RESTAURANT REVIEW: Tanners Restaurant

Chris and James Tanner’s restaurants are different from most with a television chef association – as well as having their names above the door, you’re actually likely to find the brothers behind the stove.

In addition to their well documented television careers, the Tanners also have an impressive fine-dining pedigree. Chris served his apprenticeship under the Roux Brothers, whilst James learnt his craft from the multi-Michelin starred Martin Blunos.

Their flagship eatery, Tanners Restaurant, first opened 14 years ago, winning the AA’s UK restaurant of the year, and remains one of the highlights of Plymouth’s increasingly competitive gastronomic scene. Gary Rhodes and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have both added Plymouth restaurants to their empires in recent months and Mitch Tonks has one on the way. With so many new additions, some have questioned whether the Tanner boys can still cut it.

As soon as you walk in, any concerns are laid to rest. The restaurant is situated in the stunning Prysten House, Plymouth’s oldest domestic building. Built in 1490, it houses an original limestone well and medieval courtyard creating the perfect backdrop for that special meal.

As you'd expect, the menu shows off the best the South West larder has to offer. On the night we visited, the starters demonstrated the benefits of locally sourced seasonal produce with wild garlic, mackerel and new season asparagus taking pride of place. Of the main courses, the lemon sole stood out with perfectly-cooked simplicity whilst rolled Gloucester old spot was lifted to new heights with butter poached lobster and sweet roasted pineapple. Our meal concluded with an intensly flavoured banana and passion fruit mille feuille and a salted peanut parfait. Combined with an impressive wine list, this was fine dining in every sense.

Tanners Restaurant has been in town for more than a decade but it is difficult to fault this particular combination of great ingredients and high quality cooking served in such an inspiring setting. I have yet to sample what the new boys on the block have to offer, but it is clear that they have some work to do to push the current incumbents off the top of the tree.

 

This review first appeared in the Ashburton Cookery School newsletter. 

Treating crabs with respect

Animal welfare has been back in the news with recent research by Queens University adding to the growing body of evidence that crabs feel distress when killed by certain methods.  Some experts, however, believe that crustaceans cannot feel pain due to their physiology - they have multiple nerve centres rather than a brain - and any twitching during cooking is simply a mechanical reaction. 

Whilst scientists continue to argue, most people would agree that any animal destined for the plate deserves our best efforts to minimise suffering.  According to the RSPCA, the most humane approach is electrocution.  This kills the crab within seconds, leading to sweeter meat - as distressed animals can release an acrid tasting hormone - and stops legs or claws being shed during cooking.  It is this method that is used in many top class restaurants.

Of course, this doesn't really help if you don’t have a Crustastun in your kitchen.  So follow this simple two stage process to limit any unnecessary distress*:

Step 1: put the crab into the freezer for an hour.  This will put it into a “coma” and desensitise it to the next stage.  

Step 2: disable the nerve centres: lift back the flap on the stomach and drive a skewer or pointed screwdriver hard into the cone shaped indentation beneath, then do the same through the roof of the mouth.  This will kill the crab, allowing it to be cooked without any further distress.

Shellfish dishes are amongst the tastiest there are and understanding how to dispatch them humanely and confidently opens up a world of delicious possibilities.

*as a general precaution always ask your fishmonger to clip the crab's claw membranes so that there is no chance of being nipped during handling.

Mozzarella and wine

My childhood memories of mozzarella are limited to the rubbery goo found on supermarket pizzas. As well as providing a workout for the jaw, I also remember that this “gourmet” cheese didn’t seem to taste of very much - all a bit confusing when I was being told that Italian food was one of the world’s great cuisines…

Things have moved on a lot since then, and one of my greatest pleasures in life is tearing my way through a stringy ball of artisan mozzarella, made from the creamy milk of a contented buffalo. It is also much easier to find great examples at farmers markets and supermarkets even in the darkest corners of the UK.  One beautiful example, if you can’t afford the trip to Italy, is made at Laverstoke Park by Jody Scheckter. This creamy lump of loveliness is one of those ingredients that demands to be served “au naturelle”, with as little cheffy fussiness as possible…although a a chilled glass of pinot grigio will definitely help…

Try it as part of this caramelised fig, mozzarella and prosciutto salad

Celebrating the kids' first birthday with the help of Charlie the patissier

Last weekend saw the start of a week long celebration to mark Jules & Sophia's first birthdays. We spent Saturday with 20 family and friends, enjoying a picnic in the beautiful Dartmoor National Park.  After the recent bad weather, we were fairly sure we would be faced with a washout, particularly as it was a bank holiday, but instead were treated to a glorious weekend of non-stop sunshine. From a food perspective, the undoubted stars of the show were the two birthday cakes made by good friend Charlie Shand of Cafe St Honore. He made a Fraisier for Sophia and a pistachio, white chocolate & apricot entremet for Jules.  Unfortunately, it was difficult to tell which was better as they were both devoured within minutes. It's on to Leamington Spa next weekend to celebrate with Jay's family - then six months of enforced dieting!

Eggs benedict - what it takes to put a smile on my face in the morning...

Whenever I have the choice between an extra 10 minutes in bed or a hearty breakfast I always choose the extra zzzzz's.  It doesn't matter if there is a full English on offer, pancakes with syrup, danish pastries or fresh berries.  The fact is, and it hurts me to admit this, I prefer sleep to food.

I have been grappling with this fact for a while, wondering whether it's time to share my guilt in therapy or close down this site and devote my efforts to persuading insomniacs to see the light (pun intended...)​. 

​Luckily, thanks to Mrs P, there is hope.  After five years of focused effort she has finally managed to make me rise with a smile in the morning... using a bait of freshly made eggs benedict with smoked salmon ("eggs royale").

​I'm going to stick my head out here and propose this as the finest breakfast on the planet.  I know this because, like all of the best things in life, it will give you a heart attack, it will make you fat but it will put a smile on your face.

​Most people are scared to make this at home because of the dreaded hollandaise, which, they reason, is guaranteed to split. However, using the blender method is guaranteed to stop it splitting, so stop pussy footing around and give it a go.

​Try Mrs P's excellent eggs benedict with smoked salmon and see exactly what it takes to get me excited in the morning!