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Jesmond Dene House, Newcastle
It's rare that a restaurant can tick all the right boxes for a perfect night out, but Jesmond Dene House has just about pulled it off.
That the grand architecture of the house and beautiful grounds are impressive has never been in doubt.
This grandiose listed building is the former home of Captain Andrew Noble and has played host to such historic figures as Rudyard Kipling and Lord Baden Powell.
It is a fantastic house in its own right but as part of the hotel's fifth birthday celebrations has recently undergone a fresh and contemporary makeover which is spot on.
The grounds are equally easy on the eye and a great place for a luxury afternoon tea or, as many lucky couples have enjoyed, a lavish wedding reception.
While the surroundings are fantastic and a cut-above the ordinary, the restaurant fayre, for me, has always struggled to live up to its magnificent setting.
That particular obstacle, I would venture, has now been cleared with considerable ease with the arrival of French chef Pierre Rogiothier.
Like most good chefs he talks a good game when it comes to sourcing the right ingredients (scallops from Scotland, organic beef from Northumberland and pigeon from Anjou, France), but boy does he sprinkle some magic dust on his execution and the presentation of the dishes.
If you are to have just one indulgent culinary experience this year, you must try the Pierre's Chocolate and Salted Caramel Chocolate Sphere.
This dessert arrives as a perfect ball on the plate only to collapse in a delicious hot and cold goo following the theatrical application of tiny jug of steaming sauce poured by the waiter.
As tasty as it was visually exciting, this was a heavenly dessert from the Blumenthal school of experimental cooking.
Equally innovative and beautifully presented were the Lindisfarne oysters. Set in their shells, the oysters came mashed in a Granny Smith apple jelly with a horseradish mousse. Sheer genius.
Elsewhere the Rogothier flourishes lifted every dish, from the coconut and lime in the green pea soup, served in coffee cups, to the pickled girolles (wild mushrooms) and garlic nougatine with the scallops.
The flourishes were pared down for the main dish of roast fillet of beef with bone marrow where the concentration here was on the flavours from organic beetroots, cavalo nero and tender stem broccolli to complement the perfectly cooked meat.
We retired to the reading room for our post meal coffees only to be presented with an array of after-dinner chocs which were superb.
After our fulsome praise of the chef to the maitre de, Chef Pierre took time out to chat to us about his work. And it was hard not to be bowled over by his enthusiasm and attention to detail.
With the dishes weighing in at 33 for the beef main and 9.50 for the Chocolate Sphere dessert, this is an indulgent night out, but well worth the extra for that something special.
Jesmond Dene House, Jesmond Dene Road, Newcastle. Tel. (0191) 212 3000 (www.jesmonddenehouse.co.uk)
Lunch menus are available at 16.50 for two courses, including coffee, for those on tighter budgets.
One Sunday every month they also run a Sunday on a Plate promotion with special theme price dinners. Sunday September 26th is a French Bistro theme. Four courses for 36.
The restaurant has three AA rosettes.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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