If you're lucky enough to eat out regularly, you might have played the guess-the-menu game as you walk through the door of a new place. Too many restaurants seem to subscribe to the same newsletter, which tells them that scallop starters and slow-roast lamb are de rigeur this month.
If such a newsletter exists, it isn't delivered to Flavour in Sandbach where, bless me, they seem to make up their own menus. There's a confident originality about the food here, with no grabbing for gimmicks, just ingredients and combinations you rarely see, but will probably see more often once a few other chefs pay a visit.
They will have to find the place first. Flavour is tucked away down a footpath off High Street, a cobble's throw from Sandbach's ancient Saxon crosses, and next door to Waitrose. It's in a modern unit, and by day it's a café, offering breakfast (eggs Benedict, anyone?), lunch and afternoon tea, before turning into an amazingrestaurant by night.
It opened September 2006, run by David Hulse and Graham Lamb. Graham, who has worked at the Bells of Peover, had a successful restaurant in Derby, but was keen to find somewhere closer to home near Sandbach.
The atmosphere is friendly and unpretentious, so the quality of the food is a surprise. My starter of pressed smoked salmon, leek and potato terrine (£5.50), a thick slice of cold, pressed flavour, was a great combination, and Mark's Cashel Blue parfait (£5.50) was equally good, the strong cheese flavours blending with potato and onion.
Main courses were just as strong, with subtly different combinations of familiar ingredients: Mark's mallard (£17) came with wild mushrooms and pearl barley (an under-used cereal: when is someone going to make a pearl barley risotto?). I had oxtail rillettes (£16.50), presented in a little helmet of Savoy cabbage. If I say it tasted a bit like hot corned beef, you must understand that I'm very keen on hot corned beef. The roasted salsify was a nice touch, too.
The only criticism might be the use of words like 'rillettes' and 'parfait' for effect when the dishes were something else. Food this good doesn't need such verbal sleight of hand.
We had a bottle of soft, fruity New Zealand Anapai River Pinot Noir (£15.50) from the short, well-chosen and well-priced wine list, and shared a dessert of churros (those long doughnut things that Spaniards have for breakfast) with caramelised apple and brown bread ice cream, another great combination of flavours and textures.
The restaurant has an extra dining room upstairs, bookable for functions, and has a light, airy, modern feel. The bill was £85.80 for two, including pre-dinner drinks and coffees, good value for modern British food that avoids the clichés.
CHESHIRE LIFE - May 2007 - Andrew Hobbs
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