Bistro Night At The Terrace Cafe At The Whitworth, Darley Dale
Published On Tuesday 20 Dec 2022 by Sticky Beak
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How many of you have driven past The Whitworth at Darley Dale on your way to Bakewell and not really known what was there, except the roadside-facing building (striking though that is)? Yep, me too; I didn’t even know they did food there, until the invitation from Kim Launert, The Whitworth’s Sales, Events and Marketing Manager, to go to the first ever Bistro Night at the Terrace Café came through!
We arranged a date to go over and grabbed a couple of unsuspecting victims, I mean Friends (!), to come with us and on the evening itself, parked the jalopy in one of the spaces near the Terrace Café entrance. Heading inside, we remembered to enter our reg number in the keypad at the door to take advantage of the free parking for diners! If you’re not eating at the Terrace Café, then there is a large pay-and-display car park on site that you need to use.
The greeting we received was so warm it could’ve melted the frost that already covered the ground. We were shown to our table and asked what wine we would prefer: red or white? After a little discussion, the four of us opted for a red; a delicious, fruity Malbec as it turned out. As requested, we had pre-ordered our three course choices from the menu and once we’d settled in, one of the team brought out the starters.
One of our friends had gone for the French Onion Soup with Gruyere Crouton (as had The Man Bird), I had the homemade Gravlax with Creme Fraiche and Sourdough and our other friend fancied the Chicken Liver Pâté with Cornichons and Melba Toast. The Whitworth’s new Chef Manager is a lady named Jayne, who trained at the Savoy in London – needless to say, we were expecting some tasty tucker!
French Onion soup is meant to be hearty and flavoursome and both members of our group agreed that this was absolutely superb! The key to this soup is to slowly and carefully cook the onions so that their natural sugars intensify and concentrate, giving that characteristic sweetness partnered with an incredible soft tenderness that hits the ‘comfort food’ spot in the brain. Off-setting the vegetable’s sweet note was a marvellously deep tasting beef stock that added the perfect amount of seasoning to this dish. A large Gruyere-topped crouton contrasted really nicely with the dark tone of the soup and added yet another layer of flavour to this excellent starter which already had The Man saying he was nicely satiated!
The Chicken Liver Pâté was exquisitely rich, smooth and indulgent, with cream lifting the Livers woody, earthy character in the mouth. One classic partner to poultry livers is alcohol (usually Brandy or Madeira) and here it added a pleasant depth and gentle warmth to this superb pâté. It would’ve been so easy to just let this starter be one-dimensional and simply serve it with the crunchy Melba Toast which, to be fair, would’ve provided a great contrast, texture-wise, to the smooth pâté. Jayne wanted her dinner guests to experience something more, and so included crunchy, tart Cornichons which cut brilliantly through the indulgence of the Chicken Liver morsel. This was a very skilfully put together starter, paving the way for more gastro delight to come.
I had gone for Jaynes homemade Gravlax as I really do like this Nordic dish; it combines silky, oily, salt-and-sugar cured Salmon and one of my favourite herbs, Dill and somehow manages to be luxurious and refreshing at the same time! Here at the Terrace café’s inaugural bistro night it was paired with a miniature sourdough loaf and sharp crème fraiche and made for an intelligent starter that had taste, texture, and colour; pretty much everything you could wish for, really. Needless to say, I cleared my plate, including the mixed leaf and beetroot garnish.
The serving team checked that we were happy with our starters and, as one of them took our finished plates away, another came to top up our wine. There were several other tables coming in at this point and each and every one was receiving the same initial attention to their requirements that we’d had. Honestly, this team were totally focused on ensuring this first bistro night was going to be memorable, or die trying!
For my main course I had decided to carry on the marine theme, opting for fresh Tuna Nicoise with Herbed Potatoes; the other three members of our group went for Beef Bourguignon, again served with herbed Potatoes. A separate dish of Tenderstem Broccoli, Green Beans, Sprouts, Kale and miniature Roast Potatoes also came to go with the French Stew; all the vegetables were perfectly cooked to keep all their flavour and retain some firmness – no soggy Sprouts here!
