Greens, Didsbury

Being vegetarian is tricky business. It has its pros - apparently, we’re expected to live longer than our meat eating companions, and we’re often served our meals first on aeroplanes - yet, in my experience, even in some of the best restaurants chefs tend to not put too much thought into vegetarian dishes; a single veggie ‘option’ on the menu often with ingredients that aren’t even vegetarian (I’m looking at you Parmesan cheese!)

For that reason, Greens restaurant has been on my list of places to visit for some time. 

Greens is a vegetarian restaurant owned by two Simons, one of which is celebrity chef Simon Rimmer. It’s located in leafy West Didsbury, on the outskirts of Manchester. Rimmer couldn’t even cook when they bought the restaurant in 1990 and, realising they were unable to afford to pay a chef, he taught himself from scratch using cookery books. Greens has since become one of the country’s best vegetarian restaurants.

We arrived just as it opened for lunch last Saturday and, initially, had the place all to ourselves. The interior is quirky, exposed brickwork, glamorous art, statement lamps and floral wallpaper gave something of interest wherever you looked. 

The menu featured plenty of innovative dishes, none of your usual token veggie options here. It was lovely to be able to explore a menu full of creative dishes. If you are vegetarian, you'll be in food heaven.

The service was excellent and the staff were particularly helpful with any questions we had about the menu and allowing us to take photographs. 

We began by ordering the Veggie black pudding with mustard mayo (£4.50) to share. This is made from a blend of beetroot, pulses, oats and mushrooms and was like nothing I’ve ever eaten before. Crispy on the outside with a light centre full of flavour. 

For starters I had Potato, chickpea and cauliflower with a curry spice dressing (£6.00). Why did the cauliflower get embarrassed? because it saw the chick pea!!!

My sister in law (who is not veggie and, despite being tiny, could probably eat a cow in one sitting) had Deep-fried oyster mushrooms with pancakes and a spring onion, cucumber and pickled ginger salad and plum sauce (£7.00), just like crispy duck! 

My brother had Patatas bravas with a black-pudding crumb, mojo sauce and garlic aioli (£7.00). We all had a taste of each others starters and they were all incredible but this was the favourite. The sauce was absolutely gorgeous, a really simple dish but full of flavour. 

The main courses were equally as good. I chose Halloumi tacos with tomato salsa, guacamole, sour cream and skin on fries (£13.00).

My sister-in-law had Truffled wild mushroom and white bean stroganoff served with rosemary roasted potatoes (£12.50).

My brother had Lancashire cheese and basil sausages with confit garlic mash, beer gravy and tomato chutney (£13.50).

Unfortunately we were all too full to even glance over the dessert menu but I’ll definitely return at some point. Greens is a great restaurant, by the time we left there wasn’t an empty table. Proof that vegetarian food can be popular and shouldn’t just be an afterthought on a menu.

Whether you’re a veggie or a carnivore, I’d recommend a visit.

Greens

0161 434 4259

41-43 Lapwing Lane, West Didsbury, Manchester, M20 2NT

Halen Môn, Anglesey

I’ve never paid too much attention to salt. As long as it’s accompanied with a slice of lime and a shot of tequila I’m a happy lady. However, during a recent trip to Anglesey, I was intrigued by lots of little blue and white Halen Môn sea salt jars which featured in every restaurant we visited. 

I discovered that Halen Môn, also known as Anglesey Sea Salt, was set up in 1997 by David and Alison Lea-Wilson to resurrect Anglesey’s 18th century craft of sea salt making. The couple already owned The Anglesey Sea Zoo but the seasonality of the business caused serious cash-flow problems, so David and Alison hit on the idea of making sea salt. They took a saucepan of seawater from the Menai Strait to their home to boil on their Aga. Salt crystals began to form and Halen Môn was born. 

Today, the pure, white sea salt is enjoyed around the world by chefs (including Heston Blumenthal and Tom Aikens), food lovers and was even served at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding. 

If that’s not enough recognition, in 2014 the salt was given Protected Designation of Origin status which puts it up there with the likes of Champagne and Parma Ham. This means that Halen Môn must be made and packed on the island, using only seawater sourced from the Menai. 

Halen Môn remains a small family run business with just over twenty employees. It has recently expanded by opening Tŷ Halen, a Saltcote and Visitor Centre. Situated on the banks of the Menai, visitors can go on a behind the scenes tour of the salt factory to see how Halen Môn is produced. 

We visited during a recent trip to the island to learn more about what makes Anglesey Sea Salt so special. We were led by our guide, Eluned, on a 50 minute tour of the factory as well as a salt tasting session (unfortunately tequila wasn’t included!)

