Artisan, Crosspool, Sheffield, 14th December 2006
A welcome return to the restaurant we visited a year ago, previously named "Thyme" and a most unusual office Christmas lunch - out of the ordinary and highly civilised. Also, a pleasant change to enjoy lunch rather than dinner.
Hors d'ouvres Once again an excellent range of breads provided with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip. My favourite this time was the olive and tomato bread but the wholemeal and treacle, with its hint of malt loaf, and the sea salt and, what? aniseed? also delighted and entertained us while we passed the time in conversation waiting for the first course.
First Course Parsnip and butter nut squash soup with croutons in a cute little Chinese ceramic spoon (the croutons, not the soup!) - with a good lashing of cumin and chili and the breads to accompany it. My portion was a bit on the small side but it's just the luck of the draw as the risotto ordered by my companions was absolutely huge. Perhaps consistency is called for.
Entrée. Very unusual. A duck shepherd’s pie. I didn’t know what to expect so I was worried but I should not have been. The topping was created from mashed carrot and parsnip and the flavour complemented the duck’s flavour very well – in fact, just right. Chef made an excellent decision here. Served with a small dish of sweet shredded beetroot, roast potatoes that had undergone the boil-then-fluff-up-then-roast-in-oil treatment alongside delicate green beans mixed with thinly shredded Savoy cabbage. Yum yum.
Whilst on the subject of entrées, the restaurant had offered to put turkey on the menu if more than 50 per cent of the group ordered it. Fifty three per cent did so. I threatened to buy some extra non-turkey meals to reduce the balance and keep it off the menu but didn’t follow through. But my companions who did do this deed praised the succulence of the meat, wondering how this moistness had been achieved. They also rated highly the bread sauce.
Dessert The crème brulee again - the order was the same as last year but the dish was quite different. This time the crust showed no sign of being bruleed but, instead, seemed to have been formed from the crystallisation of sugar and, shockingly to my neighbour, was flavoured with coffee. I enjoyed this but my neighbour disagreed, not liking coffee other than in the cup. We agreed that the portion was small. I left the tiny biscotti accompaniment as it was too much like hard work to crunch through them.
Coffee very good. Wine a Vin de pays de l'Hérault. Smooth (in the sense of slips down without a challenge to the pallet), good follow through, noticeable tannins and smokey flavour. Cost: a very reasonable £16 plus whatever the team leaders paid for the wine.
Hors d'ouvres Once again an excellent range of breads provided with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip. My favourite this time was the olive and tomato bread but the wholemeal and treacle, with its hint of malt loaf, and the sea salt and, what? aniseed? also delighted and entertained us while we passed the time in conversation waiting for the first course.
First Course Parsnip and butter nut squash soup with croutons in a cute little Chinese ceramic spoon (the croutons, not the soup!) - with a good lashing of cumin and chili and the breads to accompany it. My portion was a bit on the small side but it's just the luck of the draw as the risotto ordered by my companions was absolutely huge. Perhaps consistency is called for.
Entrée. Very unusual. A duck shepherd’s pie. I didn’t know what to expect so I was worried but I should not have been. The topping was created from mashed carrot and parsnip and the flavour complemented the duck’s flavour very well – in fact, just right. Chef made an excellent decision here. Served with a small dish of sweet shredded beetroot, roast potatoes that had undergone the boil-then-fluff-up-then-roast-in-oil treatment alongside delicate green beans mixed with thinly shredded Savoy cabbage. Yum yum.
Whilst on the subject of entrées, the restaurant had offered to put turkey on the menu if more than 50 per cent of the group ordered it. Fifty three per cent did so. I threatened to buy some extra non-turkey meals to reduce the balance and keep it off the menu but didn’t follow through. But my companions who did do this deed praised the succulence of the meat, wondering how this moistness had been achieved. They also rated highly the bread sauce.
Dessert The crème brulee again - the order was the same as last year but the dish was quite different. This time the crust showed no sign of being bruleed but, instead, seemed to have been formed from the crystallisation of sugar and, shockingly to my neighbour, was flavoured with coffee. I enjoyed this but my neighbour disagreed, not liking coffee other than in the cup. We agreed that the portion was small. I left the tiny biscotti accompaniment as it was too much like hard work to crunch through them.
Coffee very good. Wine a Vin de pays de l'Hérault. Smooth (in the sense of slips down without a challenge to the pallet), good follow through, noticeable tannins and smokey flavour. Cost: a very reasonable £16 plus whatever the team leaders paid for the wine.
posted by Jean-Paul Sartre at
7:58 pm
