Fraiche

Last Saturday we went to worship at the alter which is the food heaven of Marc 'Pierre' Wilkinson. The restaurant is tucked into a small parade of shops in Oxton,  with a chip shop one side and a double unit tapas bar , the Courtyard, next door.

I don't think I have ever been to a one star Michelin restaurant before, although I may have been in Rome or Paris without realising it, so I was intrigued to see what makes a restaurant that special.

The venue limits covers to ten, so as well as our party of four there were two couples in. One were being treated as a wedding present, the others were 'regulars' as they continued to point out to anybody who would listen. More about them later.

We were served all night by two delightful waitresses who explained the construction of each course in precise detail. And what a menu we had. We started with roasted almonds, were treated to a leaf of watercress with champagne oyster sauce. Then followed carrot soup with a mint froth, celeriac with fois grois and a hens egg. and a selection of breads. The main was Gressington duck followed by the cheese board and finally roasted pineapple. It was all extremely yummy, and lived up to the £55 price tag,  and the one star rating.

We accompanied the meal with a bottle of Mud House  Sauvignon Blanc which was great and a bottle of Chateau Musar Gaston Hochar 2000 from Lebanon. It was here that the first crack in the operation showed itself. The bottle we were offered was corked, although only just. The waitress had to take advise from the chef before it was changed. That should not have happened, and what would have developed if he had disagreed? We were then offered a 1999 vintage as the second bottle with no explanation why, and finally, I got all the sediment in the final glass, after which the waitress said, ah, I think I should have decanted this wine!!   Yes, love,  you should have .

We did not let a dodgy bottle of red spoil the evening and we all agreed we would go back if the right occasion presented itself.

What happened next, however, would have cost the chef his star if it was anything to do with me. Previously mentioned self important couple indicated to the waitress that as they were regulars they would like to say hello to Marc.  Out he came to talk to them about how he chats to other top chefs around Europe as he strives for a second star in a such a small premises. What he did not do is acknowledge the table of four punters  who were right behind him. How difficult is it to say 'hello, was everything to your liking' as he passed?

Now he may think that being in the Gordon Ramsay school of rude, arrogant chefs is the way to get on,  but it did him no favours on Saturday.

Da Piero

Well we don't get out much do we, first restaurant review for ages.......

Friday saw us visit this Italian restaurant in the heart of Irby, along with some work colleague and a couple of friends. The restaurant is well thought of locally, and has two knives and forks in the 2011 Michelin guide.

It has about twenty covers, making it cosy, and the decor is a bit '50s. There is also talk of them taking over the unit next door and expanding so it will be interesting to see how that changes the look and feel of the place.

Now onto the food. The four of us on our table had a wide choice of dishes. I had crayfish tails to start, the others had Pepata di cozza, a clam based dish, then we had seabass, an ossobuco and meatballs. The ossbuco is a traditional Sicillian dish and looked excellent. The mains all came with puy lentils, chopped saute potatoes and mixed veg. I sometimes find seabass a bit bland but this just about stood the flavour test, I suspect it was farmed though. That said, we all agreed it as very pleasant and  it negated the need for a pud!!

The wine was provided in the price of our deal, and was fine, although I would not know what it was....

So all in all a good forage into the unknown and a venue we will return to. Ambiance is all important in Italian restaurants and the small floor area might stifle that if  too many food trendies were booked in.

Dawn and her staff were very attentive and were good enough to e-mail us in the week to thank us for our service. Maybe the other Michelin restaurant on the Wirral could learn a bit from Da Piero

A brief word too for the pub over the road, the Shippons, where the guv'nor was very welcoming and resigned to his punters regularly going over the road, when he served food himself. We might try that one day ..