Uplifting experience
Elaine Lemm takes the weight off her broken tibia on a lunchtime visit to the newly opened Rhubarb in Harrogate, where she is glad of the elevator and attentive staff.
GETTING out and about for me is still a big problem several weeks into a broken tibia, as anyone who has had one or similar will understand. I’m managing between crutches, a wheelchair and a wonderful husband. But I didn’t think of calling ahead to check accessibility for my visit to the recently opened restaurant Rhubarb in Harrogate, so I thought I had landed us in a right old pickle when I saw the swathe of steep stairs up to the front door.
Thankfully, this being a modern building, a small lift around the side took us slowly but carefully up into the restaurant’s rather swish bar – phew, lunch didn't need to be cancelled. Lesson learned.
Rhubarb opened two months ago, promising a new fine dining restaurant with eclectic modern British food under head chef Varun Khanna and director Silviu Hasna. Varun is a Bradford lad who started in Halifax, where he fell in love with cooking. His passion for food eventually took him to the Sat Bains twoMichelin star restaurant in Nottingham, but he is back in Yorkshire in his own kitchen and sharing with us all he learned along the way.
The new restaurant on Cheltenham Crescent is in a quasi-modern building above the much-loved Sukothai restaurant – hence all the steps. The site upstairs has had a chequered past; I have seen businesses come and go, some lasting a few years, one only a few days. There may be many reasons why these ventures have floundered, but it is certainly not the area, as there’s a host of good eateries in this part of Harrogate and at first glance, Rhubarb may be swelling those numbers.
I have no memories of any previous occupant who made this restaurant look as stylish as it does now. From the bar mentioned, there’s a sweeping room decked out in plush, rich velvets and leather seating, spacious tables, and subtle lighting. If that sounds a bit OTT, it is not. They have, by careful design, managed to create an elegant and relaxed space simultaneously. There's a vast sweeping window down one side window with a balcony, yet the room still feels warm and inviting.
Varun has curated a range of offerings across his menus. Top Dog is a full-blown 10-course tasting menu showcasing the full range of dishes from wagyu tartare, artichoke tuiles and crab curry to lobster, venison, and so on. Dishes from this, plus a swathe of others, compile into an a la carte menu. Then he has further extracted from these for his astonishingly priced lunch menu at £29 for three courses. The set lunch is what we chose for no other reason than a 10-courser at lunch was too much, and the dishes on the set menu were precisely what we had wanted from the a la carte – a no-brainer.
With the promised three courses, included are those in between bits and bobs that I so love, starting with celeriac and a lamb fat rosti, both with a dot of harissa mayo. Two sourdough breads, one wild garlic and the other apricot, are equally moreish, though for me, anything slathered in Marmite butter is a winner. Across the way, he argued that the chicken liver butter was better. So it’s good that we like different things.
A generous bowl of beef tea with braised oxtail and root vegetables, probably better suited to a winter’s day, was more than appreciated on this exceptionally brisk spring one. My beetroot cured salmon was a great example of Varun’s claim to using the best ingredients as the salmon was thick, oily and super-tasty, especially with the dollop of Exmoor caviar on top. The crème fraîche sorbet also promised Whittaker’s gin, but I couldn't find it – perhaps a tad more was needed?
I veered away from the fish and meat on mains, opting instead for salt-baked beetroot with goat’s curd, candied walnuts, honey, Pecorino and artichoke velouté. It was a thoughtful dish for sure, but the balance of curd to beetroot was a little off, and as good as the curd was, it quickly swamped the other lovely ingredients. More beetroot, please. Like
wise, a generous piece of beautifully cooked coconut-infused hake with blood orange was brilliant, as was the saffron sauce. On the side was a too-large cold bao bun filled with cold crispy cod. Both the size and coldness of this didn’t work, and though I get that Varun's portions of food are generous, a little restraint and some heat could have transformed this dish.
The desserts were lovely. The rhubarb and custard well suit the name here. A tangy rhubarb sorbet and the vanilla and white chocolate crème pâtissière were also spot on. We disagreed on the slight earthy aftertaste of the rapeseed oil in the base sponge: I didn't like it, he did. But there were no squabbles over the frozen passion fruit crème brûlée in its pool of raspberry coulis.
It is easy to linger at Rhubarb. I noticed that at every table, on a Saturday lunchtime and well into the late afternoon, guests were doing exactly that, including us. That’s the atmosphere they have created both in the dining room and in the bar, which is open to non-diners and where bar manager Franklin Bouckley is turning out some spectacular cocktails. The staff too are excellent including a young student Fran who looked after us and took time to chat. And circling back to my accessibility issues, as well as having a lift, the staff were so kind and courteous in helping me whenever I needed to move around.
Chatting to Varun after lunch, he is clearly passionate about what he is doing here and has gathered a good team around him. If the quality of the set lunch we had at that incredible price – despite the few small queries – is a showcase of his talents, then lucky Harrogate, you have a gem in your midst.
Rhubarb Restaurant, Cheltenham Crescent, Harrogate, HG1 1DQ