I'VE been afraid of cheese pies for some years.
The goo in the middle reminds me of pus in a blackhead. The spurt of stark infected yellow as the knife sinks into the pie turns my stomach. I'll go as far to say I avoid cheese pies like the plague or even like cheese pies. They make me worry for the ugliness of so much vegetarian food, its clumpy blur.
Just saying 'roast spiced plums with yogurt and honey' slides me into Dicken's Christmas Carol and Fred's house, Scrooge's happy and generous nephew.
Then at the Lawn Club a cheese, cauliflower and potato pie was ordered and I realised I'd been hasty. If the mixture of cheese and veg is correct and the ingredients are of an elevated standard and brought together with skill under a crust that looks you in the eye and says, "Open me" and if, baby, it's cold outside, then happiness lies here.
The filling of this pie was no volcanic goo but a lovely blend of the three main components to produce weight and body. This was a pie with gravitas.
A nice cheesy pie
Then again, aside from a crumble which was lacking in any sweetness, I adored The Lawn Club's offering from David Gale's team of chefs. What you get here is the most cultured barbecue you'll ever have - with gourmet additions from a top class kitchen. At the same time this Winter Menu is the most colourful, jolly, robust, shiny Christmassy food I've had piled up in front of me for a long time.
Fred attacks the gooseJust saying 'roast spiced plums with yoghurt and honey' slides me into Dicken's Christmas Carol and Fred's house, Scrooge's happy and generous nephew.
These plums were beguiling too and rammed with flavour and gentle spice. They made me smile to see them gathered on their log.
They like logs at the Lawn Club. All the food seems mounted on wood, but this is ok because it suits the hunting lodge feel of this handsome and permanent looking 'pop-up'.
Lovely spiced plums
Back to savoury courses and just as lovely and just as seasonal and gorgeously flavour-filled as the plums is the roast butternut salad with blue cheese and tasted pumpkin seeds. Part of the secret behind the Lawn Club's superb food is the care with which ingredients are brought together and spark off each other.
Rich colours and flavours
Those exact qualities are part of this trinity too: grilled chipolatas with a Worcestershire sauce glaze, mustard and maple bacon crisps; slow cooked chicken with garlic roast potatoes and garlic mayo; pork and apricot meatballs with rosemary mayo.
The glaze on these dishes was immacutely executed, the flesh on the chicken was timed to perfection, the mix of pork and apricot was just so, flesh and the tart apricot working as a team.
Chicken and pork
Cold collations such as the turkey and ham pie with locally cured ham, soft boiled egg, pickles and crusty bread are of course, as stated, cold, but they again deliver solid flavours and flair. The piccalilli is exquisite, the pie full-on and the addition of a 'soft' boiled egg the key, the hub around which it all spins.
Pie and egg
You get the message, the Lawn Club is very, very good. The warm platters and the plaice all maintained the standard while the warm Eccles cakes with a mountain of cream and strawberries are the best assembled Eccles cakes I can remember.
Warm Eccles cakes
The Lawn Club food hits the winter mood bullseye. The artfully rustic surroundings complete with fake furs, heaters, candles and so on fits the food just fine. The drinks selection joins in.
Nothing wrong with this place.
You can follow Jonathan Schofield on Twitter @JonathSchofield or connect via Google+
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You can follow Jonathan Schofield on Twitter @JonathSchofield or connect via Google+
Rating: 16/20
Food: 8/10 (pie 8, chipolatas 8, pork and apricot 8, plaice 8, turkey and ham 8, butternut salad 8.5, slow-cooked chicken 8.5, plums 8, Eccles cake 8.5, crumble 7)
Service: 4/5
Ambience: 4/5
Inside the Lawn Club
Platter chatter
