As has been previously discussed in this forum, Cambridge is rather short on great places to eat. Midsummer House is fine for a splurge but is a little much for weekly visits. Cotto is delightful, though perhaps lacking a little in the wine department and has no bar. Thus I was delighted to hear about Restaurant Alimentum, which has recently opened on Hills Road. Restaurant Alimentum has a mission statement, which is well intentioned if a little corny: "Underpinned by strong ethical values, Alimentum will serve locally sourced produce, prepared simply, with passion and integrity." So that's a good start. The "ethical values" include "ethical Foie Gras", presumably from geese who voluntarily gorge themselves before being humanely slaughtered. The head chef is Anton Escalera (formerly at Midsummer House). Digging a bit deeper it seems that the owners have been actively (and successfully) trying to hire staff with experience in Michelin starred restaurants. The restaurant manager and the reservationist are both ex-Simpson’s in Birmingham. Clearly they are aiming for a Star themselves. I had hoped to go to Alimentum right when it first opened, but they had some delays with the fit-out of their space and so it didn't open until the a couple of weeks ago, by which time I was away. I finally got to go there for the first time last night. I was impressed. The decor is subtle and modern. No table cloths, just well-designed furniture. Lots of black. The bar area feels a little stark at the moment but it's quite possible that it's not finished. The bar staff were extremely helpful and knowledgeable and made me an excellent martini. The front-of-house guy seemed a little aloof, but it might just have been because I was wearing shorts! All the waitstaff were friendly and attentive without being overbearing, although a couple were clearly very new. With only two of us eating (one a vegetarian) we didn't carry out an extensive sampling of the menu but what we had was really first rate: I started with a gazpacho with poached lobster. Served up as a bowl with a few slices of lobster tail and some perfectly ripe diced tomato, with a blended-smooth soup poured over, it had a sprig of the tastiest baby basil leaves I've had in ages. Quite delicious. I followed this with the crisp pressed suckling pig, braised chicory and apple purée. This included the pork cooked two ways; a square slice of belly, pressed flat, with a crispy skin, and also a pressed cylinder of pork "confit" which was equally delightful. I'm not a big fan of braised chicory but this was very pleasant and the apple purée was a subtle, sweet complement to the salty flavours of the meat. This was accompanied by quite the best potato purée that I've had in years. If I had to guess I'd say it was Russet potato, baked and then mashed, but I've not seen Russets for sale in the UK so perhaps it was something else. My guest had a pea and mint risotto, with a strong but very creamy goat's cheese. The fresh peas popped with flavour, the rice was perfectly cooked and the cheese melted away into the risotto as she eat it. Again, great. The deserts we tried were also great. I had a chilled strawberry soup with a fromage blanc sorbet and my guest had the warm Valrhona chocolate fondant. Both were excellent, though by that time we had perhaps had a little too much to drink to be thoroughly discriminating. The wine list is small but well choses. I'd bet a bottle of the excellent Meursault we drank that they get their wines from Noel Young in Trumpington, since I'd seen a number of the wines there before (and they carried several wines from Magpie Estates). Prices are sensible, mostly £25 to £45 a bottle, and essentially all the still wines are available as 250ml carafes, which is great. After the great food and the great service we were also pretty happy with the price. The bill was not small, £150 including service (12.5% added for you) but of the £130 or so base price more than half was drinks (one of their most expensive whites at £45, four cocktails at £7 each and camomile tea). The food itself was just under £55, for five dishes between the two of us. Not bad at all! The only thing about Alimentum which is not, in my opinion, excellent, is its location. The building is fine enough, in one of the two new apartment buildings at the south end of Hills Road railway bridge, but I fear they might not get the level of trade that they need. While they are on the more affluent side of town, and in a building full of very expensive apartments, the passing trade there is mostly visitors to the ten-pin bowling, Cineworld and the Travelogde across the street. I do hope that Alimentum does well. Cambridge really needs another good restaurant and this could be just the thing.
