The Best of British

The Best of British    

Eight members of the Victorian branch, Yvonne Wallis, Nick and Kerry Galante, Sean and Annie Rogan, Janet Barton, Neil Harrison and Peter Millington, travelled to the United Kingdom to attend to the Liverpool Convention. We decided to arrive a little before the starting date of the convention and take a week to travel from London to Liverpool to eat at the best restaurants we could find and visit beautiful gardens and stately homes along the way.

Heston Blumenthal’s new restaurant - Dinner

We began with a lunch in London at Heston Blumenthal’s new restaurant, Dinner, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, organised by Yvonne. We were joined by Chris and Sue Bonsall and began with a magnum of Laurent Perrier Rosé champagne in the Galante’s room. The restaurant and menu is based on Heston Blumenthal’s television series, Feast, and has modern adaptations of British recipes from past centuries. Wines were selected by Yvonne and Sean and included a 2008 Meursault AC Domaine Vincent Giradin, a 2008 Mosel Riesling Scherzo, a 2007 Gigondas Les Racines Les Pallieres and a 2009 Moulin-a-Vent Domaine Les Fines Graves. The meat fruit from the 13^th to 15^th century was a great hit with the group but overall the desserts of chocolate bar and tipsy cake from the 18^th and 19^th centuries respectively were the most appreciated dishes.

The Fat Duck

The next day, Wednesday 8th June we left London and the pre-tour proper, organised by Peter, began. We met at Cliveden, the former home of Nancy Astor and scene of the Profumo affair, now a hotel, where we stayed the night. Rain showers notwithstanding, the beautiful gardens were explored and then we went off to the highly anticipated The Fat Duck, Heston Blumenthal’s three Michelin starred original restaurant, where we were joined by John and Anna Valentine. We were on two tables and had negotiated with the restaurant to allow us to bring our own wine; in fact many of us had brought bottles from Australia. This was an even more theatrical experience than our lunch the day before had been, with essences sprayed in the air above us as we ate, headphones to listen to the sound of the sea, gels to taste and fumes perfumed with truffles and moss wafting from dry ice at the table. Needless to say, the food was incredibly creative, well cooked and extremely memorable. The sheer inventiveness of it made it a wonderful event and as we had all splurged on our wines some of us thought that this was probably the best meal in terms of quality and inventiveness of food plus quality of wine that we have ever had.

Waterside Inn

Thursday saw us visit Windsor Castle, a rich and wonderful experience. We then went to the Waterside Inn, the other three Michelin star restaurant on the tour. The dining room is extraordinarily beautiful with a terrace over the Thames where you can have drinks before the meal, a quay and moored boats. We decided however it was a little cold outside and had our aperitif in the bar. Peter selected the wines and we persuaded the restaurant to add an additional course of their house specialty to the ordered set menu. It was probably the highlight of the meal; the pan fried lobster medallions with a white port and ginger flavoured sauce was exceptional. However the best match between wine and food for the meal was the terrine of foie gras and rabbit fillets with Sauternes jelly and a violet mustard brioche toast with a Selosse Exquise champagne. All we had to do at the end of the evening was climb the stairs to bedrooms above. Such a luxury!

Midsummer House

The next day our hired bus with driver arrived and off we went to Cambridge. We stopped at Ely Cathedral on the way as it still retains much of its pre-reformation decoration. It was a very beautiful and spiritual experience to go there and was very much enjoyed. In Cambridge all the colleges were unfortunately closed because it was exam time but we were still able to look at some of the glorious buildings of this beautiful city. In the evening we ate at the two Michelin star restaurant Midsummer House, again on two tables. Four of us had the market menu and four of us the tasting menu. Surprisingly, those who had the market menu were less impressed than those of us who had the tasting menu and there did appear to be quite a discrepancy between the quality of the two. The tasting menu was exceptional with highlights including a beetroot flavoured tuile biscuit serve with horseradish ice cream, goats cheese and celery, a perfectly cooked scallop with Perigord truffles in batons on top of it and a celeriac jus and cubes and the barbecued quail with crunchy kernels of sweet corn, spinach and bacon which was a triumph. However the market table had the best wine of the evening.

Restaurant Sat Bains

Around lunchtime the next day we got our bus to Burghley House which dates from Elizabethan times. We toured the house and then the gardens with the highlight being the Garden of Surprise which was full of tricks and games to keep guests of the house amused. We then made our way to Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottingham which has one Michelin star and where we also stayed. Sean selected the wines for the meal and we were treated to an exceptional array of them, including the very rare Trimbach 2003 Clos Ste Hune from Alsace. We were seated at the Chef’s Table in a private room next to the kitchen and had a 10 course tasting menu with the addition of two extra courses by popular demand. The cube of pork belly served with sliced apple and brown shrimps on an elderflower mayonnaise was exquisite but to single out any one course in this meal would be an injustice as it was near perfect. We were unable to see at the end of the meal why this restaurant does not have three Michelin stars and considered it served us the best meal of the trip.

Le Manoir aux Quatr’ Saisons

On Sunday, 12 June we went to two of the most prestigious gardens in England. We began with Hidcote Manor Garden and then went to Kiftsgate Court. Conditions were not ideal for garden visits. There was an inch of rain that day and a very high wind so that we were cold and very much appreciated the greater shelter of Kiftsgate which most of us enjoyed more than the more highly rated Hidcote. We then stayed at Raymond Blanc’s very luxurious Le Manoir aux Quatr’ Saisons at Great Milton and dined in its two star Michelin dining room. Yvonne selected the wines for us this night and once more we were spoiled. Probably the highlight of the wines was the Chateauneuf du Pape 2003 La Cuvée du Papet Clot du Mont Olivet. The food was delicious from the parmesan flavoured popcorn, a real delight, served with our champagne to the roasted Anjou squab with baby beetroot and juniper sauce which accompanied the Chateauneuf du Pape. Following dinner we were taken on a tour of the cellar and the kitchens. A very memorable experience.

Fischer’s at Baslow Hall

The next day we travelled the short journey to Blenheim Palace and spent the day looking at it and its grounds. It was then back on the bus to the Peak District where we stayed at Fischer’s at Baslow Hall which has one Michelin star. Janet and Nick chose the winds and did an excellent job. Perhaps the highlight was the three glasses of red in front of each diner, comprising a Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru 2005 Armand Rousseau, donated by Yvonne who had brought it from Australia, a Vosne Romney Les Chaumes Premier Cru 2003 Robert Arnoux and an Amarone 2007 Alpha Zetathe which went with several courses. The meal was uniformly excellent with too many highlights to mention although the desert of “Moon rock” (meringue filled with cherry jam and Kirsch with chocolate soil, cherries and pistachio ice cream) has to be mentioned. Again the group felt that this was worth more than its one star. 

On our final day we visited Chatsworth House, the palace of the Dukes of Devonshire who had Capability Brown re-landscape the entire valley and move villages so that they had an uninterrupted rural outlook. It is a very beautiful house with very beautiful grounds. We had difficulty tearing ourselves away and so arrived late at the convention but only by 30 minutes or so. We all agreed we had had a wonderful week leading up to the Convention and there was much talk of another trip being planned, perhaps in France. The good humour and frequent gales of laughter were testament to how much we had enjoyed ourselves.

By Peter Millington