Le Champignon Sauvage
This is a copy of a review I submitted to Tripadvisor. Helen, Le Champignon Sauvage’s magnificent front of house, was taken aback when I stated less than halfway through our meal that our worst fears had been confirmed. She relaxed considerably on realising that my target was the Michelin Guide. The kitchen were highly amused when she relayed my thoughts to them.
My review ensures that those thoughts are captured for a wider audience.
Dinner for two
Wednesday 16 September 2020
“Our worst fears - confirmed”
Another visit for us to our favourite ‘local’ restaurant.
Cheltenham is only 190 miles from Grimsby and we like to keep an eye on standards since the kitchen lost one of its Michelin stars at the end of 2018!
Helen, Belen and Connie served us with stunning precision. Their delivery is perfectly informed but it is so warm and friendly that they easily become an integral and lovely part of the evening.
What they delivered from the kitchen was just as memorable. A first meal here is a treat. On further visits you will be able to explore or to repeat dishes which have become favourites. If you have any or all three of David Everitt-Matthias’s ‘essence’ cookbooks you will know how delicious those recipes look on paper. At the restaurant you are able to confirm how stunning they are when cooked by their creator. With difficulty I decided to bypass ‘old friends’ like the pig’s trotter starter and that iconic mango dessert with Thai curry elements. Just one of my rewards was a pigeon main with earthy and robust flavours. Wood pigeon here for its firmer flesh. Beetroot for its simplicity. Fig for gently insistent indulgence. A finely reduced sauce brought fruity autumnal warmth and depth. And yet this was ultimately a lighter dish than expected – pulled back to a perfect balance by citrus elements.
I would falter over proper detail on all courses so here are particular notes on two familiar items. The heightened smokiness of our amuse of bone-marrow custard with the addition of wasabi packed a far greater flavour hit than might be expected from a necessarily small serving. Dandelion root ice cream underpinned our pre-dessert and its homage to coffee. For any keen cook the concept of textures and flavours delivered to perfection has to be instructive. A challenge to renew efforts at home and to insist on such excellence wherever you book to eat.
Those two ‘minor’ courses alone shouted out a kitchen team at the height of its powers.
David and Helen Everitt-Matthias continue to do what they want to do. The cost of your meal strongly suggests that they do that with much love – prices here verge on the worryingly generous.
This was our intense but ultimately relaxed and hugely rewarding way to return to hospitality. There are other special places to eat. But for a benchmark start here.
Oh. Our worst fears? Confirmed?
Ah, yes. A mild awkwardness began even before we had started our main course. And as the last petit four disappeared and we considered the present standard of cooking offered throughout the meal a horrible reality struck home.
Sad to say, it had become crystal clear that the Michelin Guide really are complete arseholes*.
*^rseh%les in the copy sent to Tripadvisor who will not accept ‘profanities’.