The food industry is full of catch words. Spurred on by "celebrity" chefs, "sustainability", "local" and "organic" have entered the national consciousness. And here's another one, "provenance". Where has what you are about to put in your mouth come from? Can you identify the chicken which laid the (golden) egg? Now I am huge fan of all this: small producers, high-quality food. I don't mind a small acknowledgement on a menu, and helpful staff who can tell you where their products are sourced is always a useful thing. But there is a line.
Every dish on the menu at This Bright Field is packed full of "provenance". And, lest you forget, there is a large blackboard listing all of the wonderful people who supply the goodies which are about to be cooked for you. This made me nervous. I find that places that go on about ingredients in this way sometimes forget that they still need to cook them well: provenance in and of itself does not a good meal make.
I need not have worried. For, despite the over zealous listing of ingredients, the chef had done his products proud. We were there for brunch so I had their take on a full English, the Fashionista had some crushed avocado, rye bread and (Maldon) salt.
Meaty, well-seasoned sausages, proper bacon, a wonderfully sweet tomato, fried egg, oozing yolk - would have been nice to have been given a choice though, I prefer poached- and some tart tomato relish lurking at the bottom. Excellent.
The avocado and black rye bread was nice. Not really my kind of thing but the Fashionista liked it. Still, no need to reference Maldon as the salt of choice - too far.
There are some real treats for breakfast nearby, The Market Cafe on Broadway for one, but I think This Bright Field may just pip it to the post as my favourite local brunch spot. Thank goodness they spend as much time thinking about their cooking as they do choosing their suppliers.
Every dish on the menu at This Bright Field is packed full of "provenance". And, lest you forget, there is a large blackboard listing all of the wonderful people who supply the goodies which are about to be cooked for you. This made me nervous. I find that places that go on about ingredients in this way sometimes forget that they still need to cook them well: provenance in and of itself does not a good meal make.
I need not have worried. For, despite the over zealous listing of ingredients, the chef had done his products proud. We were there for brunch so I had their take on a full English, the Fashionista had some crushed avocado, rye bread and (Maldon) salt.
Meaty, well-seasoned sausages, proper bacon, a wonderfully sweet tomato, fried egg, oozing yolk - would have been nice to have been given a choice though, I prefer poached- and some tart tomato relish lurking at the bottom. Excellent.
The avocado and black rye bread was nice. Not really my kind of thing but the Fashionista liked it. Still, no need to reference Maldon as the salt of choice - too far.
There are some real treats for breakfast nearby, The Market Cafe on Broadway for one, but I think This Bright Field may just pip it to the post as my favourite local brunch spot. Thank goodness they spend as much time thinking about their cooking as they do choosing their suppliers.
No comments:
Post a Comment