SOME days in this gig are better than others, and the recent invite to the soft launch of the latest branch of The Botanist in Knutsford turned out to be one of the good days. The local Tesla Motors showroom had offered to chauffeur local-dwelling journalists to and from the venue in their luxury electric supercars to enable us to better concentrate on sampling a wider range of botanical cocktails. The spanking new branch is on the site of the former Knutsford Wine Bar on King Street.
...before the bell summoned us back in the smoothly silent Tesla, softly inebriated for the school pick up
The New World Trading Company opened its first branch of The Botanist in Alderley Edge in 2012 and has since sprouted up in several other city centres and smart suburbs such as Manchester, Chester, Birmingham, Leeds, Marlow, Newcastle and Farnham. In the recent Publican Awards, New World walked away with the top award for Best Employer and Best Managed Operator (2-50 sites) - read here.
Over the past four years they've developed a solid, if sometimes slightly overworked, concept. The quirky garden themed interiors make you feel like you're walking onto a stage set for Midsummer Night's Dream where all manner of domestic horticultural salvage adorns walls and ceilings in an artful manner.
Their drinks menu features a long list of fruit and herb based cocktails, carefully sourced quality premium spirits and a huge selection of bottled beers and cask ales from local breweries as well as more interesting favourites from around the world.
Although the strong garden concept and the main menu runs through all Botanist sites, the management of each branch are encouraged to make it their own by putting on live music, quizzes and other special events.
Foodwise, they've become well known for their range of hanging kebabs and versatile deli boards where you can mix and match components to suit your mood and your appetite. For the hungrier they offer 'Home Comforts' by way of burgers, pies, sausages, curry and rotisserie chickens.
Yes that is a wheelbarrow
The famous Botanist hanging kebabThe Botanists are ideal for family dining with kid friendly classics and fun desserts featuring chocolate 'soil'. For me, sauces in a rickety miniature wheelbarrow is a blouse-stain away from a good idea and although the truffled mushroom starter is delicious, serving it on a garden trowel takes a bit of getting used to.
On this visit we enjoyed a starter of sardines on toast, served warm in the tin, covered with garlic butter with slabs of toasted sourdough to mop up the rich tomato juices. With a chilled glass of Viognier it makes the perfect pit stop snack after a walk with the dog in nearby Tatton Park. Observing from the upstairs balcony, it looked like that's what many of the daytime customers were doing.
We decided to pick at some sharing platters to mop up the cocktails: a home made Scotch egg with a glistening and runny yolk, chorizo, fresh mixed bean salad, giant jewelled couscous with ruby red pomegranate seeds, paper thin slices of Parma ham, Shorrock's mature Lancashire cheese and slabs of sweet roasted peppers. Ideal fayre for picking at and grazing over in grown up conversation before the bell summoned us back in the smoothly silent Tesla, softly inebriated for the school pick up.
The Botanist, 41A King Street, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 6DW. 01565 750459
(Gallery credits: Gareth Lowe)
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