Showing posts with label Fine Dining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fine Dining. Show all posts

Tuesday 26 July 2022

Dinner at the Olive Tree, Queensberry Hotel, Bath

A Dinner of Many Delights in a Historic Setting

This post contains some pictures of Bath (at the end) but is mainly a restaurant review. Those more interested in the city of Bath should click here.

26-July-2022

47 years of marriage has turned these young people…

Wedding Day, July 1975

…into these crumblies.

Tweedledum and Alice's Granma

Crumbling is hardly a cause for celebration, but celebrate it we do, and this year we set out for Bath to dine in their very bestest restaurant (well, the only one with a Michelin Star).

Bath and the Queensberry Hotel

Bath is, of course, much older than we are, but unlike us, it shows no sign of crumbling​. The finest of English cities; a complete and carefully planned Georgian city, with medieval and Roman inclusions, Bath is a delight.

The location of Bath in North East Somerset

Somerset
Bath
We stayed at the Queensberry Hotel. According to the hotel’s blog the commissioner and original owner of the property, the 8th Marquess of Queensberry who had the townhouses built in 1771, would be proud of the namesake hotel.

Yes, but the 8th Marquess was born in 1818. His son, the 9th Marquess was responsible for boxing’s Queensberry rules and later goaded Oscar Wilde into the libel action that led to his imprisonment, but 1771 was the time of the 5th Marquess, land and racehorse owner and a dissolute gambler. Maybe he commissioned the building, but I cannot be certain.

The Queensberry Hotel, Bath

The signage is very restrained for a major hotel.

The Olive Tree Restaurant

The Olive Tree is a restaurant within the hotel. Cardiff-born head chef Chris Cleghorn has been in post since 2013. He credits his professional development to time spent with (among others) Heston Blumenthal, Adam Simmonds and particularly Michael Caines at Gidleigh Park. He won a Michelin star in 2018 and has maintained it through the last few difficult years.

He offers nine or six-course tasting menu. Back in the days when I could have eaten nine courses, I could not afford it, now I can I am struggling to eat even six. They are small dishes, but there are a lot of them. He also has vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian and dairy-free menus for those who need/prefer them.

The Six

We took our aperitif in the walled garden outside the bar. Once we had finished our drink and watched a hot air balloon pass over our heads we made our way down to the restaurant.

A G&T and a hot air balloon

Course One: Raw Orkney Scallop, Wasabi, Granny Smith Apple, Dill

Lynne loves a scallop, but since 2005, when Claude Bosi served her raw scallops cooked at the table by the magic of warm bouillon, every other chef who essays a scallop dish has been playing catch-up.

Eschewing Bosi’s minimalism, Chris Cleghorn put together a collection of flavours which might be expected to drown out the delicate scallop and then go to war with each other, but they didn’t. Served in a scallop shell on a bed of seaweed, the small pieces of scallop were book-ended by blobs the colour and texture of mayonnaise but with the flavour of wasabi, though without the heat. At the table, a spoonful of Granny Smith granita was deposited over the green liquid in the shell and melted quietly into it. Chilled, sweet, sharp, apple and fennel flavours melded happily with the wasabi and scallop; a complex and very clever dish. Lynne's second favourite scallop dish ever.

Scallop, wasabi, Granny Smith and dill

Matched wine: 2018 Rheinhessen Reisling, Weingut Winter.

Many years ago, German wines were imported in vast quantities, much of it from Hessen and labelled Liebfraumilch, or Niersteiner. It was cheap, slightly sweet and with a flavour of elderflowers. Then tastes matured and fashions changed. This dry, gently acidic, apple/citrus/mineral Riesling was perfect for its job and a world away from the cheap Hessen wines of yore. I wish such wines were more widely available, but they are tainted by association with the past.

Course 2: Veal Sweetbread, Gem Lettuce, Westcombe Ricotta, Hazelnut and Salted Lemon

This was a marvel in two parts. To the left the heart of a little gem lettuce studded with hazelnuts and smeared with Ricotta and salted lemon. The ‘Ricotta’ came from Westcombe Dairy, 20 miles to the south, who produce traditional farmhouse cheddar and use the left-over whey to make whey cheese. They have based their recipe on ricotta, the best-known whey cheese, and use that name though they are ultimately aiming for an unmistakeable West Country product. I don’t usually see the point of lettuce, but this, finished with a hazelnut vinaigrette, was intensely savoury; a little gem in more ways than one.

