dulse providing the perfect seasoning for the dish and a wonderful reminder of the sea. A few robust ingredients that had the risk of battling against each other given a deftness of touch allowed each component to shine.

For main I had Greencastle hake, ham hock, peas, gem lettuce, horseradish and mint curd, whey reduction and new potatoes. It sounds complicated but had an elegance that summed up summer for me. Perfectly cooked hake sat atop braised gem lettuce, peas and mint providing colour and freshness; saltiness from the ham hock and a horseradish and mint curd that packed a punch without overpowering the rest of the dish.

In a departure for Mr F he chose the roast chicken breast, pancetta, girolle, charred leeks, macaroni gratin, hazelnut and truffle pesto. A particular highlight of the dish were the charred leeks, suitably black but without a burnt flavour. There was a lovely depth and sweetness to the dish provided by the girolles and pancetta. The macaroni gratin, light and cheesy was a great accompaniment.

After a breather we decided to go the whole hog and get a dessert too. To be honest as soon as I saw there was woodruff on the menu I couldn’t refuse; Sweet woodruff pannacotta, strawberry, passion fruit and coconut is my kind of dish. The earthy flavour of woodruff complimented by a lovely passion fruit granita, coconut foam and strawberries gave just the right amount of sweetness. Plenty to grab your attention but light enough to enjoy at the end of a meal.

Mr F enjoyed the tarte tatin, raspberry, pumpkin seed and vanilla ice cream. Beautifully caramelised plum tatin sat on velvety creme anglaise and fresh raspberries. The unusual addition of pumpkin seed really worked, adding a crunch and nutty flavour.

At Harry’s there is a simple beauty to the dishes. What we experienced was expert cooking, everything we had was perfectly balanced allowing seasonal ingredients to shine. This is somewhere I would love to return to. There is a confidence and simplicity to the food here that should be celebrated and enjoyed.

Frivolitea on tour in Iceland – The Reykjavik Food Walk

I know I’ve said before that food was not the focus of our trip to Iceland but when I discovered that there was a walking food tour of Reykjavik I knew it would be the best way to see the city and an excuse to eat lots of food. Not that I ever really need an excuse…

We met our guide Egill outside the magnificent Harpa concert hall at lunchtime just as the sun began to make an appearance.

From the moment Egill spoke I knew that we were in for a real treat. His passion for his city and for food shone through immediately. I discovered later that it was Egill who started the Reykjavik Food Walk after leaving a job in journalism. I’m so glad he had the idea and drive to do it. I’m not sure we would have really got beneath the surface of Reykjavik without him.

Our first stop was at Islenski Barinn ( Icelandic Bar) for traditional lamb soup. Boy did we start with a bang, that lamb soup was off the chart and we could not refuse seconds. It reminded me a lot of the soups my mum makes as it used barley and seasonal root vegetables. It is amazing that something so simple can be so packed full of flavour and the lamb was so rich and soft. The bar keep family traditions alive by making a different family recipe every day.

We next headed on to Skolavordustigur, the street leading up to Hallgrimskirkja (the famous church)

and visited a delicatessen called Osta Budin to try a selection of Icelandic cheeses and meats.

Making cheese is relatively new in Iceland, starting in earnest in 1955 and although there are 5 x more sheep than humans on Iceland they only make cheese with cows milk. We had an Icelandic version of Gouda, Camembert and blue cheese and there was a selection of cured sheep fillet with rosemary, thyme and fennel, smoked goose fillet with a raspberry champagne vinegar and horse fillet. This was the moment of the tour with the moral dilemma. There was a mixed reaction in the group but Egill explained the context of Icelandic cuisine and why it was part of the tour.

Next we moved on a little cafe called Cafe Loki right opposite Hallgrimskirkja. The owner lives behind the church and takes a photo every day displaying them on the walls of the cafe. The cafe serves traditional Icelandic cuisine but what we tried was something that no other cafe does. Rye bread ice cream. Such an unusual idea but it really works. The crispy rye bread bits give wonderful flavour and texture and the rhubarb caramel that was served with it was divine. The owner makes the rye bread on site and uses yesterday’s rye bread for the ice-cream.

