Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
1
It’s nearly twelve months since we were last here. Nothing has changed. It’s still a busy little place at the start of Sale’s main drag, even on a cold midweek evening. There’s still service that offers a warm welcome with everything happening just as it should. And there’s still a short, very seasonal, menu, offering half a dozen or so choices at each course.
This isn’t an Italian restaurant but there’s always a couple of pasta dishes on the starter menu or, as at present, it’s gnocchi. Those are effectively the same, although one will have a meat based sauce and the other vegetarian. And you can order a bigger portion of either as a main course. It’s a cracking idea. So, that was one with the mushroom ragu (the omnivore version was lamb). It’s more a dressing of the gnocchi, in the Italian way, than a lake of sauce you so often get. There’s a scattering of rocket and it’s finished with a little Parmesan. It works very well. Also working well was a perfectly seasoned cider and onion veloute, topped with Jerusalem artichoke crisps for a bit of contrast with the velvety soup.
We both went down a pie route for main courses. Both were perfectly OK but neither pies to shout from the rooftops about. One was a pithivier, filled with caramelised onion and feta but there was no obvious evidence of the advertised squash. A venison and butternut squash pie was nicely made with puff pastry – a proper pie, fully encasing the filling. The filling was very long cooked Bambi, so long cooked that it was almost a puree. There was a little squash in here but it was hardly making a contribution. But it was all bucked up by being served a little jug of gravy to pour over – it needed it as would have been a bit dry without. Both plates came with parsnip puree and a few springs of tenderstem broccoli.
For dessert, one of us ordered their signature peanut butter pie. It’s always on the menu and rightly so. Well made pastry and a really rich and indulgent filling topped with candied nuts. For the other, three scoops of the offerings from Cheshire Ice Cream Farm – apple sorbet, blackcurrant sorbet and clotted cream ice cream. Front of house are Italian and our guy suggested that he serve this in two bowls as sorbet and ice cream shouldnt be mixed. And he was right.
Joint owner, Andrea, is a sommelier by training. It’s in the genes – his family make Prosecco near Venice. One of the good things about Perfect Match is that he brings his skill to suggest a wine for each dish on the menu – just as you might see with a wine pairing on a tasting menu at a high end restaurant. It’s a good path to travel as you’re going to have things that you wouldn’t have instinctively ordered. For the one of us who drinks alcohol, there was a Prosecco to start. Then a fino sherry with the soup, a South African Chenin Blanc/Grenache blend with the pithivier and a Pedro Ximenez sherry with dessert. They work perfectly with the food.
Nice evening.
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
2
We’ve been back.
This was our first meal out of the year, in the UK. We’ve been in Spain for a few weeks since New Year. We ate out there every night so, in truth, we were a bit bored with restaurant food. So, for the first back home, we wanted somewhere that we reliably knew we’d have a nice and interesting meal. Perfect Match was, erm a perfect match of what we needed and what they offer. There’s not much to mention about the ambiance that hasn’t been said before – except it was a cold night and they could have done with having the heating turned up a bit. Fortunately, we were wearing an extra layer.
Bread arrived quickly. Good bread – tasty with a really nice crust. Soup was exactly what you want on a cold night. The earthy, yet sweetish,Muscade pumpkin was enhanced with a scattering of pumpkin seeds, chilli and sage leaves. For the other starter, there was really no decision to be made by me. I’m male and northern. When am I ever not going to order a barbecued lamb breast kebab. It’s delicious. As was the potato flatbread that came with it.
Flat iron steak was cooked bang on as requested. Tasty, tender and well rested. It comes with a choice of sauce, red wine in this case. There’s also a roasted Roscoff onion. And good chips, of course. It needed something more – a side of long stemmed broccoli did the trick. For the other main course, I’m an omnivore and do enjoy vegetarian food but, in a restaurant, I order something meaty (or fishy) more often. This was an enjoyable exception. I know maitake mushroom better as “hen of the wood” and it’s always delicious. And even better here coming barbequed with a nice bit of crispiness on the outside here and there. There’s a little celeriac in puff pastry which added to the earthiness. A black garlic “ketchup” and broccoli puree completed the plate. Well. I say “completed” but it needed a carb so a side order of really nice mash really did complete things.
As I mentioned, we were just back from Spain where there is often not a great choice of interesting desserts. So, it was good to be able to pick a couple of really good ones. Pistachio and olive cake wasn’t one of those “light as a feather” affairs that don’t really taste of anything. This was nice and you really got the pistachio. The flavour was enhanced by a pistachio ice cream. I forgot to ask if it was house made but it really was excellent. There’s blobs of mascarpone also on the plate. Across the table, there was a “special” – the first of the forced Yorkshire rhubarb, presented in several way – little cubes, gel and puree. It’s paired, traditionally, with custard – in this case a cold set version that had been elegantly piped onto the plate. For decoration, there’s thin meringue shards incorporating flecks of, I think, matcha tea. It’s inspired and easily the most enjoyed dessert in ages. Coffee was good – as you might expect in a restaurant half owned by an Italian.