Lynne with a sweetbread and a gem lettuce

The sweetbread was lightly dusted with flour and cooked to perfection. Crisped on the top edge firm, yet yielding inside. I like sweetbreads but they turn up too rarely on British menus. I have eaten them in Egypt, Canada and closer to home in Gloucestershire, but never one as superbly cooked as this.

One quibble, the two parts of the dish felt rather separate. They did not work against each other, but neither did I feel they really formed a team - a thought reinforced by the plate design..

Matched wine: Blankbottle Familiemoord

Winemaker Pieter Hauptfleisch Walser’s Blankbottle labels are his way of showcasing the best vineyards he has discovered on his South African travels. They are one-offs with a label showing only a quirky name, though this is known to be a Grenache from Swartland. Served chilled it had a pleasant nose, gentle tannin but the finish was short. Grenache usually forms part of blend, and with good reason, I found this slightly disappointing.

Bread

At this point bread arrived. It always does in these meals and I never know why. The courses may be small, but there is plenty of them and I feel no need to fill up on bread - even a bread as good as this. They were rye buns, we were told, but I have never encountered rye so light in colour or weight. We shared one, out of a spirit of enquiry, but left the other, excellent though it was.

Bread!

Course 3: Cornish Monkfish, cooked over coal, leek, ginger, Vin Jaune, sea herbs.

Monkfish has a strange texture and I am never quite sure what the cook is aiming at, though this, surely was tougher and chewier than intended. Neither of us liked the Vin Jaune sauce much either.

Monkfish and Vin Jaune sauce

The little cylinders of leek, though were soft and packed with flavour. The ginger had been toned down – fresh ginger, much as I love it, would have overwhelmed the dish - to just the right note.

Matched wine:2019 Domaine de L’Idylle ‘Cuvee Emilie', Rousette, Savoie

A full-bodied wine considering its mountain origins. Some oak age apparent, good acidity, not a great deal of fruit flavour but perfect for the job it was chosen for.

Course 4:Squab pigeon, celeriac, black truffle, long pepper 

It is an age since I had a good pigeon breast, and this was as good as they come. The skin was cooked, the inside hardly at all, leaving it tender and tasty. I liked the Madeira sauce, but I find celeriac deeply uninteresting. Chris Cleghorn has a way with vegetables but even he cannot put excitement into a wedge of celeriac. The truffle was in the very pleasing blob at the front, and the long pepper..? It is, I read, slightly spicier than black pepper and has a long cylindrical peppercorn. I am uncertain as to its contribution here.

Pigeon

Matched Wine: 2012 Marqués de Zearra Rioja Gran Reserva

I was slightly miffed at Tyddyn Llan in North Wales in 2018 when at the apex of the multi-course meal they produced a Rioja Crianza when a reserva would, I thought, have been more appropriate. No such problem here, the Olive Tree gave us a gran reserve. Oaky and tannic enough to deal with the pigeon, and yet with ample fruit on the velvety finish. Excellent.

Course 5: Islands chocolate, yoghurt sorbet, perilla, Manni Olive oil.

At the base was a disc of Islands chocolate. Islands is a London chocolatier and the disc was 75% cocoa solids. Very rich chocolate-based dishes can be overwhelming and Lynne felt a little over-chocolated here. I liked the disc, with its tempered shell and different textures inside but it needed the yoghurt sorbet with its chill and acidity to provide balance. Perilla is a family of east Asian plants, some with culinary uses and with a flavour halfway between basil and mint (perhaps with a little liquorice). I am unsure about the contribution of the small slick of high-quality olive oil.

Islands Chocolate with yoghurt sorbet

Matched wine: Bodegas Hidalgo Alameda Cream Jerez

Raisins, nuts and intense sweetness. Wonderful stuff – in small quantities.

Course 6: Cheddar Valley Strawberries, coconut, Szechuan, basil

Maybe I had enjoyed too much wine, but for a moment I expected the strawberries to be cheesy. In fact, they were fine strawberries at the peak of their ripeness and completely fromage-free. The duvet of coconut (and it could have been coconuttier for my taste) was studded with marsh mallows. We were promised Szechuan grains, but the lip tingling sensation of Szechuan pepper never came. It was a very pleasant final dish, but a little tame.

Strawberries

Matched wine: 2018 Gusborne Rosé, Kent

I have been slow to recognise the quality of English sparkling wines but realised some months ago that Kent sparklers could be exceptional. This was our first Kent rosé sparkler. ‘Strawberries’ we said simultaneously after the first sip. To quote the growers, the palate shows bright red fruits, driven by ripe strawberries, fresh cherries and redcurrants, with a crisp freshness and creamy, rounded texture on the finish. That about covers it.

