Out & About January 2018

L’Ortolan – c’est magnifique HILARY SCOTT savours the delights of a Michelin-starred restaurant, offering a range of

dishes at affordable prices I did love the press release that came from L’Ortolan when it retained its Michelin star in the 2018 guide, announced in October: ‘Young Tom Clarke holds Michelin star for first three years as head chef at L’Ortolan’ ran the headline. Young Tom is actually early 30s – so, yes, young in terms of Michelin, but no enfant terrible. And no wonder he retains that coveted star each year – fine cooking, innovative flavours and some great value in the menu du jour, the two- or three-course set menu, which is amazingly competitively priced at £30 for two courses or £35 for three. We sat down in the old vicarage on a Tuesday lunchtime and we did not need to say a prayer to the food gods. Tom and his staff – including chef Gareth, who you will have seen impressing in this year’s MasterChef: The Professionals – produced some hallelujah moments. A punchy cracker with dots of fish emulsion, then a chef’s appetiser of celeriac soup with cubes of pickled pear hidden under the foamy broth and with a crunch from puffed rice, set the scene. My starter of confit duck terrine with orange and verjus was duck and orange amped up – pickled kumquats, verjus gel, orange emulsion, charred orange segments and slithers of pain d’epice (gingerbread). The terrine had a fine texture and avoided the often chunky/stringy terrines served by others. My companion’s torched mackerel with bonito and wasabi was a thick piece of beautifully- cooked mackerel, topped with tiny balls of compressed apple, a bonito jelly, edible

flowers, puffed rice and more. It sat next to a vibrant green and white swirled sauce of yogurt and wasabi. Absolutely entrancing was her verdict. We ordered an extra course as it is Tom’s sig- nature dish – on first glance it could have been a cocoa-covered chocolate with meringue and pineapple. But cleverly, this was goose liver parfait with textures of pineapple and pineapple gel, still-pink smoked duck slices and, yes, they were dots of meringue and meringue shards. But the sweetness and fineness of the meringue was perfect with the rich duck. Onglet of beef is hard to cook just right – overdo it and it turns to chewy cardboard, underdo it and ditto. This came out perfect – two small, but thick, slices flushed rosy pink with the love the chef had given it, accompa- nied by a quenelle of deep and strong shreds of beef in a sauce, a meaty fried bonbon, truf- fled mash, mushrooms and a strong mushroom ketchup. Give me that mash any day of the week, so silky smooth and with every bite a hint of truffle. My dining partner thought the same of the cauliflower textures with her sea bream – there were florets nicely caramelised at the edges, a purée topped with fennel seeds and crispy tempura. Hints of star anise and curry ran through the dish, the sea bream was textbook and the samphire too. A pre-dessert quickened our pulses – a tiny dish of maple custard hiding a Bramley apple parfait and a gloriously fine-textured pecan crumble on top. We shared our desserts – a blueberry soufflé was described as blueberry, white chocolate

and buttermilk. We think it may have been a buttermilk ice cream with it and the white chocolate was through the soufflé. The chocolate dessert of a rich, dark creameaux with ice cream, crunchy and biscuity chocolate shard and L’Ortolan’s version of Caramac was generous in size and flavour. The cheese trolley is extra if you want it – and we did. As the heavy wooden trolley was pushed gamely through the restaurant, we spied just how perfect the cheese looked. When server Dimitri explained the cheeses to us, they were a great mix. We had to try Alchester Sloe, a soft, gooey cheese washed in sloe gin, a sharp Harrogate Blue and Boxer that smells of brown bread, with a subtle farmyard and meaty aroma. Cheese comes with an impressive selection of accompaniments, from raisin bread and crackers to quince jelly and truffled honey. The wine list is good – and kind to those like us who splash out on more than the set menu. A Chapeaux Bordeaux Blanc at £30 came at not quite the right temperature and was whisked away until cold enough, which took barely five minutes. All-in-all, this old vicarage should be praised to the heavens. It has been one of my favourite restaurants for a long time and remains so. Young Tom defies the adage that you can’t put

an old head on young shoulders. In cooking terms, he’s pretty wise.

n L’Ortolan’s seven-course tasting menu is £75 per person or if you like surprises you can have a 10-course Surprise Menu at £105.

L’Ortolan, Church Lane, Shinfield, Reading, RG2 9BY, 0118 9888500 www.lortolan.com

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