We then had a wander through the old town, by the pond and the cathedral ( much less impressive looking than Hallgrimskirkja)

admiring the vibrant street art along the way

and then headed to the old harbour to a restaurant called Kopar for a seafood soup. The restaurant is known for its rock crab which they get from the coastline north west of Reykjavik. They are the only seafood restaurant at the harbour that serves it and the soup was made with the rock crab, bean sprouts and spinach which I thought was an unusual choice but really worked. The soup was very much like a bisque and we had sourdough bread with an Icelandic violet and liquorice butter on the side. The butter was a revelation being both sweet and salty. My head said it shouldn’t work but it did.

You’d think at this point we couldn’t squeeze anymore food in but next up was the famous hotdog stand of Reykjavik. It has been serving hotdogs for 80 years and is a favourite of locals and tourists alike. The lamb hotdog is served with raw onions, crispy onions, a mustardy ketchup made with apples and a sort of dill mayonnaise. Really really tasty hotdog and the crispy onions, they were soooo good. So. So. Good.

Our last stop on the tour was at Apotek, an upmarket restaurant in the city, somewhere you go for cocktails and fine dining. Apotek also has their own bakery in the building and pastry chefs making beautiful patisserie and that is what we had to mark the end of the tour. A dessert so beautiful I didn’t want to eat it, just gaze at it. The chocolate mousse rose had raspberry gel hidden in the middle and was accompanied by blood orange sorbet. It was exquisite.

And so it was the end of the tour. We took our group photos and Egill gave us a treat of Icelandic chocolate and some Skyr to take away with us so that the tour lasted a little longer. What I particularly love about a food tour is not only learning about the places that locals eat and the traditions and tastes of the city but it’s also an opportunity to meet people from all over the world who are also exploring a place for the first time. We met people from Ireland, Canada and America. Some who had got off the plane without any sleep and came straight on the food tour, knowing it was the best way to experience Reykjavik. I have to say I admired them for being so full of life and making the tour lots of fun.

I’m now eager to return to Reykjavik, to explore more and go to all the places Egill recommended. Egill brought Reykjavik and Icelandic cuisine alive. Thank you Egill we had an absolute blast.

Frivolitea on tour in Iceland – Hotel Ranga

I have to admit that food was not the driver for visiting Iceland. I wasn’t sure what to expect. We booked the chef’s choice menu at our hotel really so that we knew the costs before we arrived. Iceland is very expensive and eating out in particular hits the wallet.

However I was blown away by the food. We discovered that the great thing about the chef’s choice menu was that you got to eat a range of things from the menu throughout your stay ranging from the cheaper to the more expensive dishes and the chef selects them to show the best of local and seasonal ingredients.
The starters we had during our stay were:
Lightly cured salmon in lemon with smoked trout roe, fennel and dill vinaigrette and egg yolk

Wild mushroom soup with assorted mushrooms and pickled local mushrooms ( I forgot the photo of that one!)
And on the last night a dish I had been hoping would appear: reindeer carpaccio. Melting in the mouth with Parmesan and truffle oil giving an added sense of decadence.

I only made one swap throughout our stay swapping mushroom soup to ensure I didn’t miss out on the cauliflower starter that particularly intrigued me.
Cooked and roasted cauliflower with celeriac purée, pickled red onion and buttermilk dill sauce.

The main courses were particularly interesting. On the first night we had pan fried chicken breast with potato purée, rhubarb chutney, onion and black pepper sauce. I was unsure of how the chutney would work but it did.

The second night we had Icelandic lamb, one of the more expensive on the menu, and a particular highlight for us both. The flavour of the lamb was simply incredible and it was cooked to perfection.
Pan fried fillet of lamb with green pea cream, green peas, carrots, carrot purée, potato foam and brown cheese sauce.

On the last night we had Salmon sous vide with celeriac purée, watercress vinaigrette, herb mayonnaise and kale. I have never been serve such a large piece of salmon before and it just melted in the mouth. The Hotel sits beside the largest salmon fishing river in Iceland so it seemed fitting to eat salmon on our last night. The watercress vinaigrette added a wonderful sharpness to the dish.