Our anniversary dinner ended with a chocolatey message.

Chocolate-y message

It had been a long dinner of great variety and technical skill, impeccably served. The Granny Smith granita melting into the fennel, the sweetbread and the pigeon breast had stood out. The monkfish was less successful, but I would have been disappointed if there was nothing to quibble about. The wine flight was the best chosen and highest quality of any we have encountered. In some places the quality has failed to match the hefty price, but not here.

27-July-2022

Breakfast

What does a breakfast look like when prepared in a Michelin starred kitchen? It is a fair question and the answer is that there are choices, but for many it looks much like breakfast in any B&B, even down to the brown sauce. It is, perhaps, a little more carefully arranged on the plate and it will never look greasy, but otherwise…

Breakfast

What sets this apart from all but the best B&Bs is the quality of the ingredients. The bacon and sausage does not leave a watery deposit when grilled, the mushroom has not just been sprung from a catering pack. The provenance of all the components is known, almost to the field.

Bath

Before departing we took a short walk. As I said at the start, I have a dedicated Bath post from 2013, but I could not ignore our surroundings completely.

The Circus

Designed by John Woods (the Elder) in 1750 and finished a decade later by his son, John Woods (the Younger) the Circus is a design in elegant living. That it produces the same road lay-out as would later be co-opted by the relentlessly functional roundabout is an irony. A circle of houses is difficult to photograph, as I noticed last time I was here.

The Circus, Bath

Many of the surrounding roads are, in their own way, perfect, but sometimes it feels as though in Bath it is easier to buy a work of art than a scrubbing bush.

Another perfect Bath Street

The Royal Crescent

Perfectest of all is JW the Younger’s Royal Crescent.

The Royal Crescent, Bath

In the centre is the Royal Crescent Hotel. I thought the signage at the Queensberry was restrained, here it is so restrained as to be absent.

The door to the Royal Crescent Hotel (middle of picture)

Though the cars parked nearby give it away.

I could afford the Honda!

I like the way the BMW seems to stand deferentially behind the Bentley and Rolls Royce, while the cheerful little Honda poses confidently at the front.

A basic room at the Royal Crescent costs over 50% more than at the Queensberry, but their six-course tasting menu is a little cheaper – because they do not have a Michelin starred chef.

The final picture of Bath (for this visit)

Enough petty points scoring, we will leave Bath with the pretty picture above.

'Fine Dining' posts

Abergavenny and the Walnut Tree (2010)
Ludlow and La Bécasse (2011) (restaurant closed, post withdrawn)
Ilkley and The Box Tree(2012)
Pateley Bridge and the Yorke Arms (2013) (No longer a restaurant, post renamed Parceval Gardens and Pateley Br)
The Harrow at Little Bedwyn (2014)
The Slaughters and the Lords of the Manor (2015)
Loam, Fine Dining in Galway (2016)
Penarth and Restaurant James Sommerin (2017) (restaurant closed, post withdrawn. JS has a new restaurant in Penarth)
The Checkers, Montgomery (2017) (no longer a restaurant, post withdrawn. Now re-opened under new management)
Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, Denbighshire (2018)
Fischer's at Baslow Hall, Derbyshire (2019)
Hambleton Hall, Rutland (2021)
The Olive Tree, Queensberry Hotel, Bath (2022)
Dinner at Pensons near Tenbury Wells (2023) (restaurant closed Dec 2023, post withdrawn)

Monday 26 July 2021

Dinner at Hambleton Hall: A Review

A Fine Dinner beside Rutland Water to Celebrate our 46th Wedding Anniversary

Hambleton Hall

Origins


Rutland
Built in 1881 for Walter Marshall, Hambleton Hall is in the village of Hambleton, near Oakham in Rutland, England's smallest traditional county. Born in 1845, Walter Gore Marshall was one of the two ‘sons’in the shipping company George Marshall & Sons. He inherited a goodly slice of George’s wealth on his death in 1877.

Lynne outside Hambleton Hall, Hambleton, Rutland

Walter then travelled in the USA and returned to build Hambleton Hall. Although described as a ‘hunting box’, he must have spent much of his time here as he rode with the Warwickshire, Cottesmore, Quorn, Belvoir and Fernie hounds - that could be a full time occupation in the winter. Gregarious and much involved with local social events, he never married and died in 1899 of influenza.

As a Hotel and Restaurant

Rutland water was constructed in the 1970s and Hambleton Hall suddenly became a waterside residence, the perfect setting for a country house hotel.