Eluned explained that sea water is taken from the Menai, of which approximately 3% is salt. It is then passed through a series of filters, to remove any seaweed or sand particles, and allowed to flow into crystallisation tanks where it is boiled at 80 degrees. 

We were told how a duty has to be paid to the Queen for the seawater, since the Crown owns the coastline and charges rent for the pipeline into the factory. 

Aside from the Menai’s water being exceptionally clean, the company don’t do anything to the salt except heat and rinse the crystals, which gives the great taste and sparkling appearance. Totally natural, nothing else is added.

Each morning the harvesters scoop the crystals up by hand and rinse them in brine to reach the desired taste, texture and sparkle. The crystals are then dried in ovens and packed into the little blue and white ceramic jars that we saw all over Anglesey.

Every jar is marked with the harvest date and the salt maker's initials so you know that your sea salt was packed by a real person and "not some robotic arm in a factory." Some of the salt is blended with different seasonings to give different tastes including vanilla, chilli, garlic, celery and charcoal. 

During the tour we learnt that in 1807, pioneering chemist Sir Humphry Davy separated salt into sodium and chlorine as separate elements. Sodium can burst into flames when exposed with water and chlorine is a lethal gas. But, put the two together and they make one of the nicest tastes we know today. Salt has since become the world’s most taxed commodity and in Switzerland, the government is the only body allowed to directly import salt. 

After our tour we sat down for a taste test whereby we were each given a sheet of paper with different varieties of salt on to taste. Starting with basic table salt, then standard rock salt before tasting various flavours of Halen Môn. 

For someone who previously knew nothing about salt, the difference between the table salt and the Anglesey sea salt was immediately evident. To taste sea salt in its natural form and compare it to the refined salt that we use at home (and also put down on the path when it snows) really illustrated that salt tastes best at its rawest. 

Needless to say we vowed to banish the table salt from our kitchen and left with bags full of salty goodies from the factory’s shop, including delicious salted caramel sauce and bars of sea salt chocolate.

For me, Anglesey Sea Salt is enjoyed best with chocolate. The saltiness intensifies the cocoa and caramel flavours. Green & Blacks use Halen Môn as do Rococo Chocolates. President Obama is also a fan and has the salt sprinkled on his favourite caramel milk chocolates made by Fran’s Chocolates in Seattle. If it's good enough for the President, it's good enough for me!

Halen Môn

The Marram Grass Cafe, Anglesey

Driving through the winding countryside roads on the Isle of Anglesey, you'd be forgiven for sailing straight past one of the best eateries in the UK.

The location of The Marram Grass cafe is unusual to say the least, hidden away on a caravan park in rural Newborough. From the outside you wouldn’t imagine that this little cafe could be so popular. 

So popular in fact, people are regularly turned away because the cafe is full. We visited last weekend and watched in disbelief at how many people arrived desperate for a table. One poor chap even tried his luck three times and was told on each occasion that they were fully booked all weekend. 

Marram Grass is owned by Liverpool brothers Liam and Ellis Barrie, whose parents bought the White Lodge Caravan Park on which the cafe is situated. Liam is front of house while Ellis is chef. It’s set in an old potting shed with a corrugated iron roof. Chickens and hens wander freely outside, keeping watch over the cafe’s carpark. 

When the brothers first took over the cafe in 2011, it was a greasy spoon serving all-day breakfasts with just four tables. In a previous life if was even a rabbit breeding shed. The cafe has since developed and has become something of a gourmet caravan park cafe with over 40 covers. The brothers aim was simply to create a relaxed place where the menu would be based on quality, provenance and seasonality. They’ve certainly achieved this, and have earned themselves a place in the prestigious Good Food Guide.

The interior is charming and quirky. There is a lovely little wood-burning stove in the corner, hanging baskets and mismatched glass bottles dotted around on window-ledges and a humorous sign above the bar, “no bloody swearing.”

Yet the real star of the show is undoubtedly the food, which is absolutely beautiful. The menu is confident and changes to reflect the season. The brothers source the ingredients from as many local producers as possible, including mussels from the Menai Strait and Anglesey Sea Salt from the nearby Halen Môn. It makes the most of Anglesey’s fantastic local produce and the great relationship that the Marram Grass has with local farmers and suppliers.

Soup of the day with homemade bread (£4.75)

Menai mussels with white wine, shallots and leek (£13.50)

Anglesey Goats cheese roasted fennel with cumin, fennel bahji, picked salsify and passion fruit (£7.95)

Maris piper potato terrine with stuffed leek, broccoli variations and Hafod crisps (£15.95)

Traditional fish and chips served with mushy garden peas and tartar sauce (Half £9.50/Full £14.50 - this was only half!)

