Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Talented new chef has a stock of winning fresh ideas
Mark Taylor enjoys classic cooking with the odd curveball on a trip to The Painswick
IPARKED by the old stocks,” said Matt with a glint in his eye and a broad grin as we sat down for lunch in the elegant dining room of The Painswick hotel.
Around the corner from this latePalladian 18th-century building – a hotel for the past few years but a family home and a vicarage before that – the 19th-century leg irons in question are attached to the wall of the local churchyard famous for its 99 neatly trimmed yew trees.
“Well, if the meal’s not up to scratch, I can always joke that the chef might end up in the stocks,” I whispered, planning ahead for the review in hand.
Overlooking the splendid Painswick Valley – misty with autumn rain on this occasion – the hotel is one of many handsome Cotswold stone buildings in a former wool town that has become one of Gloucestershire’s tourist hotspots thanks to its Rococo Garden.
“The Queen of the Cotswolds” is one description given to Painswick although “Cotswold theme park” was the tongue-in-cheek alternative offered by my friend who lives locally.
The Painswick hotel itself is a gem of a place that’s part of the same group that owns Calcot near Tetbury and The Village Pub and Barnsley House in Barnsley.
Since either of us had last eaten at The Painswick, there has been a change of chef with Jamie McCallum taking over stove duty after stints in London, most notably as head chef of Wild Honey in Mayfair.
For a Thursday lunchtime, the dining room was doing the sort of brisk trade many city restaurants would kill for. There was a large group celebrating something on one side of the room and clusters of couples dotted around the place.
Maybe the dangling carrot was the Thirsty Thursday wine deals – a concise selection of bottles sold at halfprice. Not averse to a serious bargain when it comes to wine, we immediately dived into a delicious bottle of Italian Pinot Grigio that was now just £12.
Our cheery Romanian waitress then pointed out the £25-for-threecourses set lunch menu, which included a pork chop with pommes Anna, roast carrot and Bramley apple, but we had already set our sights on the a la carte.
For a chef who once worked under Gary Rhodes and then Anthony Demetre, McCallum was schooled in classic French and British cooking but he keeps things fresh and interesting by throwing in the odd Asian curveball.
This was evident in a starter of crisp pressed pork, smoked eel, kimchi, Williams pear and salsa verde (£10), although this wasn’t simply a dish of two halves, it was more like two dishes in one.
The neat block of crisp pork belly worked especially well with the sour and spicy kimchi, slicing through the fattiness of the meat. Equally, the sweetness of the pear and punchy salsa verde were the perfect foil to the richness of the greasy eel.
Both combinations were winning ones, it was just that there were two good dishes trying to get out of one starter. Sometimes more is less.
Much more harmonious was the grilled octopus (£12) – a thick, tender tentacle smoky from the grill – teamed with a spicy sobrasada mayonnaise and crunchy purple sprouting broccoli.
Matt made light work of his Cornish cod, romanesco cauliflower, shellfish sauce and coco beans (£19). The thick piece of snow-white cod was precisely timed, its flesh juicy and succulent beneath a golden, buttery crust. The florets of cauliflower provided a sweet crunch and the rich shellfish sauce was studded with the creamy coco beans.
Cotswold lamb rack and breast, brown butter carrot, sprouting broccoli and salsa verde (£22) was a dish of perfect poise, the lamb breast offering deeper flavour than the pink lozenge of meat on the chop, the vibrant vegetables retaining bite.
Jumping back to the set menu, a slice of custard tart (£8) was as good as either of us could recall. The crisp, buttery pastry had somehow managed to contain the wobbly set custard, which was dusted generously with nutmeg. An accompanying puddle of syrupy brown butter, pine nuts and golden raisins provided a nutty, chewy contrast. Salted caramel, banana and hazelnut praline (£7) was as good as it sounds – the slices of caramelised banana adding extra crunch to the creamy jumble.
As we waddled down the steps of the hotel, tummies full and spirits high, we agreed that it had been a lunch of vim and vigour from an ambitious young chef with a bright future.
He certainly won’t end up in the stocks, although the hotel owners may want to find other ways of keeping such a talent in the kitchen.
RATING 4/5