The Hambleton Peninsula in Rutland Water
At its widest Rutland is approximately 26 km (17 miles) across

It was bought by Tim and Stefa Hart in 1979 who have run it as a restaurant and 17 room hotel ever since. The Good Hotel Guide named it luxury hotel of the year in 2018, and the restaurant has been awarded a Michelin Star every year since 1982. Aaron Patterson started his career at Hambleton Hall as an apprentice, left to widen his knowledge and returned in 1992 as a very youthful head chef. He maintained the Michelin star at the changeover – not always easy – and has maintained it for a remarkable 30 years.

Why Were We There?

Every year – except last year, the plague year was different – we celebrate our wedding anniversary by treating ourselves to an excursion into the realms of ‘fine dining’. We know we will be cosseted by impeccably trained staff, the food will be beautifully cooked and presented and there should be at least one dish that will be truly memorable. It is never cheap, but quality costs and walking in with a feeling of extravagance in your heart is, I find, strangely liberating.

Sometimes we make a two-day trip, but usually I choose a destination within an hour or two’s drive (and, by tradition, Lynne finds out where it is when we arrive). I have a preference for rural retreats over city restaurants, but they have to have rooms, or be a short walk or at most a brief taxi ride from suitable accommodation. This limits choice and, on a Monday (and often Tuesday), it is hard to find a rural restaurant of this class, other than in a hotel, that is open. Hambleton Hall became this year's choice, almost by default.

Hambleton Hall may be a hotel, but we did not stay there. Dinner is an expense worth paying for, but I baulk at spending enormous sums for somewhere to sleep. We paid a fifth of the price at the Finches Arms a five-minute stroll away in Hambleton – and that was slightly more expensive (and slightly better) than the average B&B. A Hambleton Hall room could not have been cleaner nor the bed more comfortable, and the décor is identical in the dark.

Finches Arms, Hambleton - where we actually stayed

Drinks and Canapés

At the appointed time, we strolled up to Hambleton Hall in warm evening sunshine and were settled at a table on the terrace facing the garden and, beyond that, Rutland Water.

On the terrace at Hambleton Hall. I hate this picture, not just because it makes Lynne look 20 years younger than me (our actual age difference is 4 days) but because I appear to have been taken out for the evening by my carer.

I caught a whiff of aniseed as we passed one of the other tables and that put an idea in my mind. Lynne voiced it first, though she claimed not to have noticed the prompt. ‘I think I would like a Pernod,’ she said, so we both drank Pernod as we perused our menus and nibbled the canapés.

Pernod and canapés, garden and Rutland Water, Hambleton Hall

The problem with Pernod, nice though it is, is its ability to ruthlessly colonize a whole mouthful of taste-buds. Consequently, the canapés, nice though they were, slipped down with little critical analysis.

Choosing a Wine

I love a really comprehensive wine list with its almost unending roll call of famous names - and famous prices to match. Nothing here was cheap, but Hambleton Hall offered a reasonable choice under £30 and paying a little more opened up a large range of possibilities. Our food choices dictated red, and I started searching in the Rhône. My eye lit on a 2013 Ventoux, older than most Ventoux is likely to get, but I decided to take the risk (update: it is no longer on the list, maybe we tidied up the bin). Aromatic and well balanced, with red fruits and peppery notes, its finish held a velvety bloom that I associate with wine that has been properly cellared rather stood on a supermarket shelf. It was an excellent choice with no sign of being over the hill.

Starters

We were led inside to a dining room with widely separated tables that would undoubtedly been too chintz-y for Jay Rayner, but seemed very comfortable to us. After an amuse-bouche, a pot of green herb-based paste that was far more flavourful and interesting than it looked, we moved on to our starters.

Pâté de Foie Gras with Cherries and Almonds

Lynne chose Pâté de Foie Gras with cherries and almonds. There were also a few leaves and petals, and of course, we had already been presented with a basket of freshly-baked bread, most of which went back uneaten as it always does. Hambleton, like other restaurants of this class, use artisan bakers or make their own, so this is a shame. I make a similar comment every year.

Pâté de foie Gras, cherries and almonds, Hambleton Hall

Foie gras is the liver of a force-fed goose or duck. Pâté de foie gras must contain at least 50% foie gras so is slightly less sumptuous, but equally unacceptable in its production methods. We both know this, but most years it will appear somewhere on a menu and one or other of us will make an excuse ‘it’s a rare treat’ or ’the goose is dead, anyway’ and order it. The truth is, it is so delicious, so savoury that it is irresistible. And that is a poor excuse, but it is all we have.