The desserts were our favourite and went down an absolute treat. The panna cota was one of the nicest desserts I’ve ever had. 

Anglesey Apple panna cota with ice cream (£7.50)

Bitter orange, cardamon and fennel creme brûlée (£6.50)

Rhubarb custard crumble (£6.50)

The cafe was full to the brim while we were there and the phone rang off the hook; people desperate to secure a reservation following a recent wave of publicity from Julia Bradbury’s program, ‘Best Walks With A View’, which featured the cafe as well as a recent article in the Guardian.

The atmosphere inside was cheerful and buzzing, despite the changeable Welsh weather outside, everyone seemed happy to be in the safety and comfort of the little Marram Grass shed. 

Our waiter, Ally, was a real character, very friendly and passionate about the food he was serving. 

After our meal, we got chatting to the brothers aunty and uncle outside who were visiting for the day from Liverpool. Even they had difficulty booking in. The Barrie brothers might be charming chaps but they also know good business!

I love how passionate and enthusiastic Liam and Ellis are. Their personality has trickled through into every detail; the menu, the decor and the service. Despite their success they seem grounded and remain committed to the caravan park, undeterred by a recent flooding which caused them to close the cafe for a period to refurbish. They have recently set up Gardd Rhosyr, a 14 acre agricultural space which is going to be used as a kitchen garden and recreational space where they will grown their own produce and rear their own animals. 

Ellis told me that he would love to open up another eatery close-by. Judging by the people who we saw turned away in their droves I’m sure they wouldn’t have any difficulty filling up a second place. I know I’d be first in the queue!

If you do plan to visit, it goes without saying that you should book in advance. I’d also coincide the visit with a walk on the nearby Newborough Beach to Llanddwyn Island, which is absolutely stunning. 

Parking at the cafe is limited so make sure you arrive in plenty of time and be prepared to park on the road. Unless you’re in a caravan, in which case, pitch up and make yourself at home. 

The Marram Grass

White Lodge, Newborough, Anglesey, LL61 6RS

Breakfast (09:30 - 11:00) : Saturday & Sunday

Lunch (12:00 - 14:30) &  Evening (18:00 - 21:00): Thursday - Sunday

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Daphne's, London

Daphne’s is a gorgeous little Italian located between Chelsea and South Kensington, surrounded by the smart Brompton Cross shops including J Crew, Joseph and Chanel. The restaurant, bar and conservatory have all been designed with Italy in mind. A marble-topped bar, Venetian mirrors and vintage 1950s chandeliers make for an incredibly glamorous setting. 

It was originally opened in 1964 by theatre agent Daphne Rye, who discovered Richard Burton. It quickly became one of London's most fashionable haunts. It is now owned by Richard Caring, who owns The Ivy, and there is also a sister restaurant in St James, Barbados.

In the summer, Daphne’s comes to life. The doors to the front and the conservatory roof are opened for al fresco dining and an ice cream bike parks outside to serve customers Italian Gelato.

We visited mid-afternoon and were seated in the bar area. We chose Bellini’s which were made perfectly. Done correctly, a Bellini is a mixture of one third peach juice and two thirds prosecco. Bars quite often replace the peach with strawberry but Daphne’s know their drinks!

While we were enjoying our Bellini's we had a quick look over the menu. It consists of authentic, seasonal Italian country cooking. Carpaccio, cured meats, pasta dishes, risotto, lobster and summer truffles all feature as well as a classic dessert menu.

If you like Italian food and great cocktails, Daphne's is definitely worth a visit. Dress up, it’s not overly smart, but it’s very classy!

www.daphnes-restaurant.co.uk

112 Draycott Avenue, SW3 3AE

020 7589 4257

Photos courtesy of Daphne's

Sketch, London

I love a good afternoon tea and there is one place in particular that’s been top of my list to try. Sketch in London offers what can only be described as an afternoon tea extravaganza. 

Image courtesy of Sketch

It’s the brainchild of international restaurateur, Mourad Mazouz, and three-time Michelin-starred chef Pierre Gagnaire, who is something of an icon of 'fusion cuisine'. Together they have created a wonderland destination for food, art and music. 

Based in a Georgian Mayfair townhouse, which was previously the London Atelier of Christian Dior, the outside looks inconspicuous enough, except for a guard-dog sculpture climbing the exterior. However, once inside, you’re awoken to a whole different world. It’s sensory overload with art everywhere that you look. 

After a quick game of hopscotch in the entrance, we were shown through to our restaurant of choice.

