We go back a goodly while with Aiden Byrne’s food, starting with a visit to the Church Green, in Lymm, back in 2010. There were then several meals at Manchester House and Restaurant MCR in the city’s Spinningfields area. So. when we heard that he’d opened a new restaurant on Knutsford’s King Street, it had to be worth a try. Now, to be fair, tasting menus are no longer a favourite way of eating for us – generally just give us a traditional three course menu, where we can pick and choose what we want to eat, and we are happy campers. But sometimes, you have to go for the excitement and creativity that a top notch chef can bring to dinner. And this was an excellent dinner – faultless in its creation and execution – and even more impressive when you know the menu changes monthly.
The building dates from the 16th century and is timber framed (and officially listed for its architectural importance). Originally built as a house, it’s been in commercial use for many years, recently as restaurants. The interior is quirky, divided into several spaces each rising up by a couple of steps as you move from the front to the back. It means you’ve almost got a private space, sharing it with just one or two other tables. It’s held together by a simple, bright decorative and lighting scheme, spacious tables and comfy seating. And service, under the eye of Sarah Byrne, is spot on. It’s one of those places where, as soon as you walk in, you know everything is going to happen just as it should. There’s a warm friendliness in its delivery, with staff engaging with us, as do the chefs, including Aiden, who bring the food and explain it to you.
I usually like to record meals with as much detail as I can remember but these are intricate dishes with lots of ingredients and my memory just isn’t up to retaining that much detail. So, as best I can, here goes. The nine course menu kicks off with a vintage Aiden dish, which we’d had before at Restaurant MCR. A savoury macaroon, with a sweetcorn ganache, topped with a cured, but otherwise raw, scallop. What I wrote six years ago still applies – “It’s a belter of a start – the sweet savouriness you get from the corn, chewy macaroon contrasting with the soft texture of the scallop”.
Then, several ways with carrots, grown by Field 28 near Warrington (they have a nice farm shop if you’re out that way). The most intriguing way was “carrot glass” – carrot puree spread very thin and then fried, so it goes crisp and semi-translucent, almost like a stained glass window. A smoked mussel consommé next - powerful flavour to the broth, dotted with mussels and slices of Jerusalem artichoke (or a miso broth for my partner who has a mussel allergy).
Bread is served at this point. A warm buttermilk loaf, with cultured butter for slathering over . And a mousse made from Yorkshire pecorino for dunking. The mousse is a genius idea. Before you’ve finished that, a little mushroom tart is served. Crisp pastry with wilted wild garlic leaves in the base with cheese and mushroom mousse.
A small fillet of butter poached cod seemed simplicity itself and all the better for it. There’s a little garnish of sea vegetables and still crisp onion for texture. The whey from making the cultured butter that came with the bread, is now used in an onion sauce. It’s all lovely. The “main course” is a very flavoursome and tender piece of chicken . There’s the very first of the new season asparagus (grown under cover in the Wye Valley). But the star is a chicken lasagne – layers of pasta interleaved with, I think, thigh meat. It’s so delicate yet really flavoursome.
Then it was on to a couple of desserts. The first was one of those with a modern twist that uses vegetables and always makes you wonder if it will work. It does – it’s delivered by the pastry chef. She’s a star and a real asset to the restaurant. This is clever. She brings together coffee, mushroom, potato and celeriac in a way that is entirely a dessert. And I’m not going to describe it further so as not to spoil the surprise and enjoyment of the craft going on here. The final plate featured very seasonal forced Yorkshire rhubarb, with a yoghurt mousse and shards of meringue. Espresso to finish.
We’d had a lovely evening. Yes, tasting menus can go on for a bit but this one was well worth it. I’m sure we’ll be back at some point. Oh, yes. The restaurant name? It’s taken from the small River Lily which runs through the town.
