Longridge- A New Chapter in an Old Book.

[RDB]

I had an excellent meal at Paul Heathcote's, The Longridge Restaurant a few Saturday's back, with Chris Bell, formerly of The White Bull in Ribchester, in charge of the kitchen. There is no doubt what he appears to be aiming for and from what I experienced I would not be surprised if he attained it.

I have eaten at the White Bull a few times, and enjoyed the food there, albeit as a rustic Sunday lunch experience. The cooking here is far from that and appears more reflective of his experience prior to the White Bull, and some of the kitchens he has worked in.

We had the tasting menu, which worked out at £60 per head, which for ingredients used and quantity was not bad.

To begin we had a massive plate of Mediterranean style canapés, in the lounge, this consisted of crispy pig's ear and tartar sauce, a quails egg and salmon type pintxo, anchovies' wrapped in a ham, olives, grissini and a few other things, all delicious and very generous.

Thereafter:

A delicious Scallop, summer truffle and mushroom duxelle dish, which was well cooked and flavoursome.

Crispy sweetbread, cured ham, quails egg, asparagus, sweetcorn puree: The sweet breads were delicious, and the sweet corn really lifted the whole dish.

Crispy pork belly, beetroot, parsnip, 5 spice: The pork belly was just astounding, I would say the best I had ever tasted, the crackling was just pure crunch and melt. The accompaniments added a real balance of flavours.

Lobster, white bean, oregano broth: Lovely big pieces of Lobster, however they were slightly over cooked. The flavour and texture of this dish was very pleasant, and reminded me of a dish I had recently in Sardinia.

Goosnargh duck, parsnips, girolles, carmel, orange: This was the highlight of the evening, amazing flavouring, with a divine piece of duck. The advertised girolles did not appear, however there was an unadvertised piece of foie gras, so I didn't complain. A really well balanced dish, very impressed.

Next was dessert, which was served before cheese, which is not really the way I like it. I am sure this could have been switched if I hadn't got into a debate with my better half over which should have came first.

Sabayon of berries, pistachio, basil, framboise: a very refreshing and delightful dessert, for one who does not really 'do' desserts

Cheese, some well kept varieties, which I cannot remember as at this point my short term memory was somewhat faltering, these came with a large amount/variety of cake, biscuits, chutneys etc.

Coffee and petit fours, all very good.

Service throughout the evening was very efficient, professional and friendly. Considering the restaurant was completely full and the newness of the operation, everything seemed to run smoothly.

Wines by the glass were good and gave us a good chance to try and match some to the dishes. Also some excellent ports to choose from.

I was quite impressed with my evening here, and feel Longridge may well return to it's glory days. In fact I found the food better and more polished, than when Longridge last had a star. I was impressed with the cooking as it is completely different from The White Bull, it was more balanced, stylish and innovative. Also I was glad to see it wasn't another chef cooking Heathcote classics.

I learned from one of the waitresses, that they are still running The White Bull at the moment due to brewery red tape, which is quite impressive, if you can do this, and manage to throw out some serious food and service on a busy Saturday night.

[Harters]

This good to hear. I havnt been for maybe four years when we had a very poor value meal and I vowed never to cross the doorstep again. Might have to change my mind.

I take it you'd also advise a trip to Ribchester in the very near future then? Or are there some longer term plans to keep that "gastro"?

[RDB]

This good to hear. I havnt been for maybe four years when we had a very poor value meal and I vowed never to cross the doorstep again. Might have to change my mind.

I take it you'd also advise a trip to Ribchester in the very near future then? Or are there some longer term plans to keep that "gastro"?

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I would give it a go Harters, I was quite impressed

As for Ribchester if I understood it right (after my poor attempts of being my own sommelier and advising myself that quantity is as important as quality) Chris Bell the chef is waiting to get out ASAP but the person that has bought it is not ready to move in, or something like that. However, I imagine once he is out of there "gastro" and bib gourmand will soon disappear in my opinion.

I think Longridge is getting the chefs full attention and creativity at present.

[Green Fade]

I had an excellent meal at  Paul Heathcote's, The Longridge Restaurant a few Saturday's back...

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Thanks for the review; I've been planning to get up there for several weeks and it's sad that I've failed to do so given that I only live about a thousand yards away. To be honest (much like Harters) I had a less than spectacular dinner at a spectacular price about two years ago and I haven't been back since. Now, however, the menu seems to have been built around all my favourite things (scallop, pork belly, lobster, duck) and even the word "crispy" failed to put me off.

I've had a number of outstanding meals at the White Bull at Rib and it'd be a shame if that falls into "lesser" hands, but the Longridge Restaurant has been in need of revitalising for a bit so I'm glad that there's positive news on that front.

Edit: Speaking of good Lancashire gastropubs - has anyone tried The Sparling (Warrick Dodds) since it's opened?

Edited August 20, 2009 by Green Fade (log)

[adey73]

The menu online looks as dull as it has done for a couple of years.

I wonder why they felt they still had to be under the Heathcote umbrella.

[Harters]

The White Bull's website seems to now be down. Anyone know if it has now closed/changed hands/whatever?

[Harters]

It wasn’t the best of omens. I must have set the sat nav wrongly as, when Jane’s dulcet tones rang out announcing that we had reached our destination, we were in a part of Preston forsaken by every known deity. It took a few minutes more before we saw Longridge signposted and we felt on more familiar territory. It’s been a goodly while since we were last here and have been thinking about a return meal for some time. I have to say that we’ve now seen that, done that, paid the bill and are in no great rush to return. Perhaps it’s because we’ve had some really good meals lately. Perhaps we’re a bit jaded. Or, perhaps, Longridge just isn’t as good as we remember it.

