The Rick Stein food empire has finally spread to Wiltshire and we are meeting our friends, Sassy & Jem, for lunch at his new restaurant in Marlborough. The Restaurant is in an 18th century listed building called Lloran House and it opened just a few weeks ago. Between us, we have experienced many of Rick Stein’s other eating establishments with some mixed results, from fabulous to poor. Here’s hoping today will be at the fabulous end of the spectrum!
Rock and Jem both have mackerel to start but prepared in different ways. Jem has the grilled mackerel fillets served with pickled autumn vegetables, chervil and chilli oil. Rock has the mackerel escabeche, fried and then marinated in olive oil, white wine vinegar and herbs. Sassy has the gigantes (giant butter beans) with tomatoes and greens. I have the crab linguine with tomato, garlic, chilli and spring onion. So far, so good.
Jem and I decide to sample the wine list. I have a glass of the Le Tuffeau, a zingy French sauvignon blanc and Jem has a glass of Rick’s own Spanish white made from viura and verdejo grapes. Both wines are very good.
Unlike everyone else at our table, I am not having fish for my main course. I have been tempted by the prospect of the pithivier filled with duck, porcini, red wine and Armagnac. The pithivier is enormous, big enough for at least two people, and served with new potatoes and cavolo nero. It is rich in flavour and tastes beautiful but, if I eat the whole pithivier, I may have to be carried out.
Rock and Sassy both have the pan fried fillet of hake served with champ mash potato and wild mushrooms. The hake is perfectly cooked and the champ is beautifully smooth, though they would both have preferred less champ and more vegetables. Meanwhile, I am still working my way through the pithivier.
Jem is having the John Dory a la Carlina, pan fried John Dory fillets with a rich sauce of tomatoes and capers. The conversation moves from travel to books to TV and then onto live music. I’m too busy to talk though – I still have a quarter of the pithivier to deal with!
On a trip to the loo for a lie down… I discover that the restaurant is much larger than it looks from the outside. It has two floors and there are at least two dining rooms on each floor. I resist the temptation to run up and down the stairs a few times to aid the digestive process and hope that, over time, I will find a tiny space for dessert.
We continue talking and, when the time comes to order dessert, I know I should follow Rock’s lead and simply order coffee. But, I don’t. In a moment of abject greed, I order the marmalade cheesecake served with a blood orange granita. Sassy has the Riz Au Lait, a warm rice pudding with spiced pineapple – which she says is her favourite dish of the day and Jem has the crèma catalana – a catalan crème brulee.
Even though I have clearly eaten far too much today and may spend the night dreaming about a giant pie, with the wings of a duck, flying towards me…..the overall experience has been towards the fabulous end of the scale!
WadeandRockandFood 