The cherries added necessary acidity and the almonds a pleasing crunch, the rest was largely decoration.

Seared Smoked Lincolnshire Eel, Horseradish, Apple, Marigold

I have enjoyed some fine eel dishes in the past – an eel curry in Vietnam and a Lake Ohrid eel in North Macedonia come to mind – so I thought I would give this one a go. It turned out to be a great choice, though not mainly for the eel.

The eel was clearly smoked, though I would not have guessed its county affiliation - was that just telling us the ’food miles' were minimal? It was very nice, but the smoking had rendered it strikingly similar in flavour and texture to the smoked mackerel available at no great cost from any supermarket. ‘Very nice’ is disappointing at this level. The acidity of the few sticks of apple worked well with the eel’s oiliness and the bits and bobs did their bit, but the real star on the plate was rather unexpected.

Seared, smoked Lincolnshire eel, horseradish, apple, marigold

The white sphere was ice-cream - horseradish ice-cream. I have heard of savoury ice-creams but never previously encountered one. Fresh and clean, there had been no holding back on the horseradish and having my sinuses cleared by an ice-cream was a new experience. It worked on its own and was a delight with the eel. What an unexpected marvel! It might not please everybody, but it certainly pleased me.

Main Courses

Loin of Launde Farm Lamb, Roast Aubergine, Feta, Red Pepper Purée

While all the other mains and starters more or less adhered to the concept of ‘modern British’, the lamb choice was east Mediterranean in style. The lamb itself, though, could hardly be more local, Launde Farm being some 10km away on the border of Rutland and Leicestershire. Launde Farm foods started in 2008 with a commitment to use ‘traditional and sustainable methods’ to supply ‘ethically reared lambs of outstanding flavour’.

Loin of Launde Farm Lamb

Lynne was more than happy with her lamb and thought the whole dish came together in a most pleasing way.

Breast of Merrifield Duck, Sweetheart Cabbage, Hibiscus, Salsify

Free range and fed to grow at a slower more natural rate for fuller flavour, Merrifield Ducks are produced on Merrifield farm near Crediton in Devon by Creedy Carver. This was as fine a duck breast as I could wish to encounter, cooked slightly pink, thinly sliced with the crisped skin on top. The sauce was rich and comforting, the fondant potato (unmentioned on the menu) a magical transformation of the humble spud. Salsify seems to have replace artichoke as the chef-y vegetable of choice. I never saw the point of artichokes but the little sticks of salsify in this dish were delicately flavoured but delicious.

Merrifield duck, Hambleton Hall

Desserts

Hambleton’s Tiramisu

Lynne chose ‘Hambleton’s Tiramisu’. Tiramisu appears on every pub menu, and we shared one at Piccolino’s in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago, so I was mildly surprised by her choice - but surely ‘Hambleton’s Tiramisu’ must be special.

Hambleton's Tiramisu

And so it was, the deconstructed Tiramisu being very clever and very pretty. Lynne’s verdict was that a Tiramisu is always pleasing, but this one was no more pleasing than any other, which, in this context, makes it disappointing. Is the fashion for ‘deconstructed’ dishes a blind alley? They were originally put together that way and became classics (or family favourites, depending on ingredients and complexity) because that is how they work. Pulling them apart may allow them to be reassessed, but who needs to ‘reassess a Tiramisu’? Best left alone, I think.

Mango Soufflé, Lime Leaf Ice-cream

Unusually (possibly uniquely) I thought my dessert the best dish of the whole meal. Indeed, some years have past since I last ate anything so good.

I have long been curating (so much better than ‘collecting’) a small list of culinary platonic forms. Such food and drink exists in a ‘place beyond heaven’ but I have found it best exemplified by, for example, scrambled egg at The Yorke Arms, Ramsgill, a dry martini in the Sheraton Sky Lounge, Hong Kong, a pineapple at Cai Rang floating market, Vietnam and Thai red curry at a small restaurant spreading out across the street in Bangkok's Sukhumvit district. I now nominate Hambleton Mango soufflé to be the as close to the Platonic ideal of ‘soufflé’ as can exist in this vale of tears. It had risen manfully, the exterior had the most delicate crispness, the inside was voluptuous and the exotic flavour of ripe mango danced enchantingly*.

Mango soufflé and lime leaf ice cream

The lime leaf ice-cream was pretty damn good, too. Sweetly, it reminded me of the lime leaves in that spicy red curry. Last time I bought some in England I opened the packet and found a dozen sad, wizened little things no use to man nor beast. Aaron Patterson clearly has a supply of fresh leaves, and knows how to use them.