Each night our main courses were accompanied by 2 side dishes. Potatoes with dill butter and barley in a dill sauce. The dill butter was rather addictive and the barley went surprisingly well with all of the meat and fish we had, providing an almost nutty flavour and texture to our dishes.

The desserts were like all the other dishes beautifully presented and showed great attention to detail though not highlighting Icelandic ingredients in quite the same way.
The carrot sorbet with the carrot cake however was a lovely surprise.
Carrot mousse with carrot cake, roasted coconut and carrot sorbet.

Chocolate mousse with sea berry purée, chocolate wax and milk ice-cream.

Though it wasn’t the reason for our trip or our stay at Hotel Ranga, the food we ate there will stay with me for a long time.

Oh and I forgot to mention that one of the breakfast options was make your own waffles! Little jugs of batter, waffle machines, a range of toppings. EVERY hotel should have this.

Honey and Smoke

Itamar and Sarit can do no wrong can they? Not in my opinion. Honey and Smoke has everything you want from Honey and Co but with its own twsit of a focus on the grill and the most stunning blue wall.

Honey and Smoke is a great place to go with friends. The set menu allows the table to share the full mezze before choosing a grill and side then dessert. It’s great value and allows you to try a wide selection of dishes. We started the evening with drinks. Pomegranate Bellini to be precise, well you have to really don’t you?

And the the mezze arrived. Wow! The finest looking range of dishes I have seen in a long time. What I particularly love about Itamar and Sarit’s cooking is the attention they give to every element, particularly every single vegetable. The burnt celeriac with urfa chilli butter, sour cream and chives was a particular favourite of the table. I love celeriac but the flavour in this dish was off the chart. It’s a work of magic. It must be.

The other mezze dishes were:

msabaha: chickpeas cooked over night, Turkish pepper and garlic sauce
Winter tomatoes and citrus salad
Charred pears with almond tahini and raw honey
Warm goats cheese, red onion, walnut and pomegranate
Falafel and tahini
Cauliflower with homemade amba and tahini
Moroccan sourdough
Baba ganoush

I’m not always a fan of fruit in savoury dishes but here they get it right every time. The amba (mango pickle) accompanying the cauliflower was sublime. Everything was perfectly balanced. The baba ganoush was the the most flavoursome I’ve ever tried. The Moroccan sourdough was delicious.

Following our mezze we moved on to our grill choices.
We had Cornish hake kofta with lemon and herbs, matbucha sauce

And Hamama – pigeon with sweet onion, pine nuts and sultanas as they do in ‘Philadelphia’ restaurant East Jerusalem.

The hake kofta was bursting with flavour. The matbucha sauce of tomato, garlic and peppers was a great accompaniment. The pigeon although it looked simple on the plate came alive with the spicing and flavours of the onion, pine nuts and sultanas.

We choose sides of Sweet potato in embers, almonds, date honey and spring onions and M’jadra, lentil rice with cumin and caramelised onions.

These worked really well with our choices from the grill and I’m going to have to buy some date honey otherwise my sweet potato will always feel like it’s lacking from now on.

It was surprising really that we had room for dessert but I knew that Mr F would refuse to leave until cheesecake was consumed. Given that it is the same as the one at Honey and Co I need not tell you it was perfect as ever.

I chose warm chestnut cake with salted caramel and sour cream. This was a great choice for the end of the meal. The cake was beautifully light and the sour cream cut through the rich salted caramel sauce (which I had to resist just drinking from the jug)

I loved Honey and Smoke, I think venue wise the intimacy of Honey and Co has the edge but the food: stunning as ever.

Aulis at Fera, Claridges

Have you ever exclaimed ‘How on earth do they do that’ whilst eating stunning food in a restaurant? Yep me too. Often when we eat out at places where chefs are at the top of their game I spend the evening not only enjoying every morsel of food but racking my brains trying to work out how it was achieved. I love the mystery and intrigue of well crafted food.

