Dines Out: Pike and Pine
The Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival offered so many chances to enjoy the excellent culinary scene we can now enjoy, it would be hard to declare one event better than another – but one did stand out. For me it was easy to see why, couple the excellent sparkling Sussex wines made at the Ridgeview Estate with the inventive genius of chef Matt Gillan and you are on a winner.
At Pike and Pine we were in for a real treat, that started with perfect canapés and a cocktail using that superb wine.
It would be cruel to list every single wine but Mardi Roberts and Tom Surgey certainly didn’t skimp on telling us about the different wines or on filling our glasses. Nothing is more disappointing than a wine flight that proves to be a series of short-lived sips, these guys were more than generous, even lifting a wine from the family collection that is no longer available, now that was a treat!
Gillan is generous too, his inventive dishes are complex, fascinating and satisfying. Every element earns its place and comes in a quantity that allows you to go back and try a second mouthful, if not more. I’m frustrated by dishes in spartan proportions with no chance of getting to grips with it, more tease than taste.
Worthy of heaven
The entire concept of dinner was the journey from root to fruit, exploring the minerality of the terroir, the earthiness of roots, freshness of shoots and leaves and finally the fruit as it ripens. Gillan is a genius, not one of the dishes served failed to deliver. Scallops served with radish showed the simplicity of a perfectly cooked shellfish and the versatility of the humble radish. Duck and beetroot was a stunning exploration of sweet beets and the intense flavour of delicately cured duck and rich liver parfait, pickled mushrooms and a stunning beetroot granita. Next salsify, artichoke chicken and walnuts, a divine mix of textures and earthy flavours that almost silenced us, just murmurs of delight.
Our next dish included incredible cod with a crab beignet that deceived me, so rich and musky was the white meat that I assumed some of the dark flesh had been included, I was wrong, it had been infused with a hefty crab stock, something I must try myself. The addition of charred leek, bitter sharp lime spheres, seaweed crisp and salty fingers lifted everything to extraordinary heights.
On then to venison, rare loin and intensely flavoursome slow-cooked haunch all complimented by pickled elderberries and grapes, squash and pumpkin seeds and chestnuts – heaven! Then a stunning pre-dessert illustrating the ripening of the fruit from green to deep red – were we going to peak too soon?
Well no, the dessert proper was a kiss goodbye to the end of summer and hello to the rich mellow fruitfulness of autumn with red cherries, plums… all served with Ridgeview’s Rosé De Noirs, poured from magnums in a coup de theatre befitting of so splendid an evening. Ridgeview and Gillan, a marriage made in Sussex and worthy of heaven.
For full details of opening times, menus and tours go to pikeandpine.co.uk & ridgeview.co.uk
