There are lots of things in life which get me excited, mostly food (followed by wine) but discovering the chefs who create those special experiences is what really gets me going and once I’m latched onto one, I’ll follow and support them for as much as I can. Something that particularly got my excited recently was two great chefs who came together for one night and created what turned out to be my best meal of 2019.
Set within the jaw droppingly beautiful Coworth Park is a one Michelin starred restaurant which is looked after by head chef Adam Smith, who has teamed up with Lisa Goodwin-Allen, Executive Chef of Northcote in Lancashire to create one very special dining experience. The dinner is part of a series and following the inaugural dinner with Lisa in November, Adam will be inviting a number of his leading chef friends from across the UK to come and cook with him at Restaurant Coworth Park in 2020. Dates to be announced soon!
To start what turned out to be a rather magical meal, we tucked into a perfectly crafted Negroni in the lounge and at our table, some magnificent bread, accompanied by some equally impressive home-made butters. I tend to not bother with bread so much these days and save space for the main meal – but I could have sat here all day eating this fluffy loaf.
Even the canapés were a meal in themselves and set the bar very high for everything else that was about to arrive. BBQ langoustine on sticks and choux bites filled with foie gras – decadent, rich and delicious. I can’t quite recall all of the exact flavours in these few bites, but I can still remember the utter satisfaction they gave me.
Each course during the evening was created by either Adam or Lisa and the first out (Adam) was one of the finest dishes I’ve had all year. A beautifully constructed tart, filled with sweet, juicy crab meat and topped with generous amounts of caviar and dollops of yuzu. Plus a good helping of sour cream on the side. It’s dishes like these which will have me returning time and time again.
I was dining with my other half for this meal and I always love watching the expression on someones face when they first tuck into a dish and this was one of those silent moment. No words, just a cheeky smirk and a few minutes of silence as we tucked into this North Sea cod (Lisa) with curried “pearls”, pomegranate and toasted almonds. A refined and exquisite dish.
If there was one food I’ve never quite got on with, it’s sweetbreads. Perhaps I’ve just had badly prepared ones, because the veal sweetbreads (Adam) here were unlike anything I’ve ever had before. The texture was more like a soft Iberico presa and the flavour was just extraordinary, especially when topped with lashings of white truffle, cauliflower, girolles and some impeccable ravioli which burst open in the mouth.
Scottish venison with beetroot and verjus (Lisa) was another exceptional plate of food and when to comes to seasonality, this couldn’t have been more perfect and it was exactly the sort of dish I’d choose from a menu. The venison had been given a blackened, crusty case around it which added a lovely extra depth and the venison faggot on the side packed so much flavour to each bite. Along with the sweet and earthiness of the beetroot and that rich, silky jus – this is a dish I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
Thinking back to this orchard apple “crumble” (Lisa) just gets me all excited to visit Northcote in the future. The “crumble” was completely deconstructed, but the flavour if you closed your eyes was exactly like the good old classic, but with more intensity and some lovely cardamom which really helped lift the dish.
The Coworth signature chocolate dessert (Adam) is another showstopper. A glossy, spherical chocolate ball which revealed the most decadent and silkiest of fillings – with a rich hazelnut flavour that I just couldn’t get enough of. If you’re a dessert lover like me, then you’ll fall completely in love with this little ball of chocolate heaven.
To send us off to sleep in a food induced coma (we were staying at the hotel and you can read my review HERE), a selection of petit fours arrived which were all incredible and were then perfect way to end what was a truly fabulous evening. I’ve been wanting to visit both Northcote and Coworth Park longer than I can remember and so the opportunity to enjoy dishes from both chefs in the same room was an experience I’ll always remember. Would we come back to Coworth Park? In a heartbeat!
What a stunning meal in a beautiful restaurant! The presentation looks amazing!