For Mr F’s birthday I decided to plan a special surprise. Mr F loves Simon Rogan’s philosophy of food and we still talk about the meal we had at Fera in 2014! Rather than book the same again I planned a special treat and booked in to Aulis, the development kitchen of Fera. This time not only would we eat skilfully crafted food but we would see it being cooked right in front of us.

We arrived and enjoyed a glass of Davenport at the bar. I mean why wouldn’t you? It’s a special occasion after all. I’d forgotten how stunning the dining room of Claridges is. The Art Deco design mixed with Simon Rogan’s ‘natural’ look is a sight to behold.

Once the other 4 guests arrived ( Aulis can only seat 6 people) we were guided through the working kitchen to the Aulis test kitchen. Just wasking through a bustling kitchen was excitement for me. I wanted to break free from the group and explore!

Our chefs for the evening explained how Aulis is used as a development kitchen and then got to work preparing the first of our dishes. The evening was typical of Rogan’s style with snacks, starters, fish, meat and desserts coming together to create a diverse tasting menu. It was fascinating watching the chefs at work, being able to ask questions about the ingredients and processes as well as having conversations with the chefs and other dining guests about the restaurant, food and life in general. We were completely immersed in a food bubble and fascinated by the range of kitchen technology on show.

The dishes:
Our first snack was buckwheat tart, mylar, almond, blackcurrant. I’ve never had mylar prawns before and they were wonderfully sweet alongside the sharpness of the blackcurrant.

Our second snack of Seaweed wafer, bergamot, smoked eel was a particular favourite of mine with the smoked eel really celebrated in the dish.

Next we had Goats cheese, Jerusalem artichoke, stout in a ceramic egg. I’m a huge fan of Jerusalem artichoke and this dish was bursting with flavour. The twice dehydrated artichoke crumb that topped the egg added a lovely texture to the dish.

The next dish was really creatively presented with raw scallop, barley koji, buttermilk on a ceramic dish with a red chicory and roe dish hidden underneath. It was fascinating to chat to the chef about the process of making the barley Koji and how this was used to marinade the Isle of Mull scallops.

The celeriac, cured yolk, creme fraiche taco style dish was one of my favourites of the evening. Surprising as it was one of the simpler dishes but the flavour and different textures of celeriac were delicious and the grated cured egg yolk added another dimension.

The Portland crab, oyster, carrots, black garlic, burnt chives was fascinating to watch being put together. The crab was delicious and the carrot juice consommé, made from barbecued carrots was a revelation.

The torched deer, semi dried beetroot, lovage dish was Mr F’s favourite of the evening. The saddle of roe deer was blowtorched to ensure it was still rare in the middle.

The mushroom, whey sauce, calcot onion, truffle was a fascinating dish. The Calcott onions were barbecued on the big green egg and the savoury mushroom custard was sublime. The addition of a little winter truffle really brought this dish to life.

For the monkfish, brown butter, baby leeks, coastal herbs dish the monkfish was cooked on the bone and the butter had some marmite added. The parsnip purée was the smoothest and silkiest purée I’ve had and added a lovely richness to the dish.

The lamb saddle, chervil root, quinoa, cocoa nibs used Cornish lamb and was served with a chervil root purée that had three types of quinoa running through it giving a lovely crunch to the dish. The 100% chocolate in the sauce gave a lovely richness and the barbecued white kale finished the dish beautifully.

For the last three dishes we moved to desserts.
The first of forced rhubarb, honeycomb, sheep’s yoghurt, rose looked fascinating. The large piece of what looked like white chocolate was actually aerated frozen sheep’s yoghurt and much lighter than expected and it was great to see Yorkshire forced rhubarb on the menu.

The chocolate, sweet clover, Jerusalem artichoke, earl grey dish was the biggest surprise of the evening and the flavour of the Jerusalem artichoke worked beautifully.

Our final dish of Goldrush (Apple), caramel, hazelnut was accompanied by coffee prepared and served by a coffee sommelier in front of us. Served without milk it was interesting to taste the fruit notes in the coffee accompanying the apple ‘snack’

Being so immersed in the preparation, the ingredients and plating of the food really made us appreciate the skill and creativity of the Fera, even more that we had appreciated already. This was a unique experience, not one you would be able to do often, but definitely worth every penny. The memories of the evening will certainly last a long time.

