17 month old 'The Chef's Dozen' is located at Longbarn Village just outside of Alcester.
Both the location and the layout of the restaurant came as a surprise. Longbarn Village is situated in the middle of the countryside down a driveway that looks like it leads to a farmyard, suitably fitting as The Chef's Dozen is situated within a restored Tudor farm building. The restaurant itself is relatively small. However, unlike most restaurants nowadays who simply just want to maximise cover numbers and therefore, cram as many tables in as possible, it is overly spacious. The room we were seated in only had five tables. I found this created a really relaxing atmosphere. Although, some might find it a little intense or awkward.
The idea behind chef Richard Craven's menu is simple, the customer is in control. You create your own tasting menu from the dozen (hence The Chef's Dozen) seasonal dishes he imaginatively creates using fresh and local ingredients. He cooks every dish himself as he is the only chef working in the glass walled kitchen which is viewable from the restaurant. It all creates an experience that feels very unique.
On a Saturday evening you can only opt for 5 or 7 courses. 5 courses is £38 and 7 courses is £50. The menu is a written in a no nonsense sort of way that matches the style of the restaurant, 10 words maximum, which leaves you feeling a little intrigued. There were 13 dishes on the menu that night as grouse had been added as a seasonal extra. We just couldn't decide on 7, everything sounded so delicious. I could have eaten all 13! Luckily, Solanche, Richard's lovely wife who runs front of house came to the rescue and let us have 8.
Amuse bouche - Chicken liver parfait, damson and ginger crumble.
This was a lovely little start to the meal. Full of flavour and texture. Rich, smooth parfait contrasted with sweet damson and the crunch of the ginger crumble.
Milk loaf with butter and pork dripping (made green using spinach).
I've never had pork dripping before but I loved it. It tastes just like pork scratchings! It made for an interesting alternative to flavoured butter or olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Ox heart tartare with tarragon, bone marrow and hay-smoked duck yolk.
Katie chose this as her first starter as she is a huge offal fan. I love steak tartare so was intrigued to see how it would compare. It was beautiful but just incredibly rich.
Courgette with goat's cheese, thyme, lemon curd, raspberries and bitter chocolate.
This was my first starter and it was exquisite. With each mouthful you got the creaminess of the goat's cheese contrasted with the sharpness of the raspberries and the bitterness of the courgette and chocolate. A very clever creation.
Hand-dived scallop with hare, green cobnut, turnip and sorrel.
This was my favourite starter. It contained such a contrast of flavours. A sweet, meaty scallop perfectly cooked contrasted with a piece of pink, rich, gamey hare, little pieces of hare black pudding (something I've never tried) and bitter turnip and sour sorrel. This, plus the added texture element of the green cobnut created a wonderful dish. Unfortunately my camera threw a wobbly here, hence the difference in the quality of the image.
Gilthead bream with winkles, sea purslane, salt and vinegar new potato and curry sauce.
We weren't particularly enamoured by this dish. The fish was cooked beautifully and there was a balance of flavours between salt and vinegar. It just didn't have a wow factor.
Paddock farm tamworth pork with swede, earl grey and prune.
Again, we weren't particularly astounded by this dish. It consisted of pork belly and pork loin. The fat on the pork belly wasn't as crispy as I like it. Our favourite part of this dish was the swede dauphinoise which were lovely.
Roe deer with Scottish girolles, beetroot and blackcurrant
Again, we weren't particularly fascinated by this dish. The roe deer was flavoursome and cooked perfectly. However, the other flavours were a little bland.
Grouse with sweetcorn, smoked bacon, redcurrants and bread sauce.
This was my favourite main course even if it did initially confuse us. What we thought was bread sauce powder was actually smoked bacon. The idea behind this was to create different textures of bread. Therefore, you had smoked bacon powdery crumbs, crunchy croutons and smooth bread sauce which was green, hence the confusion. This was because it had been made with thyme.The grouse itself was gorgeous. Again beautifully cooked. The redcurrants gave a sharp little burst of sweetness which cut through the rich game flavour. This dish was full of different flavours and textures and I loved the colours in it.
'Marmite and Mini Cheddars'
Out of the 12 courses we ate this was my favourite. It's amazing how something so simple can be so tasty. It just reminded me of home. It was like a miniature version of a favourite comfort food of mine and my Dad's. Cheese on toast! It was a deep fried ball of gooey cheddar sat on a pear puree with a little drizzle of marmite. I've been served dried pear with cheese before but who would have thought pear would work so well with cheese AND marmite? Such a clever and effective little dish!
Blackberry tart with ginger and meringue.
This was kindly given to us by Richard as another extra course. Katie really liked this but I wasn't bowled over by it. It was a de-constructed blackberry tart. When you put all the separate elements together it's meant to taste like the whole thing. Tailor's in Warwick do this with a Black Forest Gateaux and it's amazing. However, this just didn't have the same effect. Plus, I wasn't sure where the meringue was? Although I must say, blackberry and ginger compliment each other particularly well.
Chocolate with English strawberries and salted caramel.
Chocolate and salted caramel, to me, is a perfect marriage. The salty caramel cut through the rich chocolate and the juicy strawberries added sweetness. The added extra of a little popping candy created a bit of a party in my mouth. Again it was a perfectly pleasant pudding but I've had far more impressive chocolate desserts. My current favourite being The Horse and Groom's chocolate, caramel and peanut torte.
12 courses later and we were done!
My favourites courses were definitely the goat's cheese, the scallop, the grouse and the marmite and mini cheddars.
The Chef's Dozen isn't pretentious. I felt utterly relaxed whilst we ate, so much so that we were there for nearly four hours! However, we did spend a good 30/45 minutes talking to Richard and Solanche. They make a wonderful partnership. Solanche makes a warm and welcoming host and it is clear she is just as knowledgeable as her husband when it comes to food. Richard has had a wealth of experience. He worked under Emily Watkins, former sous chef of Heston's Fat Duck, at the Kingham Plough and was sous chef himself at The Tasting Room in South Africa.
Richard serves fresh, seasonal food that's beautifully cooked and presented. His portion sizes are spot on. I didn't leave feeling uncomfortably full. It is clear than Richard is a superb chef who can be creative with food. It amazes me that he does it all by himself. That's a big job for one man. However, I did feel that some of his dishes were lacking that wow factor. I was expecting to be stunned by every course and unfortunately wasn't. Maybe my expectations were too high.
The Chef's Dozen is probably one of the best restaurants Warwickshire has to offer. However, the food isn't worthy of a Michelin star as some people on Trip Advisor have commented. It is definitely a restaurant to put on your 'to visit' list though!
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