Neil Sowerby THE richly deserved elevation of Aumbry to Manchesterâs Restaurant of the Year coincided with the birth of chef Mary Ellen McTagueâs second child. Hectic times. Neil Sowerby checked out the bijou Prestwich restaurant just before she went on maternity leave and found it on exceptional formâ¦
The last time I did Aumbry, it was a dinner with full tasting menu: the works. Co-owner Katie Mountain was conducting front of house with great aplomb, while Heston Blumenthal alumni Laurence Tottingham and Mary Ellen McTague were demonstrating that husband and wife teams can work in a tiny open plan kitchen, with all pans blazing.
Cut to few months on. Lunch in the cottagey 28-cover bistro casts a shaft of cold daylight on the thrifty mix and match ambience of the young tyrosâ operation. I love the artful homeliness of it all. If youâre after WAG-friendly swank, look elsewhere.
Mary Ellen is not behind the stove. She probably couldnât fit in there in her current pregnant state. Husband Laurence, who toiled with her in the famous (and equally confined) Fat Duck kitchens, is toiling now to feed a busy dining room. Word has got around.
Mary Ellenâs big worry is that she will go into labour on a peak Saturday evening, distracting her mate from the task at their precious Aumbry, named after a repository for chalices in a medieval church but with none of the pretension that might convey.
The plan was for us to have the prix fixe lunch menu, which is two courses for £15.50 and three courses for £18.50. My lovely mate did just that, but I couldnât resist the a la carte. Her button mushroom soup, gently laced with truffle oil, was a dense, grainy, earthy fungal pottage, while my rabbit terrine (£7.50) was a consummate, loose-limbed bunny slice, a hint of gaminess matched by an intense jellied consomme from the stock on the side. Rowan jelly a delicate tracklement for it.
After the mushroom soup, my companion, a reformed vegetarian, was displaying unexpected signs of recidivism by choosing Roast Cauliflower and Oat Groat Porage ahead of Slow-cooked Goosnargh Duck. As it turned out, it was an exceptional choice. Roasting bringing out the sweet muskiness of the cauli, the texture companionable with the groats. A seared spring onion and cauliflower beignet was lusciously bhaji-like. Such a clever. thoughtful combination.
As was my chargrilled loin of Gloucester Old Spot pork, where for my £18.50 I got braised leg of the Spot, butter bean puree, savoy cabbage with an ethereal hint of elderflower and a canny infusion of pickled mushroom. Time ran out for us to do pud despite the considerable temptation on both set lunch and carte of Treacle Tart and Lemon Jelly, which I recall fondly from the tasting menu.
If the starter of Black Pudding Scotch Egg is the Aumbry signature dish, then it is pushed closed by this treat, a golden syrupy wisp of a tart, accompanied masterfully by tiny cubes of sharp lemon jelly and a Earl Grey cream and served with sweetened chai-style tea. An off-the-beaten track kind of Italian red called Lacrima di Morro dâAlba offered a violet nose and substantial spicy fruit. Lacrima comes from the tear-shaped grapes of this varietal native to the Marche region. We werenât blubbing over the bargain £28 price tag.
The newly-published Which? Good Food Guide 2011 names Mary-Ellen McTague as national Best Up and Coming Young Chef. Whoâs betting against her scooping Mum of the Year, too? This Bury lass and her stalwart other half are on a real roll.
2 Church Lane, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 2DB Tel: 0161 798 5841 Wed to Sat: noon to 2.30pm, 7 to 9.30pm, Sun: noon to 4pm
