Gods Kitchen, Chester-le-Street

May 2 2008 by Geoff Laws, The Journal

IT’S the nature of life that we all go through changes. Buildings too have a life and they go through similar transitions.

For example, there’s a little place on the A167, just south of Chester-le-Street, which has had many lives. It started off as a chapel to which the God-fearing folk of the surrounding villages wended their way each Sabbath. As their numbers waned, so the chapel fell into disuse until it was spotted as a potential hotspot nightclub for local heavy rock fans.

Like all things, that phase passed and the fashion for eating out came in and the former chapel became a series of restaurants, with its current incarnation named, appropriately enough, God’s Kitchen. The test for us was whether this was a source of ambrosia or bitter herbs.

The test started with North Sea crab with crisp won ton pastry and red onion, pepper and chive salsa. This delicately structured presentation of Flying Nun-shaped triangular won ton sheets sandwiched between layers of moist, well-seasoned crab meat surrounded by spokes of salsa, demonstrated the chef’s appreciation of how food should look and taste. The well-balanced mix of chilli-sweet tomato in the salsa and subtle seafood flavours of the crab, with the crispness of the pastry, produced a heavenly start to the meal.

Our other starter, roast fig with crisp Parma ham and a raspberry dressing, kept pace. An unassuming trio of whole roasted figs came with a feather flourish of toasted Parma ham and dots of intense raspberry dressing. The sweet fruit pouches, topped with savoury crisp ham, were delicious and another fine example of how good ingredients can shine even brighter when handled sensitively.

These two dishes, plus oven-warm bread rolls and extra creamy butter, produced radiant smiles all round. Main courses beckoned us on like a lodestar and we willingly followed. My saddle of lamb stayed on the straight and narrow with globules of hearty meat juices bobbling on the surface of the rich gravy that surrounded three thick cutlets of pink-hearted lamb, each one wrapped in crisp fat. Roasted tomatoes, asparagus spears, baby carrots and courgettes circled a huge wedge of starchy mash, perfect for soaking up the rich gravy. Fine food indeed! My companion’s pork tenderloin, stuffed with black pudding, came with an apple cream sauce. Spindle-thin baby carrots splayed out round the slices of tenderloin roulade. The curled pork, wrapped around a refined black pudding, looked like meaty Catherine wheels spiraling on top of a disc of mashed potato, with the apple cream sauce linking everything together. This was wholesome sophistication on a plate.

The bought-in ice creams topped with various garnishes, demonstrated the chef’s skill in presentation, but proved, yet again, the maxim about making silk purses from sows’ ears, which is the best that can be said of them. Two solid espressos to finish as, in the background, Bill Withers pitched into proclaiming it to be a Lovely Day – and he wasn’t wrong!

Information

Address: Front Street, Chester Moor, Chester-le-Street, County Durham. Tel: (0191) 388-4588

Open: Friday-Sunday 12 noon-3pm; Monday-Saturday 5pm-9.30pm.

Where is it?: On the eastern side of the A167 just south of Chester-le-Street at Chester Moor.

First impressions: An eclectic mix of Roman busts, leather sofas and low tables in the reception area and well spaced tables in the dining room.

Welcome: Very friendly and easy-going.

Style, design and furnishings: Deep aubergine and biscuit colour scheme with crisp white linen cloths and sparkling chandeliers. Uneasy
mix of styles, but the food’s the thing. Lounge jazz.

Cuisine: Modern British.

Wine: J.Moreau et Fils, Chablis 2006. Crisp white Burgundy with a clear bowl and finish of pear drops on the back of the tongue. Not hugely fruity but pleasant. £22.95

Service: Friendly, relaxed.

Value: At £92.65 the food was good but pricey.

Parking: Dedicated car park.

Disabled facilities: Fully accessible