(By the way if you go, make sure you visit the toilets. A thing of beauty. It’s not often I say that in a food blog but well, its good advice on this occasion.)

Gin and Food Pairings with Sara Danesin and Still and Heart

You’ve probably worked out by now that I love gin and I love food. However I have never thought of having the two together. Gin is something I normally enjoy as a pre dinner drink, a way to mark the beginning of a great evening. So I was really intrigued when Sara Danesin joined up with Catherine and Claire of Still and Heart to run Gin tastings that pair the gin and garnishes with food. The evening was a complete revelation to me and opened up so many possibilities for expanding my gin collection!
The evenings are a relaxed affair at the home of Sara Danesin (where she runs her supper club) and led by Still and Heart with fun and flair.

The theme of the evening was Scottish Gins, a nod to Burns Night and we started the evening off with a drink of Strathearn heather rose gin with prosecco and a quiz about the history of gin. As a Northern Irish girl I was rather surprised to learn that William of Orange was significant in the the growth of gin in the late 1600s.

After the quiz and a fantastic overview of the history of gin we had our first gin: Makars gin (Gaelic for poet) with a garnish of green chilli and a mixer of Doctor Polidori’s cucumber tonic. Sara paired this with heritage sourdough topped with a ‘jam’ made from Ndjua (Calabrian) sausage tomatoes coriander and fennel seeds and some halloumi. The spiciness of the food went really well with the strong juniper hit and spiciness of the gin.

Our second gin was a Rock Rose navy strength gin from Caithness that had a garnish of mint and a mixer of Rocquette cider. Sara paired this with a wood pigeon carpaccio and horseradish mayonnaise on sourdough. A perfect accompaniment for this time of year.

Our third gin was Lassie’s toast by Dunnel Bay distillery, the same distillery that makes Rock Rose. This gin specifically designed for women at the end of Burn’s night, is based on a Moorland tea recipe and has already sold out. I’ll certainly be looking out for it when they release it again as this was a favourite for me. The gin had a garnish of thyme and Sara paired it with haggis croquettes and Dijon mayo. The croquettes were simply out of this world. I could have eaten a bowl full.

Our last gin of the night was Persie Old Tom gin from Perthshire that Sara paired with Bakewell tart. A great way to end the tastings.

Following the tastings everyone was given the option to have a long drink and I chose to have Whittakers pink peculier with hibiscus and pink peppercorns, on Sara’s recommendation. Wow! What a gin. I’ll be ordering a bottle. Still and Heart bring a great selection of gins alongside the ones that are a focus of the tastings and are great at recommending things to try to expand your range of gins. What they don’t know about gin isn’t worth knowing!

The partnership between Sara and Still and Heart is a fantastic opportunity not only to learn more about gin but also a way to experiment with flavours. I’d highly recommend booking yourself in to one of the evenings this year and bring a few friends as it’s a great night out!

The Black Swan, Oldstead

Mr Frivolitea and I decided to start 2017 off in style and head to the Black Swan in Oldstead for a leisurely lunch. The Black Swan has been on the list for a while and I knew I needed to book soon following Tommy Banks success on Great British Menu last year. I had high hopes for our visit and I was not disappointed at all. The afternoon started rather nicely indeed with a glass of Albury classic cuvée NV (North Downs, England) for me and a rosehip and lemon balm soda for Mr Frivolitea. The creativity of the soft drinks menu and the intrigue of the small producers approach to the wine menu alone were enough to signpost to things to come.

Whilst we had our drinks by the fire, perfect for North Yorkshire lunching in January, two tasters were delivered to our table. Smoked eel and apple, a delightfully crisp and light pastry case with a filling of Lincolnshire poacher cheese, crisp apple and a wonderful morsel of smoked eel.

Then chicken dumpling. An Asian style dumpling made from brioche and filled with confit chicken accompanied by roasted garlic mayonnaise and grated chestnut. This was really memorable, I did think about this until much later in the day and could happily offer to eat a plate of them.

