Peas and queues
Weary of tasting menus, Amanda Wragg pays a visit to Finns, a hidden gem which is well worth the journey to a trading estate on the back streets of Guisborough.
AGOOD find for me these days isn’t always the fine dining restaurant that has reviewers poised over the speed dial button, though I have been that person. Truth is I’ve grown a bit weary of tasting menus – give me a shout when they’re over, will you? My palate appears to be getting less sophisticated with the years and I’m increasingly drawn to food that doesn’t rely on submersion in water baths, pipettes full of emulsion and three hours of tweezered disappointment. I’m not saying that if I ever get to Ynyshir in Wales (two Michelin stars, 30 courses, four hours, £350 a head plus wine) I won’t swoon. But generally I’m all for modest gaffs serving up unpretentious dishes that don’t challenge me. It’s dinner after all, not a test.
So imagine my joy when I found Finns. Hidden gem is an overused epithet but I can’t think what else to call it. To say it’s tucked away is an understatement; it’s somewhere behind a retail park on a trading estate on the back streets of Guisborough and don’t follow your satnav like I did or you’ll end up at Screwfix.
I’m making it sound appealing, aren’t I? I got lost and so will you, but persevere. Even the signage when you get there doesn’t really shout “here we are!” but the benches outside are a give-away.
Step into a space about the size of a squash court but they’ve certainly made the most of it – and it’s stylish. There are a couple of tall tables at one end, a “shelf” the width of a plank and tall stools along one wall with half a dozen regular tables at the other side. Colours are a warm, rich blue, the baking rack by the counter spills over with good-looking bread and fabulous pastries and there’s the hissing and clink of good coffee being made and a warm inclusive vibe.
The menus are fairly brief but appealing. Breakfast (served from 10am until 11.30am) includes smoked bacon French toast (the homemade brioche is soaked in vanilla custard), eggs Benedict and Sydney eggs (sourdough with avocado, pickled red onion poached eggs and dukkah) and fluffy buttermilk pancakes with berry compote and whipped vanilla mascarpone cream.
The lunch offer is similarly succinct but you will want to order everything on it. We pretty much did.
A bowl of iridescent green soup tastes of freshly podded peas – which is exactly what it’s made of – and with good depth of flavour it sings of spring. A slab of feather light, rosemary-flecked focaccia is great for dunking. Ham hock croque monsieur (ham slow cooked and shredded on sourdough with white sauce and three cheeses served with homemade pickles) elevates cheese on toast to a level of luxury seldom seen.
On recent visits I’ve enjoyed the likes of ravioli filled with seasoned ricotta and egg yolk, and baked squash, pickled mushrooms and pumpkin seeds with brown butter shallot dressing. The last time I went there was a fat chunk of cod loin on herby risotto, and harissadressed squash with whipped ricotta and cashew nuts: absolutely faultless cooking.
Back to today and next up is a stack of polenta chips, Jenga-style with a shower of truffle and parmesan – they’re an extraordinarily soft texture – how on earth does he get them to keep their shape? They define melt-in-themouth. A fresh, super-creamy burrata sits on a lively homemade pesto dressed with zingy nduja, lemon and honey; it’s a triumph, an immensely satisfying dish with pops of colour and all the flavours.
Buzzing about in the kitchen behind a screen is Andy Simms, making everything from scratch and by himself. He has had a circuitous but interesting route to where he is now, starting with possibly the shortest stint at catering college (“two weeks in Middlesbrough. What can I tell you? I was very young”) before fetching up at Rockliffe Hall in Darlington under the tutelage of star chef Kenny Atkinson. Then he travelled and in Australia worked in “hipster Sydney” before returning to the UK and the
multi-award-winning Bay Horse in Hurworth, near Darlington.
After four years as head chef, he joined Chris and Ruth Laing at Craig’s by the Sea in Marske where he learnt a lot – about baking, fermenting and pickling. If you’ve been to Seaview in Saltburn (and go you must), you might have ordered "Nadiya and Fred’s crab brioche”, so called after the time they were filmed there for the BBC’s Remarkable Places to Eat. Well Andy had a spell there and created the dish – and he still makes the brioche for them.
Talking of which: the baking. Some of Chris’s methods have clearly rubbed off during his time at Craig’s (Laing truly is a master baker) but you’ve still got to have a degree of natural ability to pull this sort of stuff off. Pastries might include rhubarb and stem ginger, or mango, coconut and lime with vanilla custard. It’s pure indulgence but they’re irresistible. We have banana cake with chocolate ganache, praline cream and three spoons, and to take home a couple of sourdoughs and “the best croissant I’ve ever eaten”, according to our chum and chef Lisa.
Finns is a joy; honest, generous and superfriendly. Dishes are fresh, bright and uncomplicated but make no mistake, Simms is quietly creative. He’s skilled at putting straightforward flavours together without masking any of them, and letting the vivid aromatics punch through – as evidenced by the unimproveable burrata dish. This is wholesome food in the best sense of the word, and it won’t cost you a king’s ransom or three hours of your life you’ll never get back. You see, I trawl the mean streets so you don’t have to. You’re welcome.
Finns Kitchen, 13 South Buck Way, Guisborough TS14 7FJ tel: 01287 658609. Open Thursday to Saturday 10am-4pm, Sunday, 10am-1.30pm.