E.W Coates butchers in Darley Dale supply The Whitworth’s Terrace Café with their Beef and then Jayne lovingly cooks it in rich Veal stock and red wine where it bathes for at least 8 hours, resulting in impossibly tasty, tender meat that simply melts on the tongue. Dinky, sweet baby Onions and earthy Mushrooms add more flavour, texture and substance, so that even the most ardent appetite is quelled. For an unequivocally authentic attention to detail, there were salty, beautifully deep tasting Bacon Lardons on top of this classic French dish. Given the richness of the bourguignon itself, Chef had opted not to serve the vegetable accompaniments buttered, and this was certainly wise.
In contrast to my companion’s indulgent mains, my Tuna Nicoise was clean and clear on the palate, the contrasting softness of the fresh Tuna loin and squeakily crunchy Green Beans mesmerising my senses. Quarters of gently charred Little Gem Lettuce added a subtle smoke hint that parried well with the pungent black Olives and Mustards heat (from the dressing). For colour - as well as flavour - I had the pleasure of baby Tomatoes in varying hues and, combined with the verdancy of the Green Beans and Tenderstem Broccoli, they made for a visually appealing dish. You can’t have a Nicoise salad without boiled egg and new Potato and both of these elements were prominent here.
As with the starters, a quartet of clean plates were winging their way back to the kitchen and, even though we had conveyed our satisfaction to the serving team when they’d done their check-back, Chef Jayne came over to garner our opinions. I always like it when Chefs come out to say hello, though I appreciate that they don’t usually have the time during service! For such talented people, I’m always surprised (pleasantly so, can I just clarify) by how humble and shy they usually are, and Jayne was a thoroughly lovely lady.
For desserts, the gents had chosen Sticky Toffee Pudding with Custard, my friend went for Hazelnut and Apricot Meringue, and I had Lemon Mousse with Shortbread and Clotted Cream. The previous two courses had been generous in size and so it was with the sweets! Both chaps commented on how rich and dense the Toffee Pudding was and they were more than happy to see the plentiful Toffee sauce not only on the top of the pudding but also underneath the creamy custard, where it had oozed over the side.
You all know that I love Meringue but that the feeling is not mutual, so it won’t surprise you when I say that I gazed with a pang or two of jealousy and longing at my friend’s generous portion of this sweet treat. A light, crisp shell covered a wonderfully light, soft inner that had an airy but gently chewy texture to it that completely contrasted with the crunchy shards of Hazelnut brittle that crowned it. To the side of the meringue were tantalisingly pillowy Apricot halves whose warmed, fragrant flesh caressed the taste buds in their embrace. What a treasure this multi-sensorial dessert was, even just looking at it I could imagine how tasty it would’ve been; something my friend happily confirmed.
Now, given all the creamy, toffee and meringue-y luxury being consumed around me, you might think that I would feel a bit hard-done by with my (seemingly) simple Lemon Mousse. Nothing could be further from the truth! The mousse itself was whipped to be airy-yet-velvety and the bright citrus taste of the Lemon took me back to sunnier times, making me smile joyfully. I had all the indulgence I could want thanks to the crumbly, buttery Shortbread round and quenelle of sumptuous Clotted Cream: yummy, yummy in my tummy!
To conclude our marvellous Bistro night experience we were presented with coffee and Petit Fours that included gloriously chewy Macarons, mini Éclairs and more Shortbread; be still our drooling mouths and beating hearts!
There are plans to have more Bistro Nights in 2023 (this particular one cost £45 pp), and I have the bounce on the date for the next one: Friday 13th January 2023; thank you Jayne for clueing me in. For other future dates on these brilliant events, keep your eyes peeled on their website www.thewhitworth.org – on here you’ll find information on all things gastro as well as the activities on offer at the venue and how you can hire The Whitworth for your party, event or Wedding. Pop them an email enquiries@thewhitworth.org or give them a buzz on 01629 733678.
Jayne and her kitchen team at The Terrace Café also offer some spankingly good dishes in the daytime too! A couple of examples are ‘Souper’ Tuesdays where you can have a gourmet soup, homemade Cheese Scone and Hot Drink for £9.95 and ‘Fancy Jacket’ Wednesdays: Jacket Spuds loaded with a special filling and hot drink, again for £9.95. The Terrace Café is open 7 days-a-week from 10am until 4pm, so why not pop in and see what Jayne’s got to tempt you?
Hot Wings awarded here; we all had a wonderful evening! Thank you again to Kim for the kind invitation, and thanks also to Chef Jayne and her superb team.
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