End of the Evening

And so, we returned to the terrace for coffee, petit fours and a glass of grappa. Sitting in the warm evening air, pleasantly full and having consumed just the right amount of wine we felt satisfied and mellow. Aaron Patterson errs (if 'errs' is the right word) on the side of comfort rather than cutting edge, but his touch is sure and there were several truly memorable moments. We know we are very lucky to be able to experience such pleasures in such surroundings, but the night was one for luxuriating in our good fortune, not introspection.

Tomorrow we could count are blessings, think a little about those less fortunate and return to the real world, but not tonight.

* To this list I must now (Aug 2021) add a piece of deep fried battered cod from a restaurant - actually a glorified chippy at the Ingólfur Square end of Austurstræti in Reykjavik. Never before have I encountered a cod so light, fluffy and sumptuous. 

'Fine Dining' posts

Abergavenny and the Walnut Tree (2010)
Ludlow and La Bécasse (2011) (restaurant closed, post withdrawn)
Ilkley and The Box Tree(2012)
Pateley Bridge and the Yorke Arms (2013) (No longer a restaurant, post renamed Parceval Gardens and Pateley Br)
The Harrow at Little Bedwyn (2014)
The Slaughters and the Lords of the Manor (2015)
Loam, Fine Dining in Galway (2016)
Penarth and Restaurant James Sommerin (2017) (restaurant closed, post withdrawn. JS has a new restaurant in Penarth)
The Checkers, Montgomery (2017) (no longer a restaurant, post withdrawn. Now re-opened under new management)
Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, Denbighshire (2018)
Fischer's at Baslow Hall, Derbyshire (2019)
Hambleton Hall, Rutland (2021)
The Olive Tree, Queensberry Hotel, Bath (2022)
Dinner at Pensons near Tenbury Wells (2023) (restaurant closed Dec 2023, post withdrawn)

see also Rutland: Oakham, Hambleton and Normanton

Friday 26 July 2019

Fischers at Baslow Hall

A Wedding Anniversary Celebrated with a Fine Dinner in a Michelin Starred Restaurant

Baslow Hall


Derbyshire
The 15min drive from Haddon to Baslow took us past Chatsworth House.

Baslow Hall, a little north of the village, looks at first sight a typical 17th century country squire’s residence. It was, though, built in 1907 by the family of Jeremiah Stockdale, vicar of Baslow.

Baslow Hall, Baslow

In 1913 the hall was bought by electrical engineer and inventor Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti who had founded S.Z. de Ferranti (later Ferranti International plc) in 1885. From 1919 Baslow Hall had its own generator and more electrical gadgets than any other house of its time, even an electric laundry.

After Ferranti’s death in 1930, the Hall changed ownership several times before being bought by Max and Susan Fischer in 1988. After refurbishment Fischer’s Baslow Hall opened as a fine-dining restaurant with rooms in October 1989. It won a Michelin Star in 1994 and has maintained it ever since. [At least for the next few months. The star was lost when the 2020 edition of the guide was published in autumn 2019]

Baslow Hall

Max Fischer

Max Fischer was born in Lüneburg, left school at 16 and became apprenticed to a local chef. He worked in Germany and then in two Michelin starred establishments, the Restaurant Nicholas in Paris and the Bell Inn at Aston Clinton where, in 1975, he met his wife Susan. Spells in Sweden and Germany followed, before he and Susan took over a small café in Bakewell in 1980 and thence to Baslow Hall in 1989.

Kitchen Garden, Baslow Hall

Max now styles himself ‘Executive Chef’. The Head Chef is Barnsley born James Payne. After some years with Gordon Ramsey at Claridge’s he came to Baslow Hall as a Chef de Partie in 2010, working his way up through the ranks to become head chef this year.

Dinner at Fischer's, Baslow Hall

Apéritifs and Canapés

At the appointed hour we made our way to the lounge. The drinks menu listed seven gins, headed by old favourite Tanqueray, but willing to try something new we looked further down. Each gin was described in a word, or for Tanqueray two - ‘traditional London’, other words included ‘cucumber’ and ‘citrus’. Call us old-fashioned but we wanted a gin not a smoothie. Dingle, however, distilled in that fine Irish town (we visited in 2016), was described as ‘juniper’ – perfect. And very good it was too.

