Eat

Rossopomodoro, a non-review

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Arrivederci we hope

I don’t do restaurant reviews on this blog because, well, you don’t need me to tell you all those Michelin starred restaurants in town are really good. Or that restaurant with the overwrought plating and pretentious mission statement is all style over substance. Or that balti place is just another balti place. If you’re into food then you know what you like and you don’t need a score out of ten from me*. So you don’t need me to tell you that Rossopomodoro in Selfridges is the only good pizza joint in Brum. That could be the shortest restaurant review ever, if this was an actual review, but it’s not because Rossopomodoro closed today and you don’t review restaurants that don’t exist. That would be nonsense.  Continue reading →

Get in the sea 2015

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In the interest of balance and because I know people love to read about the negative, here’s a lighthearted stream of mild invective to end the blogging year. If you read other food blogs, you would think it was incredibly hard to write openly and honestly about bad food experiences. I don’t have a problem with it. It’s my firm belief that if you don’t have anything nice to say about bad dining then you should say it or it’ll stay bad. In the sea goes this lot… Continue reading →

Copenhagen, noma vs hotdogs

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IRTD?

I’ve never seen The Bridge nor any of the other Scandi TV noir that is voguish right now. So when at least half a dozen people asked if I went the bridge after coming back from Copenhagen I was bemused, what bridge? There are lots of bridges in Copenhagen, the only one that came to mind was the unfinished bridge that would link Nyhaven to Christiana. It would have made walking from our hotel to noma a five minute stroll instead of a ten minute taxi. You can see it on google earth, it’s a short footbridge with a Knievel sized gap caused by funding wrangles. They’ve been trying to close the gap for years now, we were told by Stuart, sous chef at noma and chief the day we ate there. We’d been planning all year to go to noma with our friends, sisters YKL and YSL. Without their special contacts we’d never have had the experience of dining at four of Copenhagen’s finest restaurants. In dining order; Amass, Relae, Noma and Bror. So special thanks to you both for taking us around and making it such a brilliant experience.

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L’Enclume

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Collage de l’Enclume

If you ask me what my favourite restaurant in the country is I will not hesitate to say L’Enclume in Cartmel. We first went in 2010 and tend to revisit it every year or so, usually in different seasons. Last week was our fifth time and even though in the interim the baton has been handed to a new head chef there’s still that seemingly effortless perfection to the cuisine. At its core are the ingredients, all taken from the lush Cumbrian land and coast. Every bite is a reflection of the season and locale, the essence of every ingredient amplified using cutting edge techniques but naturalistically presented with simple grace on the plate. There’s a sense of whimsy in the way the food is almost too beautiful to eat, but when you get over this the flavours actually hit you between the eyes.

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Central Texas BBQ – 36 hours in the smoke

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Standing in line in the baking Texas sun, slowly turning into lizards, necks getting redder. The free beer gets absorbed and sweated out in seconds. But you’re not alone, the line is around the block. All for a taste of some of the best BBQ in Austin. If queue length is testament then the 4 hour waiting time for Franklin BBQ makes it the best in town. Thankfully Franklins was closed when I visited Austin and the 2 hour wait in line for La Barbecue seemed like a cinch in comparison. We had 2 days or 36 hours to eat and experience as much BBQ as possible and had no time to waste. Continue reading →

Backyard Brummies at Grillstock Bristol 2015 – KOTG Report and Rub Recipe

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Double tops!

My buddy Nick “Professor Brisket” Loman and I started the Backyard Brummies 4 years ago in an unusual fit of bravado. It went something like “Let’s do a BBQ competition, I mean how hard is it to cook competition BBQ?” It turns out it’s pretty straightforward to do, all you have to do is turn up with the right equipment and drink lots of beer. But to do it well takes some luck, determination and a plan. The plan this year was to keep doing what we do with ribs and brisket and try not to mess up too bad on chicken and pulled pork. Here’s how the plan went down. Continue reading →

Carters @ Loaf

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Collaborative veg

The news had come in this Monday that Carters of Moseley were number 87 in the National Restaurant Awards 2015. Along with Purnells (88) they alone from Brum were recognised by their industry peers. Of course Brad and Holly had been invited to the award ceremony but had to decline because Carters were popping up at Loaf Bakery and Cooking School in Stirchley. It had been coming, after talking about it for a while, a collaboration between the two was well overdue. I was lucky enough to get to design and cook the menu with them.

A full set of photos from the evening can be found on this link.

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Hanoi Old Quarter, noodles, herbs, calamansi and a squatting guide

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Real streetfood

Real streetfood

Still digesting. It’s been almost a month but the other worldliness of the streetfood in Hanoi’s Old Quarter takes some processing. Four nights and nearly forty dishes later I think the surface has been scratched, just need any slight excuse now to go back and dig deeper. I’ve been cooking at home trying to understand, recalibrate my palate so I can communicate and reinterpret with the ingredients I have available in the UK. Underlying everything is one simple concept, freshness. Vibrancy is an oft used term in describing food. The dishes and produce in Hanoi will make me think twice about using “vibrant” again for anything less! Continue reading →

UK Burger Battle 2

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The Gone Burger from The Flying Cows

The Gone Burger from The Flying Cows

Belated photos from the last UK Burger Battle 15th Feb on this clickity link here (perfectly safe for work).

On the night London posse Gone Burger beat local beef slingers The Flying Cows in the diners and judges vote. Well done guys, their burger was a classic chargrilled pattie in a sesame seed bun. It was well seasoned and the simplicity of it won over the diners. The Flying Cows burger looked fantastic but the pulled pork did nothing for the burger. The beef itself was superior tasting but really under seasoned. A shame because a local win would have been great!

Another fabulous event from Ahmed and the team, so good it won the readers award for best event in Birmingham on designmynight.com. The next one is 26th April and you can get your tickets here.