That’s not to say all was bad. Far from it. There were nice canapés – two fritters, one saltcod, the other cheese. And good olives. There was a good short menu (although too short to include any vegetarian choice). There was excellent bread – a Blacksticks Blue stood out, as did a caramelised onion. And the amuse was bang on – pea and olive oil soup – fresh and light and tasting very much of itself. And, always a thing of interest to my partner, a good selection of wines by the glass

Twice baked Lancashire cheese soufflé was a bit dense and was underseasoned. It was, however, lifted by crispy onion rings and a little salad of pickled pear. The other starter was almost classic Heathcote. Black pudding with a little mustard mash, apple puree, watercress and a long cooked duck egg yolk. What’s not to like?

There was then an inordinate delay approaching 30 minutes between plates being cleared and the next dish arriving. It was not as though food was going to other tables. Perhaps chef was on a tea break?

Roast cod flaked into delicious pieces but would have been much better with a crispy skin. Accompaniments of new potatoes, samphire and asparagus were nicely seasonal and dressed with a tomato vinaigrette. My partner had asked for it to be served without the advertised poached egg so it had to go back. Of course, when the plate returned the food was not particularly hot any more. And, whilst there was an apology, there seemed to be a sense of incomplete teamwork with the restaurant manager making the point that he had written it on the slip and it was the kitchen’s fault.

I rarely order steak and my fillet was a reminder of why. Tender, perfectly cooked to my requested medium rare but bland, boring meat. If I find it very easy to buy good well aged beef at home then I’m sure restaurants can as well – but few seem to be bothered. It came with a little braised oxtail meat which was delicious and I’d have been happy to have a plate of just that. A little potato puree and some shreds of cabbage and carrot completed the plate. Inoffensive is probably a good description.

There was then more of a delay with no sign of dessert being offered, so we buttonholed one of the staff to get menus. Once we’d ordered there was, again, almost too long a delay. Pre-dessert was, frankly odd. A blob of vanilla of vanilla ice cream sat on a bigger blob of fruity yoghurt. It’s the sort of dessert my nephew used to make when he was 6.

Desserts proper were just about worth the wait. Lemon curd & strawberry sorbet with little meringue peaks – a good balance of sweet and tangy. A rosemary pannacotta didn’t seem to have any detectable rosemary but was a good texture and the accompanying poached rhubarb and rhubarb sorbet gave it a zingy boost.

We finished with some good coffee and petit fours.

As I say, it was an OK evening. Not outstanding and definitely not outstandingly good value. Service had been patchy – for instance, we’d ordered a bottle of sparkling water then, when we ordered a second bottle, it came as still – but because they were constantly topping up glasses, we didn’t realise the change at first. Oh, and neither bottle was cold.

If I was Paul Heathcote, I’d be ordering up a couple of “mystery diner” visits and really paying attention to what they have to say. It really wouldn’t take much to sharpen up both food and service.

[MaLO]

Its not that long ago this place had two michelin stars.

[marcusjames]

I think it's been in at least 10 years since Longridge held 2 stars Malo. Recent it is not.

[MaLO]

It may not be that recent but it is the same proprietor in the same premises. It was much more recently a one star restaurant.

It is a shame that a restaurant was obviously good seems to be a bit lost.

I have never eaten at Longridge. I tend to head towards Northcote if I am in the area. I did enjoy a few nice meals in simply Heathcotes in Liverpool in the early days but that became very much hit and miss towards the end. I do occasionally have a little nose through Rhubarb & black pudding. Its quite a nice book.

[Harters]

Mrs H & I had our silver wedding celebration dinner at Heathcotes in Manchester. There really was nowhere else to go - the building drew us like a magnet. It used to be the offices of Manchester Council's education department where I started work in 1966. Jump forward a little and it had become the main register office where we got married in 1972. And then 25 years later a pretty decent restaurant. We had a good evening there but it did go downhill in more recent times before the closure. I took an American friend there as an example of "north west" cuisine. Truth be told, I felt a bit apologetic afterwards.

Oh, and I've just bought a secondhand copy of "Rhubarb" and am looking forward to flicking through.

[MaLO]

http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2011/06/02/338532/Paul-Heathcote-appoints-new-head-chef-for-flagship-Longridge.htm

[Chaihana Joe]

and this... http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2010/11/05/335850/Paul-Heathcote-sells-five-restaurants-to-Living-Ventures.htm (from last year, but I for one had missed it)

...The former two-Michelin-starred chef has sold five of his nine remaining restaurants to the group [Living Ventures], which was founded by Tim Bacon and Jeremy Roberts, for an undisclosed sum. They include three Olive Press sites in Manchester, Liverpool and Cheadle Hulme as well as Grado in Manchester and London Road in Alderley Edge.

The move comes just weeks after Heathcote was forced to close his Liverpool flagship Simply Heathcotes and the Leeds branch of his Olive Press group of restaurants.

The deal leaves the chef with four sites including his former two-Michelin-starred Longridge Restaurant in Preston, Heathcotes Grill & Bar in Clitheroe, which opens next week, and two Olive Press sites in Preston and Bolton. Heathcote is currently looking to sell the Bolton site...