The canapés were pretty. On the left a shell of filo pastry with raw beef and a blob of black garlic on caramelised onion. The elements were top quality, the combination brilliant. Pork rind lounged in the centre laced with something not quite as simple as mayonnaise. It was fine, but however you dress up a pork scratching, it is still a pork scratching. On the right was a crisp mini-pizza with tomato and cheese. The world is full of rubbish pizzas; this is what they should be like (if a tad bigger for a main course.)

Canapés, Fischer's, Baslow Hall

Decor, Amuse-Bouches and Starters

We moved through to the dining room. Professional restaurant critics, of whom I am not one, often bang on about décor; some devote more space to interior design than cooking. Not me, I am here for the food not the curtains. Jay Rayner visited for the Guardian in 2015 and in the course of a faintly patronising review he called Baslow Hall, ‘a venerable country house hotel....where the outbreaks of floral and chintz made me mutter about being buried alive in Laura Ashley’s coffin. In here there is no design issue that cannot be solved by the liberal application of pelmets.’ I know only a little more about interior design than Donald Trump knows about cricket, but surely the design criteria for an urban space would be different from a country house – though according to Rayner the concept of a house in the country is so very 1980s. Perhaps it would have been more fashionable to gather them all up and move them inside the M25.

A tiny bowl of Wye Valley asparagus soup (presumably Herefordshire not Derbyshire's Wye Valley) was intensely flavoured with a swirl of tarragon oil adding an unexpected but delicious counterpoint. Food comes from the country, Jay, and it does not come any better than this.

A miraculous little bowl of asparagus soup, Fischer's, Baslow Hall

And then along came an excellent sourdough loaf with Abernethy butter and black garlic. All wonderful stuff but at this stage of the meal, what is it for? A question I have asked before.

Top class bread, but this is not quite when I want it, Fischer's Baslow Hall

Lynne’s first-course choice was hand dived scallops with tomato, lovage and Cornish gouda. She often orders scallops, knowing they will not match up to Claude Bosi’s at the Ludlow iteration of Hibiscus. Bosi had the confidence to do (almost) nothing to his scallops, and Lynne believes, even as she orders, that all other scallop dishes try too hard.

Scallops, Fischer's, Baslow Hall

These scallops were excellent, well-flavoured and accurately cooked, the lovage sauce a positive addition. The Cornish Gouda did little, though a stronger cheese/fish combination would have been unwelcome. The Dutch Spierings family enthusiastically produce traditional Gouda on their southeast Cornwall farm; a tad strange maybe, though I admire their enterprise and commitment. The unidentified ‘black things’ (looking misleadingly burnt) added crunch. Overall, she thought the dish impressive, but having eaten the platonic template of scallop dishes, nothing else completely satisfies.

My goose liver ballotine with peach, almond and camomile looked megalithic, sculpted cromlechs of peach forming a circle round a menhir of goose liver. The blobs of camomile had little flavour – fine, I don’t much like camomile – but with the almond flakes they provided contrasting textures. The ballotine in the middle was sumptuous, soft and elegant. The peach was a pleasant sweet/acid counterfoil, but the liver hardly needed it, I would joyfully have eaten a whole bowlful with a spoon (though I don’t think it would have done me much good).

Ballotine of goose liver, Fischer's, Baslow Hall
I know this is out of focus, but it's a bad photo or no photo - sorry

Main Courses, Rabbit and Beef

Lynne liked her main course, loin of rabbit with Scottish langoustine, crispy leg and sweet cicely but was mildly bemused by the langoustine. ‘It was lovely, but a bit like having two different dinners on the same plate.’ The crispy little leg croquette was a success, but overall, although the rabbit was perfectly cooked, it was not particularly rabbity.

Loin of rabbit, Fischers, Baslow Hall

I chose shorthorn beef with potato “tartiflette”, smoked short rib and garden leeks. The beef was first class. Cooked rare, as requested, it was tender without loosing its texture, and full of flavour. The short rib beneath had little smokiness but was soft, beguiling, slow cooked beef at its best. The sauce – or jus, or gravy – was deep, rich and satisfying. The vegetable accompaniment was just that, an accompaniment to the star performer. There was potato, there was leek and there was something delightfully caramelised. I had no more idea what tartiflette meant at the end than I had when I ordered, though I now know it involves bacon, cream and reblochon cheese. I do not recall any bacon or cheese, maybe the inverted commas suggested variations from the script but I don’t really care, everything came together in a substantial plateful of loveliness so what more could I want?

Short horn beef, Fischers, Baslow Hall

Lynne’s choices required white wine, mine red so we had a half bottle of Sancerre and similar of Gigondas. Both were good and of their type, but not outstanding, so given the usual hefty mark-up we were a little disappointed. The bottles were whisked away after pouring - the staff were attentive enough to ensure our glasses never ran dry, but why do this? I do not find pouring my own wine a burden, nor do I object to the sight of a bottle on a table; I like good service, but this felt oddly intrusive.

