Gourmet Spot, The Avenue, Durham City

Jul 18 2008 by Geoff Laws, The Journal

REVIEWING restaurants is like visiting major art galleries. I tend to focus on looking at specific pieces, because there are only so many I can take in at any one time before I feel saturated by the experience.

I skip the rooms filled with sentimental Victoriana or pedestrian artisan offerings, searching for my target pieces. It takes discipline not to get drawn into reaffirming why I find this or that period or painter unappealing, but when I finally arrive in front of my goal picture, the reward makes my apparent disregard worthwhile. Being flooded by the creative genius of a true artist is inspiring and uplifting, which is where it connects with restaurant reviews.

There are many run-of-the-mill, imitative restaurants offering the same dishes in predictable styles that, while they may tick the ‘dinner’ box, don’t inspire me, and then there’s the Gourmet Spot in Durham. What an amazing discovery to find a chef so passionate about every brushstroke, every tiny detail of each dish and yet produces food which is neither pretentious nor precious.

Sean Wilkinson is undoubtedly a creative genius in a league of his own in County Durham, and our meal was a celebration of his talent.

The menu listed the constituent ingredients of each dish, but this was merely a map without any of the taste dimensions. For example, one starter was sketched as duck roulade, onion jam, roasted plum and sesame powder. What arrived was a masterpiece, bringing together densely rich duck meat wrapped in nori, an intense red onion reduction with glass-thin slices of roasted pickled plum and a scattering of nutty sesame powder to one side. Miniscule cubes of savoury jellies and dressings dotted colour around the dish and I was reminded of how classic Japanese artists spend hours contemplating their subject in a meditative state of absolute stillness and then, with a few quick strokes of the brush, distil the essence of the form on to paper and it’s done. Sean’s food has similar qualities. He has clearly spent a long time thinking about how each dish’s elements relate to one another before committing them to the plate, and the results are superb.

His goats cheese starter produced a creamy disc of cheese on a savoury crumble topped with tangy blood orange jelly. Each layer tantalised the tastebuds. The wild mushroom mousse, redolent with garlic, kept nudging me first one way then the other until I was almost overwhelmed with flavours. Thank goodness for a brief interval before main courses, when this excellent experience continued with a masterful slow-cooked belly pork, the melt-away meat covered with crackling skin and succulent fat.

A cube of apple jelly and a rich slick of veal reduction added accent colours and taste depths to this wonderful dish.

The guinea fowl with wild mushroom risotto and parmesan froth was from the same school with tender, pearly meat wrapped in delicate Parma ham, laid on creamy risotto vibrant with mushroom juices. The tastes were so good that only the tiniest bird bone remained as evidence.

I was now well aware that the understated dessert descriptions could only mean one thing – more complex excellence to follow. I confidently placed my order for popcorn brulée, peanut butter sorbet and popcorn dust and was rewarded with a stunning array of lemon and black pepper popcorn, a deep popcorn-flavoured custard with glassy brulée and a scoop of nutty ice cream on buttery shortbread, with popcorn dust for dipping.

My companion’s dessert, a duo of chocolate, brought together a refined sorbet and frozen mousse which concentrated so much creaminess and chocolate into one serving that it could easily qualify as chocolate anti-matter.

Facts

Tel: (0191) 384-6655

Open: Tuesday-Saturday 6.30pm- late

Where is it?: Come through the city, heading towards Neville’s Cross and take the turning by the music shop up The Avenue and look for Farnley Tower hotel. The restaurant is on the ground floor.

First impressions: Super chic, compact space.

Welcome: Cool stylistically but plenty of human warmth.

Style, design and furnishings: Very restrained colour scheme of grey-green walls and black. Everything else with accent colours in the striking decorative features.

Cuisine: Shimmeringly good, cutting edge British.

Wine: Companionable Beaujolais Cuvée Traditionelle from Domaine de Vissoux. Plenty of light cherries with fresh tannins to finish. Well priced at £21.50.

Service: Beautifully synchronised and intelligent.

Value: Fabulous value from the limited £22.50 per head Tuesday night menu.

Parking: Some bays in the hotel car park.

Disabled facilities: Accessible.