Andrew Kay: Dines Out
A Midsummer Night’s Dine
Glyndebourne may be synonymous with picnics but sadly picnics are no longer synonymous with my ageing bones. Much as I like the idea of dining “sur l’herbe” my body simply cannot cope with either squatting on often damp grass or carting a dining suite into the pastoral setting. No, for me Glyndebourne has fast become synonymous with fine dining in their Middle & Over Wallop restaurant.
So with the first part of their breathtakingly beautiful production of Benjamin Britten’s fine work done Mr L and I headed off for dinner. It’s not an insignificant investment but one that certainly makes the evening very special indeed – and there’s no washing up to cart home either!
Mr L started with sautéed hand dived scallops with Stornoway black pudding , romesco sauce and pata negra crunch and he ate it in near silence, quite a feat for Mr L but a sure sign that it was good. I had chosen the smoked squab breast with beetroots, pistachio and Seville orange and it was better than I could have hoped, the pigeon deliciously and delicately smoked and the other bits finely balanced.
I seldom choose steak in a restaurant as I can cook a good one myself, but this had taken both our fancies. The fillet of Aberdeen Angus was perfectly cooked, properly rare. It was huge too, a good portion whereas so often a fillet arrrives looking like it has been selected to serve the appetite of a doll. With it came rosti potato, ceps and garlic, some black cabbage prepared with bone marrow and a smoked sauce choron. Well the sauce was new to me and a wonderful thing it was too, rich and unctuous, I could have easily eaten it off a spoon but dignity prevailed and I ate it with the very tender steak.
An indulgence delivered with style and skill, just like the opera
Mr L finished with a bramley apple tart served with calvados custard and a green apple sorbet and went into great detail about how well the combination of hot and cold was working for him. I chose my dessert because I love custard tart and I love garibaldi biscuits. I also love coffee ice cream so this combination promised to be a winner, which for the most part it was. The biscuit was exactly right, that balance of crisp and chewy that a garibaldi gives. A good coffee ice cream, not too rich or too sweet but full of intense flavour. The custard tart was good, not excellent, my mum makes a better one, the custard was slightly granular and not silky smooth as she makes it, but it was good and I am nit-picking. I also loved the golden raisin purée that came in a worthwhile quantity and not as some inaccessible to the spoon smear. How I pray that that trend ends very soon.
We finished with coffee and chocolate truffles and to drink we had a bottle of sparkling mineral water, oh yes, and a half bottle of decent Muscadet Sure Lie follwed by a half bottle of really delicuios Château Carignan 1er Côtes de Bordeaux which that steak truly deserved – as did we. It’s an indulgence but one delivered with style and culinary skill, just like the opera, and that one seldom finds with venue catering.
Booking is of course pretty essential and you will be asked to order your meal in advance. It’s a stylish affair, immaculate and friendly service, brilliantly unrushed and efficient and dare I say it, worth every penny. I will be back next week for another evening of fine opera and fine dining.
