Norman’s conquest
The newest addition to the Kirkburton dining scene is the kind of place we all want on our doorstep – and the front of house may just remind you of someone, writes Amanda Wragg.
IF you’ve been to the Calder Valley’s multi-award-winning Shibden Mill Inn in the last 20 years, you won’t just have eaten fabulous food. There’s also every chance you’ll have been looked after by Oliver Roberts. You know the one – affable, smiling, with an easy charm and an encyclopaedic knowledge of the food and wine on offer, always on hand, never in your face: the perfect front of house.
Roberts was an institution at the pub – he began as a pot washer at 13 so had pretty much worked half of his life there apart from the odd stint elsewhere. But despite loving his job, he had long harboured the dream to have his own place.
Far from keeping it a secret at work, everyone knew – in fact, his boss guided and advised him. That place is a stylish little bar/bistro in Kirkburton; the keys were his in July and he opened in November.
Before then it was a deli/cafe called Beyond the Mill – apposite, says Roberts, but a bit near the knuckle, so Norman’s was agreed on, named after the family dog.
In the kitchen is Milda Valantinaite; her career has taken her cheffing round Europe, then London before heading North – first to Manchester and then Huddersfield, turning down jobs that involved microwaves and bulk buying.
She’s found a good fit here and I’m happy to report it’s the sort of short but interesting menu I want to work my way through.
There’s a scattering of nibbles including house pickled onions and truffle and pecorino nuts but coming this way is some fabulous homemade focaccia with whipped Marmite butter and three homemade dips: pistachio feta – a combo new to me but now it’s made it onto my Last Supper list – lime pickled chilli and a stonking white wine balsamic vinegar, all unnecessary given the richness of the bread but welcome nonetheless.
Feta makes another appearance, this time whipped with honey accompanying crispy potato fondant – paper thin slivers of spud long roasted, light and crunchy as hell.
Next up, lamb tagine, soft and sticky with masses of flavour which smacks of hours and hours of cooking, and the spuds go particularly well with it; every forkful glorious and indulgent – tagines can often be over spiced, gluey and overdone but not here.
There’s cod with butter bean and chorizo ragout, another satisfying dish, accurately cooked, the chunk of pillowy cod falling apart at the fork. Scotch eggs come in all sorts of shapes and flavours these days but a lamb kofta one is a new one on me and very good it is too, paired with sticky-sweet homemade mango chutney.
Elsewhere on the menu is chilli paneer, roast pepper and sticky sauce, pan fried marinated prawns with burnt lime and a spicy beef karahi. The menu will change regularly depending on the season and what’s available; Roberts says that Milva is “itching to kick it up a gear” but it’s early days and he’s committed to baby steps til they all find their feet.
There’s a cool Greek/Turkish/Macedonian mash up going on, all of it delicious and strangely enough it pairs well with a pint – oh, didn’t I mention the beer? You can’t come from a place like the Shibden and not have good ale on. You’ll find Heart & Soul and Hebden Yorkshire Lager from Vocation Brewery, and several bottles and cans including Magic Rock and Northern Monk, and a fun-sounding Rhubarbara Streisand Milkshake Pale Ale. The puns continue with cocktails: the Big Lewinsky (passion fruit, Mason’s vodka, prosecco); Look What You Mead Me Do (Botanic Request Gin, brewed in Pudsey, Lindisfarne Mead, lemon) and Mr Cheddar’s Wild Ride (Yorkshire vodka, tomato juice, Henderson’s Relish).
Given his years of tasting and recommending wine, you’d expect Roberts’ list to be intelligent and so it is – again short but smart, with seven reds including an Australian Shiraz, an Apulian Primitivo and (if I hadn’t been driving) a Saperavi “Classical” from Georgia. Seven whites include an English Baccus Single Estate
and an Armenian Voskehat plus a couple of sparkling and rose wines. So just call in for a pint/glass or two of wine and a plate of cheese, as some folk are doing today. There are a couple of local cheeses including Yorkshire Blue, a Yarg, Somerset Brie and truffle honey.
The older I get, the more certain I am that eating out is about three things. In order of importance: the company you keep, the service and the food. I’m with my oldest, closest chum, class of 1969, so that one’s taken care of. Service? Good service is vastly underrated – when you think about it, it’s the first impression you get when you walk into a restaurant. The food might be marvellous, maybe Michelin starred, but if service is chilly, snooty or disinterested – or all three – you’ve spaffed the thick end of your giro and made only bad memories. We’ve all been to those places.
That’s not going to happen here, given the long years Roberts has put in, and as it turns out there’s a young man front of house called Ted Henderson who Roberts started mentoring when they were both at the Shibden. He’s friendly and efficient, there when you need him, not when you don’t, but always just eye contact away.
As we leave, I praise him to Roberts. “He’s your mini-me,” I say. I’m not sure how thrilled he’d be to hear that, he says. You’ve heard it now, Ted, and I mean it in the best possible way. The food? Well the dishes have balance and vitality, there’s tons of flavour, and the prices are ungrasping. Norman’s is the kind of relaxed place we’d all like on our doorstep – I think it’s safe to say there’s life Beyond the Mill.
Norman’s, 22A North Road, Kirkburton, Huddersfield, HD8 0RH, tel 01484 943088. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 11am-10pm, food served, 12-8pm.