We made the decision to go for the full tasting menu. We didn’t want to miss out on anything, in fact the open kitchen meant we really didn’t miss a thing.

The menu was set out in three sections beginning with four smaller plates:
Partridge with sage and onion. A bite size piece of partridge wrapped in cabbage with the wonderful flavour of ‘stuffing’. You just can’t beat the combination of sage and onion.

Occa tuber with mackerel. This was a fascinating dish. At the Black Swan everything is grown or sourced locally. They grow occa, a Peruvian tuber, in polytunnels. It was similar to Jerusalem artichoke or potato in texture with a lovely flavour. The occa was topped with sheep’s yoghurt and smoked mackerel.

Risotto made from spelt. We both really loved this dish. The spelt risotto had a great texture to it, underneath was a surprise of the cheese custard made from Tunworth cheese and just when you thought it might be too rich you would have a mouthful of charred pickled onion. The winter truffle shavings were also a real treat. This was a very cleverly put together dish and one of my favourites of the day.

Finally in this section of the menu we had sour bread and sour butter. The bread flour comes from a mill in Kirbymoorside. I particularly liked that the bread and butter was a course on its own rather than an accompaniment to other dishes. It also allowed for a natural pause before the next series of dishes.

The next four dishes I would describe as the ‘mains’ of the tasting menu:

Crapaudine beetroot cooked slowly in beef fat was a really interesting dish. Crapaudine is an old French variety and the Black Swan grow it and store it by clamping. The beetroot is cooked in beef fat for about five hours changing the texture to feel almost meaty. It was topped with some fresh beetroot, goats curd, smoked cods roe and linseed. The linseed, grown on the family farm, really made the dish for me adding a nice hit of crunch and flavour.

I decided at this point to have another glass of wine and tried a German Sauvignon Blanc. I was intrigued that a German wine producer was making a Marlborough style wine. It was as good as I hoped it would be. So good I then ordered another!

Then came two fish dishes. The first was scallop with Jerusalem artichoke. It was served two ways. The top dish was a scallop tartare with Jerusalem artichoke crisp and fresh apple. The bottom dish was a cooked scallop, Jerusalem artichoke purée and an apple butter emulsion. I would struggle to say which I preferred. Whilst quite different both were perfectly balanced.

The second fish dish was one of my favourites of the menu. Halibut with celery and celeriac. The hidden surprises of razor clam and fennel pollen were what made this dish for me. A brilliant combination of ingredients all cooked to perfection.

The final dish in the section was Venison with sprouts and red cabbage. The venison loin was brushed with a black garlic glaze. Mr Frivolitea was particularly wowed by the red cabbage purée and I fear this is how we will have red cabbage for eternity as a result! The shavings of raw chestnut added a lovely freshness to the dish.

As we were finishing this dish. The Staves, Mexico came on the restaurant playlist. A song on my own ‘cooking in the kitchen’ playlist. It perfectly fitted the mood. One of joy and contentment at having eaten some very fine food.

After a short break we had our final set of dishes. These started with Lollipops. Playful combinations of parfait and a coating of frozen gel. We had sheep’s yoghurt and celery, hazelnut and chicory root and brown butter and Jerusalem artichoke. Every combination worked. A sign of the skill, creativity and playfulness of this place.

Then came a dish made famous by Great British Menu. Douglas fir, sheep’s milk and lemon verbena. The balance here was just right with the fir complimenting but not overpowering the dish and the caramelised white chocolate added a some texture to the dish.

Finally we had a slice of cake with our coffee. This was no ordinary cake though! This was cake made from acorn, chicory root and lovage and it would not have looked out of place in the finest French patisserie. A perfect end to the meal.

This was the right way to start our food adventures of 2017. The philosophy of the Black Swan is one I am particularly fond of. Using a kitchen garden and locally sourced ingredients. The working hard to source flavours and combinations without relying on ingredients from across the world (lemon and vanilla for example) takes real dedication and persistence but also makes for exciting eating. It’s a philosophy similar to that of Simon Rogan and Forest Side where I have eaten some of my most memorable meals. The Black Swan is now on that list. The dishes we ate will be in my food memory for a long time.