REVIEW | Grafene, King Street

GRAFENE has opened in the failed former Brasserie Blanc site and Gordo’s editor has been taking the piss out of the name. It’s the type of glossy restaurant that will get a knee-jerk write-up from up-yer-arse national press tossers (the exceptions being the lovely Tom Parker-Bowles and Charles Campion, now writing for The Confidentials). It has booths, exceptionally pretty girls on reception and a good champagne house on board.

Have a look at that plate of food and take something off before it goes over the pass

Gordo can almost see the middle class copy:

‘Well, you know, Manchester is one of my favourite places in the world, but these northern monkey mouth-breathers and wags with their stilettos, tans and tattoos have such awful taste blah blah blah…’

Oh do go and fuck off.

Coren, you certainly can for a start, you miserable little shit. You reviewed Damson in MediaCity because you are too lazy and probably pissed to travel three miles into the city proper, giving it a right good kicking and telling the world that this was Manchester. Which is a bit like Gordo getting off the train at Euston, eating dinner at Angus Steak House, then branding all London restaurants crap (‘Angus recommends baked garlic bread’ - yup, that really is on their website).

Jesus. Really, Coren?

Crispy lamb breast, saffron yoghurt, pomegranate, spinach and aubergine

Gordo is feeling it about Grafene. This is a Mom and Pop restaurant with true success behind it from up in the hills somewhere near Buxton. Possibly. Gordo really had no idea where he was. It could have been Middle Earth – but forty minutes from Manchester.

Paul and Kathryn Roden took over Losehill House in 2007, quickly delivering a class act that is well worth a visit. Yes it’s a ‘country house hotel and spa’, but forget what you’re thinking - Gordo certainly did the minute he sipped that first Negroni. Every bit as good as the bar at The Dorchester.

The Rodens and their executive chef, Darren Goodwin, make a formidable trio, taking over this white elephant site nobody would touch for years and setting about a redesign which has made the place a good deal cuter than before.

Walking in you’ll find the Front of House smiling, a welcoming bar and a large space that becomes very buzzy. Seating is comfy and, whilst the booths are a bit 2012 (and something of a squash), the open pastry kitchen wafting freshly-baked apple pie perfume across the room with the magic of an Enid Blyton high tea won The Fat One over.

There’s also a handy terrace outside, well worth bagging a table out there if it’s warm enough. Hemmed in by buildings on all sides, it reminds Gordo of the Old Town in Cannes. Well, sort of.

Gordo and The Peach had a bottle of the house champagne, Pommery. It’s £55 and a good one, with a great soft mousse and a nose reminiscent of driving past the McVitie’s bakery early on a warm day.

But is the food as good?

 

Sea trout, quinoa, potted shrimps, broccoli purée and squid ink sauce

Crispy lamb breast, saffron yoghurt, pomegranate, spinach and aubergine (£7) was a weightlifter of a dish. If you strip the extras off this bruiser you’ll find a hefty chunk of lamb breast. This has arguably been nicked from a Pyrenean dish by either Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall (Meat) or tricky Matthew Fort (Cooking by Numbers), both of whom attribute it to Elizabeth David.

The name of that particular dish is Lamb St. Menehould. In this recipe the lamb breast is cooked slowly for three hours, bones removed, squashed flat, covered in mild mustard (Dijon does well), bread-crumbed, roasted for 20 to 30 minutes and finally finished under a hot grill.

If this was that, presented to Gordo with saffron mayonnaise and half a lemon, it would have got a 10/10 from fatty. But this was a slight miss. The fat hadn’t been rendered enough, making it a difficult dish for the squeamish; with a few unnecessary bits, including the spinach, pomegranate and aubergine crisp.

The seared scallop, black pudding bon bon, courgette, prosciutto and chorizo purée was a dish too far as well. The individual components were immaculate, but sitting them all on top of chorizo purèe was like throwing a few Angora rabbits into a box where a weasel is having a kip. There was blood. And a lot of squealing.

Next came sea trout, quinoa, potted shrimps, broccoli purée and squid ink sauce. Quinoa? Fucking quinoa? Don’t get Gordo going on this non-entity. If you have a beard and wear dungarees whilst riding a chunky bike with basket, you probably pronounce it 'KeenWah'. Regardless of Gordo going on with himself, this time it all worked; a light fresh dish with a beautifully cooked, silky piece of fish that was almost sashimi-like in the middle, cooked tight on the outside to ensure maximum flavor. Great stuff.

Pork chop with herb and caper butter

Florets and Winchester cheese (left), summer greens (bottom) and dripping-roast spuds (right)

Make sure you don’t miss the grills on the second page. This is where Gordo found a Himalayan salt-aged pork chop (£16) finished in the Josper grill. A great pork chop, but not historic. The grill chef needs to find a way of crisping the rind to create texture and therefore aforementioned historic-ness. Mind you, the addition of herb and caper butter was special, and this time not an addition too far. Dead lush.

Sides are £3 each. Lots of people complain about this tricky bit of margin elevation, but let Gordo tell you what he thinks these sides are worth: summer greens and smoked almonds, £15; florets and Winchester Cheese, £50; and dripping-roasted potatoes, £100.

Right, baked goat’s cheese curd cheesecake, strawberry sorbet, macadamia crumble and white chocolate soil (£8). Chocolate soil? Hmm. Grafene’s pastry chef is a class act, so Gordo thinks she can do better here. It’s good, but it could be better. The same goes for the sorrel posset, sumac meringue, granola and crème fraiche sorbet (£8, main image). These two, again, had too much going on. Tasty and fun, clear flavours, but too much. Calm down! The best pudding currently in Manchester is Hawksmoor’s simple sticky toffee pudding.

This is a pudding Gordo first tried at The Sharrow Bay in 1977. It was cooked for Gordo by Francis Coulson, the legendary chef/proprietor who, along with his partner Brian Sack, was in situ for decades. Brian took a shine to Gordo’s elder brother, naming the 26-year-old ‘Little Timmy Tucker’, and would drag Francis out of the kitchen to peek at him, much to his embarrassment. It did get the table some remarkable service, mind you, and Gordo half an hour in the kitchen watching the saucier prepare the champagne sauce for the fish middle course - which didn’t change for 35 years.

Baked goat’s cheese curd cheesecake, strawberry sorbet, macadamia crumble and white chocolate soil

The exceptional Hawksmoor pastry chef who produces Francis’s dish has got hers bang on, being comfortable enough not to pin garlands on it. The point? Less is more. Take a move backwards please Grafene and get more of your tarte tatins going. There’s a reason you are a pastry chef. Vanilla mille-feuille anyone?

Despite Gordo’s pickiness, Grafene is a hugely enjoyable experience. This lot, with Paul and Kathryn at the helm, are capable of a top five restaurant in Manchester. But get used to having Gordo on your case. Think quality, not quantity. Have a look at that plate of food and take something away before it goes over the pass, otherwise you're going to have all sorts of brickbats thrown at you from the outside world. Still, this is a Gordo Go that, like a Claret en primeur, should only get better.

Grafene, 55 King St, Manchester M2 4LQ. Tel: 0161 696 9700