Pre-Desserts, Desserts and Cheese

A pre-dessert of elderflower ice-cream, fermented strawberries and sweet cicely (her, again) was three mouthfuls of deliciousness, though I wonder how (and why) anyone ferments a strawberry.

Pre-dessert, Fischer's Baslow Hall

Lynne’s desert was pretty and delicious. At his point, Jay Rayner, having had an unadventurous lunch, moans‘it’s as if the setting makes the offering of a crumble or something dense and steamed simply unconscionable’. Unlike Mr Rayner, I was paying for my own meal, and at these prices I expect something more complex than comfort food - not that there is anything wrong with an apple crumble, at the right time and place.

Dessert, Fischer's Baslow Hall

I went for cheese. The selection was impressive and all British, so I will restate my delight at the rebirth of British artisan cheese-making, and regret that such delights can only be found in specialist shops (and top-end restaurants.)

I have come across Tunworth, bottom left, from Hampshire before. Described as a ‘British camembert’ it was under-ripe at my first meeting and I was hoping to discover why it wins prizes, but this was over-ripe, and still short on flavour. [2022 Update: At my third attempt I bought a perfect Tunworth at Gloucester Services on the M5. It was worth it the wait.] Perl Wen (White Pearl), bottom right from Cenarth on the Carmarthen/Ceredigion/Pembroke border claims to be a ‘unique cross between Brie and Caerffili’. I hate to dis my native heath but I have never been a big fan of Caerphilly (Anglo spelling), and ditto, sadly, Perl Wen.

Cheese, Fischer's, Baslow Hall

Irritatingly the best cheeses are the three that must remain nameless (because I have forgotten). The blue and the goats’ cheese, so ripe it was dissolving into a puddle of its own unctuousness, were lovely, but the star was the unprepossessing fish shaped thing across the middle of the plate. At the perfection of ripeness, it was strong, elegant and as fine a cheese as I have ever been privileged to eat.

Coffee and Petit-Fours

And so coffee, petit fours and a cognac from the cheaper end of the list brought our wedding anniversary meal to an end. Jay Rayner was generally complimentary about the food, but after being chided by a (metropolitan?) reader that he is harsher on London restaurants he replies ‘I put more effort in trying to find good places outside London because what’s the point of a crap review of somewhere in, say, Derbyshire?...And sometimes even when you do find solid cooking, it comes with a side order of floral print.’

‘Solid cooking’? Damning with faint praise? He came for Sunday lunch, ate roast beef and wanted apple crumble, which speaks volumes about his expectations of ‘somewhere in Derbyshire.’ Whether Michelin stars are the be-all and end-all of good restaurants is another argument, but they do guarantee high quality cooking and a degree of inventiveness in the menu. There are about 140 starred restaurants in the UK, roughly half in London, leaving 70 in "places like Derbyshire" where the cooking, if you take the trouble to look, is better than ‘solid.’

I usually like Jay Rayner, there is more to him than just a metropolitan snob, but not in this review. We liked Fischer’s, we liked the cooking and we liked the ambience (though our bedroom was rather small). I would hope a 3-starred meal would be perfection, at 1-star I have always found something to quibble with, though rarely more than a quibble. For us, Fischer’s amply justified its place in the restaurant elite, whether judged by London or Derbyshire standards.


'Fine Dining' posts

Abergavenny and the Walnut Tree (2010)
Ludlow and La Bécasse (2011) (restaurant closed, post withdrawn)
Ilkley and The Box Tree(2012)
Pateley Bridge and the Yorke Arms (2013) (No longer a restaurant, post renamed Parceval Gardens and Pateley Br)
The Harrow at Little Bedwyn (2014)
The Slaughters and the Lords of the Manor (2015)
Loam, Fine Dining in Galway (2016)
Penarth and Restaurant James Sommerin (2017) (restaurant closed, post withdrawn. JS has a new restaurant in Penarth)
The Checkers, Montgomery (2017) (no longer a restaurant, post withdrawn. Now re-opened under new management)
Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, Denbighshire (2018)
Fischer's at Baslow Hall, Derbyshire (2019)
Hambleton Hall, Rutland (2021)
The Olive Tree, Queensberry Hotel, Bath (2022)
Dinner at Pensons near Tenbury Wells (2023) (restaurant closed Dec 2023, post withdrawn)