Andrew Kay returns and rejoices at The Restaurant at Drakes
Top marks
From the moment Drakes Hotel opened it has maintained a fabulous reputation for the highest standard of cuisine. And when chef Andy MacKenzie took over in the kitchen, he started to take it to even higher levels. Passionate about food and in particular about the sourcing of seasonal and local ingredients, Andy has always been a step ahead of the trends, and his inventive culinary mind has kept The Restaurant at Drakes at the forefront of Brighton and Hove’s gastronomic scene. So much so, that when I created the International Chef Exchange for Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival and Latest TV, he was the first and obvious choice.
Once again they have received the highest score of all Brighton restaurants for the fifth consecutive year in The Good Food Guide 2014, reason enough to pop down and check out what they are doing.
It was a pretty dismal and wet autumn day and I had spent four hours hanging about on the set (virtual) for Latest TV news. Lunch was a welcome relief and I met my friend Ms CtM in the restaurant for a very welcome repast.
Andy is not one for skimping, so it came as little surprise that our amuse-bouche was about the size of a starter in some places. Delicious slices of lightly smoked calve’s tongue with pickled girolles certainly hit the spot and started the chorus of oohs and aahs that would pepper our lunch.
Ms CtM started with the hand dived scallops with black pudding purée, a dish I had actually sampled a few days before at a Canadian Tourism dinner that I was lucky enough to attend. She loved it as much as I had, in particular the maize sprouts that had been such a revelation.
I started with the braised ox cheek with a horseradish foam and chervil root purée. Oh my, what a tasty dish to set before a queen, the meat yielding and packed with real flavour; Andy is not a slave to the salt pot and allows the real flavours of the food to surface unlike so many chefs who are profligate with the salt. It was a simply delicious dish.
Ms CtM then chose the Cobnut crusted loin of venison with red wine salsify, pickled cavolo nero and sloe gin sauce.
Again I can confirm that this is a stunning dish as I had also had this. The fallow deer is remarkably tender stuff and the sloe gin sauce, a wonderful mix of fruit and juniper, sits well with it. Full marks too for the cavolo nero, a stunning brassica.
I chose partridge. I love red leg partridge. Of all the game birds it stands out, full of flavour but also moist and tender. This came with fat slices of meaty ceps, lentils with bacon and a jug of thyme infused sauce. I was in heaven, not only because it tasted good but also because Andy shows off his significant butchery skill by slow cooking the dark meat and fashioning a lovely fried croquette and cooking the breasts on the bone but carefully taking them off for service. It takes away all that grappling with a carcass that can be so tiring.
After a dignified pause the lovely restaurant manager, Sheila, brought us a pre-dessert dessert, I know, how indulgent is that? Watermelon jelly with Greek yoghurt sorbet. The jelly was a pretty red and very delicate in flavour the sorbet was magnificent, rich and yet light, quite an achievement, and the pistachio tuile atop was a worthwhile addition.
By this point I was pretty sated, but a job is a job, so we carried on. Ms CtM had the chocolate and caramel iced tart with salt caramel ice-cream, again a dish I had tried and loved. So did she! I had the rice pudding with Armagnac poached prunes d’Agen. Well, who wouldn’t love a rice pudding on a dreary day? It was amazing and despite being full to busting, I ate the lot. Coffee and petit fours to finish and to drink, I had sparkling mineral water – you see, I can show some restraint!
The Restaurant at Drakes, Drakes of Brighton, 43-44 Marine Parade, Brighton,
BN2 1PE, 01273 696 934, www.therestaurantatdrakes.co.uk
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