Neil Sowerby
Best meal of the year so far? It came as a surprise, Iâll admit, a delectable surprise. Some of the most playful, intelligently thought-out food combinations for a long time in a city dining scene that has almost made a merit of lacking ambition in these recessionary times. I was among those who felt Harvey Nicksâ top-end food had become rather trying-too-hard fussy in the wake of executive chef Alison Seagraveâs departure to run her Bamford cake emporium Macaroon. As a MFDF chef of the year, she was a hard act to follow and the kitchen seemed to lose focus.
Time has moved on, Alisonâs now a mum (many congratulations, Queen of Cup Cakes) and her successor Stuart Thomson appears to have come of age on the evidence of a recent lunch. Promoted from the ranks, as she was, he is lucky to have the financial bedrock of Harvey Nicks to underpin his culinary creativity. Abode aside, nowhere else in the city centre is finessing the food in this way.
Six starters and I fancied every one. I could have mixed and matched the lot to make a meal, but perhaps a gastric gallimaufry of sweetbreads, hare, frogâs legs, anchovy choucroute, foie gras and langoustines might have been a dyspeptic step too far. So Ms A took on the lamb sweetbreads on my behalf, in a pea puree as foamy as frogspawn, the anchovy beignet a welcome puff of sharpness, while (as she predicted) I pulled rank to tackle hare boudin with the choucroute and truffle gnocchi. This was extremely satisfying. I expected my boudin to be a creamy, self-sufficient sausage but this was a slice of fibrous (in the best possible way), almost confit-like hare flesh. Its unexpected gaminess tempered by the carbs of the gnocchi and the pickled cabbage stewed to mellowness.
A 2005 Les Gryaches from Meursault shared the mellowness. A couple of years ago I annoyed a veteran chef of this parish by decrying the complexity of his menu choices and we havenât spoken since. So Harvey Nicksâ menu combination choices A to E, £30 to £60 a head, momentarily set me on edge but I coped, adopting the coalition middle ground of D â four courses, starter, soup, fish or meat, dessert. There wasnât a six starter option, so that was a futile dream anyway.
Ms A really enjoyed her cauliflower cheese and a ploughmanâs in bowl combo of cauliflower, apple pickle and Lancashire cheese, creamy, sturdy with a light fruitiness. A survey has just revealed cauli is yesterdayâs veg, way out of fashion. This dish could change minds. Still, I think my bouillabaisse topped it. Not that a Marseillaise of the old school (vieux ecole, no thatâs just my franglais) would have recognised it. No murky but aromatic broth of fish heads and herbs, this. Just a smooth, yellow emulsion of fine fishiness, a saffron kick from gnocchi more melting in texture than the boudinâs accompaniment, but equally soothing. Any more of this and I would have been gnocch gnocch gnocchi-ing on heavenâs door.
Ms A got the statutory gnocchi per course (truffle again) with her slow cooked Cheshire beef. The pieces of beef came in a swirling bracelet on the plate, interlaced with asparagus spears, a piece of presentation too far because she found the medium-rare meat lacking in emphasis. In conytrast, my turbot, with razor clams and tiny chunks of chorizo was a much meatier dish. A beautiful piece of the freshest fish and the chorizo didnât undermine the Meursault, which went so well.
For pud, my âtextures of chocolateâ, with a pyramid of fondant was as good as anything ace patissiere Alison served up and Ms Aâs Black Forest Gateau was more than an ironic retro statement, with a lovely texture and a kick of kirsch. For £45 a head, we felt it made a statement about a restaurant currently on song.
Harvey Nichols 2nd Floor Restaurant, 23 Cathedral Street, Manchester M1 1AD
Tel: 0161 828 8898
W: www.harveynichols.com