There are five different rooms to choose from, the Gallery, for afternoon tea and dinner; the Lecture Room, a Michelin-starred dining room serving lunch and dinner; the Glade, a woodland themed bar serving afternoon tea and comfort food; the Parlour, a relaxed area for all-day dining which converts into a private lounge of an evening; and finally, the East Bar, a small, dome-shaped bar located below the famous toilets (more about those later!) Each room is decorated with a unique theme, to transport you to a different world. 

We booked to have afternoon tea at the Gallery. This is a beautiful huge pink room, created by Paris based architect and interior designer India Mahdavi, with 239 witty sketches by British artist David Shrigley displayed all over the walls. It forms the largest group of original drawings Shrigley has ever exhibited, exploring the themes of life, death and beyond. They offer great points of conversation between servings. Shrigley's art also extends to the crockery, giving an Alice and Wonderland feel with humorous references to the food as you eat. 

Pink velvet booths are dotted all around which reminded me of ladyfinger biscuits. A stunning copper bar-back takes centerstage where fantastic cocktails are created. Behind the scenes, a team of over 50 beaver away in the kitchen making all manner of creations. The Gallery team wear bespoke uniforms of T-shirt dresses and smart, grey boiler-suits. The whole experience is surreal, playful and magical and is probably the most decadent space I’ve ever had afternoon tea.

While oohhing and ahhing at our surroundings, we ordered a couple of glasses of rosé champagne which were poured, theatrically, overhead. Soon after our lovely waitress, Isabelle, wheeled a trolly over to us and began serving our afternoon tea delights. Never have two hungry ladies been so happy, our eyes twinkled as each of the cakes and sandwiches were unloaded in front of us. 

The usual afternoon tea sandwiches were on offer (salmon, cucumber, egg mayonnaise and cheese) but all served with a twist. The cheese sandwich, for example, was made with melted mozzarella and wrapped as a gift with a bow, my favourite. The egg sandwich was served with caviar (which I declined) and a little quail egg on top, which looked just like a Haribo fried egg sweet.

The cakes consisted of small patisseries, chocolates, cheesecakes and macarons as well as the obligatory warm scone with clotted cream and jam. 

After impressively ploughing through all of the food in under an hour, we were offered complimentary refills which, as tempted as we were, we had to pass on simply due to a lack of space. We did, however, order a couple cocktails which we sat enjoying while watching the team set up the tables for the evening’s a la Carte sitting.

The service we received made the experience so special. Isabelle was exceptional and nothing was too much trouble, constantly topping up our tea and making sure my sandwiches and cakes were vegetarian friendly. I have never met such a cheerful waitress, she told us how much she loves working in Sketch and I can fully understand why!

After eating we went in search of the famous Sketch toilets. These really have to be seen to be believed! A simple trip to the loo becomes a space age odyssey. An all white room with a technicolour ceiling is filled with egg shaped pods. I began to wonder whether my little cakes had contained a hidden ingredient…. As I locked the door to my pod, a voice boomed around me, as though I was in a space-rocket, “Houston we have a problem.” I got out of there as quickly as I could before “blastoff”. 

On our way down we spotted a cave like bar under the stairs which we went in for a cocktail. Entering the East Bar was like being in an igloo (not that I’ve ever been in an igloo you understand, but it’s how I imagine it would be.) It’s dimly lit inside and takes a minute for your eyes to focus, rather embarrassingly we walked in clinging to the walls to avoid falling over. The bar itself is an intimate space with only a limited number of people able to sit there at any one time. The whole area is covered in yet more sketches. The bar is in the centre of the room and is sunk into the ground, all adding to the quirkiness. 

Like brave explorers, we left the safety of our little igloo and ventured on into a wild woodland, also known as Glade bar, for yet more cocktails. Happiest in our natural habitat we stayed there for several hours taking in the enchanted fairytale forest. Mirrors rotate around the room to give you an ever changing view. At least I think (and hope!) they were rotating, it could have just been the cocktails!

Sketch opened in 2003 and, despite many critics claiming it was too gimmicky and wouldn’t last, it has stood the test of time, constantly reinventing itself by featuring different artists. Apparently the décor in the Gallery is transformed by a new artist every two years - though I understand that the current set-up has been so popular that there are no immediate plans to renovate. 

It’s not surprising that only two years after opening Sketch was voted as the 18th best restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine. I absolutely love the concept and wish there was something similar closer to home. It’s not cheap by any means, the Champagne Afternoon Tea costs £57.00 per person, but it is definitely worth a visit. 

I’m pleased to have ticked the afternoon tea off my list but unfortunately I now have several new places to try, starting with the Lecture Room, then the Parlour, a meal in Glade, a return trip to the Gallery…..

Sketch

9 Conduit Street, London, W1S 2XG