Trains, Hand and Flowers
19-Nov-08 - "Where's Princes Risborough?" Asked Jill. "I've never heard of it." I explained that it's in Buckinghamshire and a convenient staging post for Myburgh, our photographer, to pick me up on the way to the Hand and Flowers in Marlow. That's where I'd arranged to meet Simon Hulstone, chef-patron of the Elephant in Torquay, Knorr Chef of the Year (see post 07-Oct-08) and the UK representative at next year's Bocuse d'Or in Lyon. "So why aren't you going to Torquay?" Because Simon isn't there. He's flying into LHR (poor sod) at 11:00 and we've arranged to meet on his way home. Marlow is en route, and not far from the YES CHEF! offices in Buckingham. With me so far?
"Where's Princes Risborough?" Asked the man at the station ticket office. I referred him to the answer I had given previously. His face lit up as it appeared on his computer screen. "Yes, here it is! I've never sold a ticket to there before!" It was a light moment in the usual slog up to London, although the train from Littlehampton usually has plenty of space after 9:00, but it fills up very quickly after Worthing, and this morning it was only a four-car train, and was packed by the time we left Hove. It was on time into Victoria, however, and I got a cab to Marylebone (£10) arriving half an hour before my connecting train departed. It's the Birmingham train, the diesel Chiltern Clubman (Class 168) and was not only almost empty but has proper seats with tables and sockets for your laptop even in second class. Spotlessly clean, too.
The Hand and Flowers has the look of a warm, welcoming country pub, with high-backed banquettes, raw brick bar and walls, table settings with fresh flowers, good glass and crocks and rough-hewn plank tables. There are no tablecloths, but linen napkins, and 'planky' art on the walls, newspapers for the guests, and charming and very attractive waitresses. Tom and Beth Kerridge sold all their possessions and took over what had been a simple neighbourhood boozer in the spring of 2005, and it still functions as a pub, although food has rather taken over the place - so much so that it won a Michelin star in 2006. You can read all about it in the January, 2009 issue of YES CHEF! Magazine, as well as the interview with Simon Hulstone.
But the food: started with glazed omelette of smoked haddock and parmesan (£8.50) which was served in the pan in which it had been cooked - lovely creamy egg with strips of lightly-smoked fish and just the right, subtle amount of parmyjarmy (as we call it at the Eversley). I asked (as I always do) for the waitress to choose a glass of something suitable and she came back with a very acceptable Chilean Sauvignon. The serving was generous and I only ate half of it because I knew that I wouldn't finish the main course otherwise.
This I had spotted on the restaurant's website: slow cooked Oxford beef with bone marrow bread pudding, pomme galette and braising jus (£15.50) which was spectacular. The beef was actually ox-cheek cooked for so long that it fell apart on the plate, and the bread pudding deliciously mopped up the jus. Simon had the same dish and we both agreed that it was excellent. He was driving and so stuck to water, and I had a glass of South African Cabernet-Sauvignon, which was equally well chosen. Myburgh is South African himself and always orders steak (can't complain about that as I am a steakista myself) and he had Oxfordshire rump steak with Hand and Flowers chips and Béarnaise Sauce (£19.50), which he pronounced equally excellent. The chips are something of a speciality, steamed and then twice-fried to become like croquettes, and the Béarnaise, well, for me it's always been the king of sauces (well, except maybe for sauce au poivre) for steak.
You can eat here for under a tenner ("bowl of soup, bread and a pint") or three courses from about £30 plus drinks, and Tom told me that the average spend is about £35. Not bad at all for Michelin-starred food.
"Where's Princes Risborough?" Asked the man at the station ticket office. I referred him to the answer I had given previously. His face lit up as it appeared on his computer screen. "Yes, here it is! I've never sold a ticket to there before!" It was a light moment in the usual slog up to London, although the train from Littlehampton usually has plenty of space after 9:00, but it fills up very quickly after Worthing, and this morning it was only a four-car train, and was packed by the time we left Hove. It was on time into Victoria, however, and I got a cab to Marylebone (£10) arriving half an hour before my connecting train departed. It's the Birmingham train, the diesel Chiltern Clubman (Class 168) and was not only almost empty but has proper seats with tables and sockets for your laptop even in second class. Spotlessly clean, too.
The Hand and Flowers has the look of a warm, welcoming country pub, with high-backed banquettes, raw brick bar and walls, table settings with fresh flowers, good glass and crocks and rough-hewn plank tables. There are no tablecloths, but linen napkins, and 'planky' art on the walls, newspapers for the guests, and charming and very attractive waitresses. Tom and Beth Kerridge sold all their possessions and took over what had been a simple neighbourhood boozer in the spring of 2005, and it still functions as a pub, although food has rather taken over the place - so much so that it won a Michelin star in 2006. You can read all about it in the January, 2009 issue of YES CHEF! Magazine, as well as the interview with Simon Hulstone.
But the food: started with glazed omelette of smoked haddock and parmesan (£8.50) which was served in the pan in which it had been cooked - lovely creamy egg with strips of lightly-smoked fish and just the right, subtle amount of parmyjarmy (as we call it at the Eversley). I asked (as I always do) for the waitress to choose a glass of something suitable and she came back with a very acceptable Chilean Sauvignon. The serving was generous and I only ate half of it because I knew that I wouldn't finish the main course otherwise.
This I had spotted on the restaurant's website: slow cooked Oxford beef with bone marrow bread pudding, pomme galette and braising jus (£15.50) which was spectacular. The beef was actually ox-cheek cooked for so long that it fell apart on the plate, and the bread pudding deliciously mopped up the jus. Simon had the same dish and we both agreed that it was excellent. He was driving and so stuck to water, and I had a glass of South African Cabernet-Sauvignon, which was equally well chosen. Myburgh is South African himself and always orders steak (can't complain about that as I am a steakista myself) and he had Oxfordshire rump steak with Hand and Flowers chips and Béarnaise Sauce (£19.50), which he pronounced equally excellent. The chips are something of a speciality, steamed and then twice-fried to become like croquettes, and the Béarnaise, well, for me it's always been the king of sauces (well, except maybe for sauce au poivre) for steak.
You can eat here for under a tenner ("bowl of soup, bread and a pint") or three courses from about £30 plus drinks, and Tom told me that the average spend is about £35. Not bad at all for Michelin-starred food.
posted by John Radford at
06:31
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