LIKE policemen getting younger, plates of food seem to be getting smaller. Enter almost any new restaurant and before you can say mine’s a Negroni serving staff are explaining the place’s caring, sharing small plate policy. Over-order at your peril, but inevitably you will, be it tapas, pintxos, tacos, pan-Asian fusion titbits – each gone in one gulp almost. It’s not just the street food pop-up folk going legit with the luxury of tables and plates; even the likes of Harvey Nichols’ 2nd Floor Brasserie have now switched tack from fine dining to fine – very fine, as it happens – small plate dining.
...and now a new bistro offering ‘textures of pumpkin’ and ‘seen and unseen risotto’ (no I don’t know either)
We’re not talking tasting menus like at The French, where the procession of exquisite mouthfuls is never rushed, especially when each is unveiled to the rhythm of the wine flight. No, this is customers at the mercy of the more casual kitchen. You’ll be told (and now a warning light ought to be flashing) “We’ll send the dishes out as and when they are ready.”
Then after deceptively leisurely nibbles (and hopefully that Negroni) everything arrives at once and you wished you’d been firmer with yourself and not cherry-picked the menu all in one go. Two large plates on a small table is manageable, but six, seven, eight small ones jostling for attention all at once is not so. Hot dishes can cool and congeal or worse carry on cooking to toughness while you are tackling the nearest dish in the pile-up.
The BlackbirdI’ve been hit with that twice recently, first at Wahaca in the Corn Exchange, where a sudden stampede of under-spiced Mexican stodge destroyed any joy in the occasion and we were out in under 45 minutes, feeling bloated. “Is your chef, Speedy Gonzales?” I wanted to ask cheekily, but the staff were nice and caught in the fast food headlights, so I refrained.
There was a similar service car crash at Blackbird, which reflected badly on many positives in the kitchen. It’s in Todmorden, my home patch, perceived as plain sister to Hebden Bridge along the Calder Valley but currently boasting a far better indie dining scene. In under twelve months there has sprung up Kava, a coffee house and cafe run by an ex-Smiths drummer, Site, a superb wood-fired pizza joint, Todmoorish, a Tyke take on Moroccan, and now a new bistro offering ‘textures of pumpkin’ and ‘seen and unseen ravioli’ (no I don’t know either). All this alongside the influential Incredible Edible Todmorden ‘food for the people’ project.
Blackbird’s Rhian Warhurst is the daughter of Incredible Edible’s founder and the eaterie, reviving a moribund bar site, grew out of their Bear Wholefood cafe/shop nearby.
Persian mezzeThe 2016 Good Food Guide describes its location as “on an atmospheric cobbled street opposite the Greek Revival Town Hall where you can imagine yourself in the Med if it wasn’t for the horizontal rain”. It was merely drizzling when we went in.
Inside it’s mix and match, decorated on a budget, catering for an all-day crowd from morning coffee to evening cocktails such as Damson in Distress. The current chef Ian Kendell has pedigree – his brother Steven runs Kendell’s Bistro in Leeds – but the menu as a whole is patchy despite the GFG tag.
Alerted to the absence of anchovies we swapped our starter from fish mezze to Persian – £15 but a lot going on to share, standouts a refreshing quinoa, black bean and pea salad and caramelised cauliflower kofta; the aubergine chermoula was too oily for my liking and, while the beetroot hummus was sprightly the standard version was offputtingly sweet.
Catalonian meatballs
Pork croquetasThere’s a good beer list centred around local organic brewers Little Valley, their new Cragg Vale neighbours Vocation and Manchester’s own Marble, but we went for a nutty, floral, elegant Chateau Pouilly Fuisse Tete de Cru, sourced from Warrington’s wonderful Gerard Seel merchants. Co-owner Kevin McDougall, who cannily fitted out Blackbird from scratch, is a bit of a wine buff and it shows in the excellent list.
By the time we were on our second glass all our (larger than average) small plates had arrived. Drinking white, we tackled the fish special first. The tandoori monkfish fillet (£6.50) was overcooked and savagely dry-spiced, while parmesan-crusted parsnip chips (£5) were as tough as torpedoes. Not a good start, but it improved hugely.
On the upside pork croquetas (£6) were a sticky treat with a lovely prune, chilli and calvados relish, just pipping Catalonian meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce (£6), both dishes benefiting from local free range, rare breed pork from Porcus, one of many outstanding small producers the valley is blessed with.
Tempura cod cheeksOn this occasion the venison haunch on rosti (£7.50, main image) was disappointingly overcooked, which a deft orange and liquorice sauce couldn’t disguise. When we returned to Blackbird to get some dish shots in daylight rather than candlelight Kendell seared it to pink perfection: we swapped the monkfish for tempura battered cod cheeks on minted pea puree (upmarket fish and chips really for £6) and they were crisp and flaky.
Puddings are kept simple – ice creams, sorbets, mousse, creme brulee. We passed only because we had over-ordered before. Perhaps because it’s Yorkshire these are larger than usual small plates. It’s all very confusing.
Blackbird, 23 Water Street, Todmorden, OL14 5AB. 01706 813038, www.blackbirdbar.co.uk; open seven days a week, from noon-11pm; main menu served 4pm-9pm.
Rating: 12/20
Food: 6/10 (mezze 7, monkfish 4, parsnips 4, pork croquetas 7, meatballs 7, cod cheeks 7, venison 7)
Service: 3/5
Ambience: 3/5
