The New Boy ‘popping up’ on the Reigate Block
Eight o’clock on a Friday evening seems an odd time to be heading for some tea rooms, only I’m not going there for tea!
We were en route to the Vintage Tea House in Reigate to sample a menu from Private Chef Maxwell McKenzie at his latest pop-up restaurant.
The interior of the Vintage Tea House looked fabulous, warm, welcoming and intimate with the tables all laid for dinner swathed in candle light.
We were welcomed by the very charming Frank, from the Vine King who was acting as front of house. On arrival and shown to our table we were offered a glass of NV Dolci Colline Prosecco. Very light, crisp and clean, the Prosecco went superbly well with the Jerusalem artichoke curry spiced crisps that were placed on the table. What a great way to cook and use the delightful knobbly little root veg, which aren’t actually an artichoke at all but from the sunflower family!
Before the amuse-bouche of cauliflower and crispy cheese, a generous portion of sourdough bread arrived and we could then delve our knives into the perfect little mounds of butter that had been sitting on our table. The butter was delicious and moreish made of brown butter and crème fraîche.
The amuse-bouche was a silky smooth cauliflower soup with a fluffy, creamy head topped with crispy parmesan served in a very English tea cup. Very fitting with the surroundings. The salty crunch of the parmesan delightfully cut through the soup.
Each dish had been paired with a wine, so after we’d supped our refill of Prosecco the next wine brought to us by Frank was a 2011 Castro Celta from Spain, again very light and certainly not a wine to quaff in the summer sun but soon became a different animal once you started eating, giving it more depth.
Our starter was skate wing & potato terrine, pickled seasonal vegetables and beetroot mayonnaise. Now I love beetroot but I have to say that having a pink mayonnaise on my plate for a starter did not appeal to my eyes but it was delicately flavoured and the pickled beets on the plate were sweet and earthy. The skate wing terrine seemed a tad bland and could have done with a bit more seasoning in my view.
We knew that our main course was on the way because as if by magic the red wine appeared…but not the shop keeper. Those who are old enough to remember Mr Benn will know what I’m talking about!
This time a 2009 Chateau de Cedre from Cahors had been chosen to accompany the slow roasted pork belly, broccoli and black pudding. The pork belly just melted and the black pudding was the best I have eaten in a long time, so much so that I asked Frank where is was from. It was supplied by Robert and Edward’s butchers and I will certainly be going to get some from them. The dish was brought together with a beautifully, silky rich sauce…the sort that when no one was looking I had to run my finger over the plate for one last taste (naughty).
We had opted to have the cheese course and were given a 2011 Felino Cabernet Sauvignon, Paul Hobbs from Argentina. With each wine, Frank told us a little background information without being pretentious at all and was a nice addition to the evening.
Last to arrive was the iced rhubarb parfait, shortbread and macadamia nuts. I’m really a not a nut lover but the macadamia nuts that had been roasted and crushed added a lovely texture to the parfait. The shortbread biscuit was delicious, short and crisp and an absolute delight on the plate was lemon curd…oh childhood memories.
With the parfait we were given a glass of 2000 Rivesaltes Ambre, sweet and full of toffee flavour.
It was a fabulous evening, wonderful food and in an inspired setting. I would recommend booking up to any of Maxwell’s pop ups. What an incredible young talent…and he is young, at twenty three he certainly has a huge future in front of him.
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Next Maxwell McKenzie pop up is at The Vintage Tea House, Reigate on 28th March 2013
