Our dear friends Sue & Steve have been raving, posting and commenting on their favourite dining spot just around the corner from their home and while Will & Sam have dined there before, this was my virgin visit--and I fell in love!
Check out the adorable decor and wall paintings on my FB photos, not to mention the amazing food. It's a smallish space, so book ahead as it was jammed on Friday night after we enjoyed yummy cocktails chez Sue & Steve. we started with a bottle of Le Sabble dell'Etna Bianco DOC 2020 with Carriacante & Catarratto which was great with our starters, while Sam found Angioletti Cidro Mela Rossa to his liking.
Smoked Haddock Tian was light and delightful with Red Pepper Coulis & Soft Boiled Egg as was the Potato & Leek Soup with Goat Cheese & Cherry Tomatoes. Steve told us the chef makes all the pasta from scratch, so I had to try the Chickpea Ca; Soreccie pasta with Prawns, Lemon & Chilli. Our server Sacha said it was great and that was an understatement; it also packed a nice spice punch. Steve actually had the dish as a main course. Sam started with the Button mushroom, courgettes and parmesan risotto which he loved ("OMG!!") and then moved on to the Pinsa, an enormous pizza/flatbread with virtually everything veggie on it.
We moved on to a yummy Corvo Rosso Terre Siciliane with tons of fruit and Morello cherry flavours as well as a tad of acidity. I loved this with my medium rare(perfectly cooked) Brampton Buffalo(we say Bison) Fillet with Dauphinoise Potatoes, Wild Mushrooms, (Chanterelles), Kale and Red Wine Jus!! The Oven Roast Porchetta(spelled Porcetta) is a dream dish with Pea Puree, Potato Mille Feuille, Honey Roasted Carrots, Shallots, Savory Cabbage and Russian Stout Jus(yup--Russian STOUT) and it was crispy crunchy on the outside of the enormous roulade; simply perfection.
Max is the manager who is very young, attentive and loves to shmooze; we loved chatting with him about everything from food to football(that is soccer for those of you in the USA). He suggested an superb and inexpensive Valpolicella Ripasso 2017 Scuola Giale which was ideal with the cheese board we all shared.
The cheese itself was another revelation served with Granny Smith slices, quince paste and grapes and those amazing charcoal crackers we adore:
-Mordon Ruddy was akin to Red Leicester and comes from nearby Durham as does the
-Mordon Isle, a relative, but more like Brie/Triple Creme
-D+Farmhouse White was a great cheddar , but the winner was the mildest ever blue also from Mordon, called Mordon Blue!
Mordon is a place we have to visit next trip!
Everything was dreamy and delicious and we could not even think of dessert, but we know Cafe Lilli is in the cards every time we come back to Yorkshire!
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