It was like stepping into a Victorian hunting odyssey. I almost expected a golden maned Aslan to stalk majestically through the lobby. Or the wardrobe door to open to reveal Mr Tumnus the fawn hanging butchered, ageing for 28 days, or whatever fawn meat hangs for.
Anthony Flinn is a bit of a food legend in Leeds. His impressive CV includes a two year stint under Ferran Adrià at the world’s “best” restaurant, El Bulli. Flinn’s own flagship restaurant, Anthony’s, is perpetually tipped for a Michelin star. His latest project, Piazza, opened in late 2008, is situated in one of the most impressive, historically beautiful buildings in the North of England – Leeds Corn Exchange. Anthony’s footprint includes an impressive 125 seater brasserie, a patisserie, bakery, chocolatier and delicatessen. Wine, however, is another science.
My opening exchange with the waitress: Gevrey Chambertin Domaine Heresztyn 2005 please – what temperature would you serve that? “About two above room”. Ouch, no WART awards here. Please can I have an ice bucket? “Yes sir, no problem.” Things are starting to improve already. After all, the wine list looks well thought out, and superbly priced, and the menu looks bistro chic.
Christmas day. Partridge on the menu. Well it has to be more exciting than turkey, and we don’t even own a pear tree.
Searching for a wine match, I figured a mature Grand Cru Burgundy should fit the bill. This Domaine Armand Rousseau Charmes-Chambertin is way beyond the top end of my normal wine budget at about £90 per bottle but it IS Christmas so I am happy to splash out. Is it worth the huge wonga though? In a single word, erm, not on your bastard nellie. I would rather have a threesome with two multi-tongued Ood than fork out the price of a brace of afternoon teas at The Ritz to end up with a limp biscuit.
Last time I tried this wine, there was a hint of cabbage on the nose, this time too. Fortunately, the taste is a bit more refined: Quince jelly with some orange blossom, but still a bit tart really. I can think of a large number of Pinot Noirs from Burgundy and New Zealand, for example, that would blow the socks off this wine at about 20% of the price.
Merry Christmas, anyway. I am going back to my Fortnum & Mason 2000 vintage champagne which is very moreish and goes very well with Dr Who (David Tennant) and the Master (John Simm). Will the Master Race take over the world? Not on your bastard nellie! Can’t wait for the NY Day episode!
I’ve just come back from the Amazon. I couldn’t resist the recommendation they emailed me for a couple of reasonably up to date books on my favourite subject. Both reference works of some weight, metaphysically as well as in the sense of excess baggage.
So if, like me, you fly on a Ryanair budget (and believe me, I wish I didn’t have to), then you will have to pay a £20 supplement if you want to take them on holiday with any more than your swimming trunks and sun cream.
I was going to review this place next year when I could have titled the post, 4030 2010. But on the 40th floor bar of 30 St Mary’s Axe the view could not wait and, verily, it must be one of the most stunning in the whole of London.
Just one day after the final match of the season, the 2008/9 FA Premiership is already a distant memory. We now enter the silly summer season where silly sums will be spent on sop soccer stars with scant regard for common sense or the common fan.
If there is one maxim in life that everyone understands it is that money does not guarantee success. I mean, look at Mark Hughes’ under-achievers. Being a long suffering Man City fan, it is no surprise to me that we scraped in mid table a whopping 5 points clear of footballing paupers, Stoke City, even though one of our players cost more than Stoke’s entire squad.
I have to congratulate Stoke on an over-achieving season. Based on the resources available to them and being newly promoted to the division, they were odds on to get relegated. But Tony Pulis had a well thought out strategy and it worked.
Strange game football eh? But the same can apply to wine. This bottle came from a Wine Society Mystery Burgundy Case (average implied bottle price £20 but actually was on sale for £56.75 on the WS website). Ouch! It better be good!
And so Eurovision has come and gone and, for once, the UK didn’t come last. In fact we made a creditable 5th place, although we had to recruit the noble Lord Webber of Musicals to write us a tune and, predictably, the singer had to come from a reality TV show.
Some have criticised Eurovision in recent years alleging tactical voting as being the cause of the UK’s fall from grace. I say our entries were just pap and wouldn’t have troubled the scorer in a hitting a barn door with a banjo competition.
Highly variable results is something you get used to when you drink Burgundy. Was Jean Grivot Nuits-St-Georges Les Lavières 2004 a “Waterloo” or did it score null points?
Gordon Brown’s nanny state has reached a new high in the form of film censorship and advice. I was watching an advert on TV for a kids film and the smallprint warning said “contains mild threat and comic fight scenes”. What is the point of such a warning? It is inconsistent with other media and not very helpful in any case.
Take an average episode of Dr Who that is aired by the BBC at peak family viewing time on a Saturday tea time. I used to watch regularly in the 1970’s – Jon Pertwee was my Doctor. There is more to frighten children than any amount of comic fighting. By the time I watched The Omen, I was fully prepared. It could have been labelled “may contain mild Satanic undertones”. But Damien was simply nowhere near as scary as a Dalek.
If West Yorskhire is within striking distance and you think you might enjoy looking out over the River Aire at a regatta of swans following a canal barge of revelling diners (I waved to them – birds and blokes alike) then Brasserie 44 is a place you might want to try.
Brasserie 44 shares a converted Victorian grain store with infamous hotel, 42, The Calls, one of the early entrants on this refurbished homage to modern city living. The Calls has turned the industrial past into the post-modern future – lofty living, dining and drinking quarter of Leeds city centre.
I’m not having much luck with my latest Burgundies from the Wine Society. This one would have cost £24.25 if it had not been included in a cheapo Burgundy bin end case. The 2004 is available at £28.50 - maybe that is a better bet now?
The 2001 I opened the other evening was slightly oxidised but there was clear evidence of a super wine under the dull acidity.
Apple and blackberry, raspberry and ginger. It tipped a good nod to Pinot Noir with the smell you get when you chuck damp leaves on a fire. It wasn’t so badly oxidised as to make it undrinkable but a £25 Nuit St-Georges like this should have had me in ecstasy rather than objectivity. Shame.
Stumble It!