Lumiere, Cheltenham

[david goodfellow]

We used to be fairly regular visitors to Cheltenham up until four of five years ago. The draw was always Michelin superstar Le Champignon Sauvage, but for personal reasons we have not been back since then.

Lumiere came to our attention perhaps a year or so ago. I had heard good things about chef Jon Howe and I was curious to give it a try.

Its a fairly easy to find location, but beware driving past as you will be locked into the one way system, and may find it a struggle to find your way back. Unless of course you have a reliable sat nav or street map.

Its small but perfectly formed inside. An intimate, cosy retreat from the daytime hustle and bustle just a little further up the road in town proper. There is btw no on street parking, but ample paid parking not far away, a very short stroll almost behind the restaurant.

This is a small operation with chef and mostly one helper in the kitchen. Front of house is the same, Jon's partner, the extremely pleasant Helen in charge of service, with one, perhaps two assistants.

We chose the seven course tasting menu which is quite fairly priced at £60 pp.

Amuse.

Squid crackers, served with tzatziki, and cheese scones with a filling of truffled cream cheese and beetroot jam.

Bread is good, and freshly made on site, and is a choice of four, Brown with kibbled onions, Brown with celeriac and raisin, rosemary and sea salt and a white with sunblush tomato?.

First up proper was a playfull course of Popcorn Soup with a sweety type bag of popcorn chicken. The bag actually contained four chicken nuggets, but my wife in her haste scoffed one before I had time to take a photo.

As it was a surprise menu, we were very pleased with the next course.

Diver caught Oban scallops

No stingy half scallops here. Two plump, perfectly cooked lumps of loveliness. Either side were squares of ultra tasty crispy pork belly. To the rear is a slick of carrot, orange and anise puree, and shards of caramel on the top. Oh and bacon crumbs to the front of the slate.

As sourcing as opposed to saucing is all the rage now, the next dish and indeed the whole menu really echoed that ethos.

Cheltenham beetroot Sussex Slipcote, chorizo, sweetcorn, long pepper tuile.

Down the centre is pickled Chioggia beetroot, cigars of Cheltenham beetroot stuffed with chorizo and apple jam. Ruby beetroot jelly and ruby beetroot puree. Sweetcorn powder

Sussex Slipcote is an award winning , organic ewes milk cheese from, guess where? Long pepper, as in the potato tuile, was revered at one time as the ultimate pepper, but its complexity is I'm afraid wasted on me.

I loved the vivid colours of the next dish, it ate rather well too.

Line caught Cornish Red Mullet.

A smashing plate of food, visually exciting. Deliciously simple but effective. Well textured throughout the dish. Beating hands down the last Red Mullet which we ate, which seemed "muddy" by comparison.

Mixed in with the saffron sauced orzo, ( Italian for barley, but is in fact rice shaped pasta ) were some sea fresh tasting baby mussels and clams, and the right balance of fennel.

Next up chefs take on a Tequila Slammer. To be eaten in order of, Salt tuile and Tequila sorbet, and finally, on its own the lime sphere. Do not bite into the sphere before its safely inside the mouth.

Again sourcing to the fore, the main course, Badminton Estate, Red deer.

Two thick discs of Venison cooked to perfection, melt in the mouth and most importantly top full of flavour. A delight not only for the taste buds, but also for the smell of it.

Braised red cabbage, sweet peppered swede puree ,"Brussels and squeak", Cep and chocolate jus.

Desserts next, and we were interested in seeing what would come from the kitchen with just chef and one helper. Would it match up to the food so far?

" Milk and Cookies."

A very simple dessert, a couple of crunchy hot White chocolate and cranberry Biscotti served with some Parsnip milk.

We preferred the final dessert which was as good a rendition of a souffle that we have eaten.

Canon Pyon Damsons.

I assume the damsons in the souffle are from Canon Pyon, a Herefordshire village just off the A4110. I did not ask, I just googled it.

Perfectly risen with just a very very slight, and enjoyable crust to it. Not overpowered by the said damsons, but truth be told they could have been from anywhere I would not have known any different.

Alongside the souffle is a leaning glass of plum infused sake and to its right is an almond milk sorbet.

All in all a very enjoyable meal. We thought it worth the journey, some may not. However if you are in the area we think this is a must try.

The food here is comparable with a number of Michelin starred restaurants that we have eaten at this year and we think that it is only a matter of time before they are promoted. In fact Michelin already know of them as this is a quote from the 2012 guide. " Elegant, comfortable and personally run restaurant. Cooking is modern, original and inventive and makes excellent use of local suppliers"

Our bill came to £155 with a gluggable bottle of Tempranillo,(from what to me seemed a very reasonably priced list). We did not take coffees or pre dinner drinks, had Gloucestershire tap water and left a tip, (no service charge imposed.)

Although you could eat for far less from the equally very fairly priced set menu.

Jon Howe and the lovely Helen.

In passing we touched on cancellation policies, and guess what ? These guys had a table of ten cancel on them, just before they were due to arrive for dinner.

No notice whatsoever, at a quarter to eight on a Saturday night because one of the party was ill. All of the mise en place had been done, and it was a tasting menu. It all ended up in the bin.

Shame on you, this impacts on any business but even more so on a small family business. This is a huge loss.

[Sidney]

Terrific report and photos David illustrating how important good pictures are.A definite rival for LCS next time we are passing.On cancellation policy,my wife used to moan about having to leave a credit card number on booking until a party of ten sitting at the next table to us in our favourite local36 seats on xmas eve walked out,said they didnt like the menu.

[david goodfellow]

Terrific report and photos David illustrating how important good pictures are.A definite rival for LCS next time we are passing.On cancellation policy,my wife used to moan about having to leave a credit card number on booking until a party of ten sitting at the next table to us in our favourite local36 seats on xmas eve walked out,said they didnt like the menu.

Thanks Sid (is it ok to call you Sid?)

Much appreciated.

Take plenty of photos on your visit and don't forget to include them here with your review.

I may just relax my view about credit card confirmation. Not as much as three days though. Quite scandalous what some people will resort to.

What springs to mind though is when things go wrong through no fault of your own.

We were on our way to the soft opening of Pollen Street Social, there was a pile up only a couple of minutes in front of us on the M6 which took thankfully only two hours to clear and very fortunately the restaurant were understanding, even though we arrived more than an hour later then booked.

It could have been a lot, lot worse of course.

[Sidney]

Sid is fine David,my wife put me on this site because she is much more computer literate than me and we dont always agree.I am much more direct in my criticism she says I am bloody rude and didnt want me posting in her name

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Terrific report and photos David illustrating how important good pictures are.

Also appreciated was the clear and concise text that shared olfactory as well as papillary description. Thanks for the complete "picture".

[david goodfellow]

Terrific report and photos David illustrating how important good pictures are.

Also appreciated was the clear and concise text that shared olfactory as well as papillary description. Thanks for the complete "picture".

Thank you Margaret.

So glad to have your seal of approval.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Terrific report and photos David illustrating how important good pictures are.

Also appreciated was the clear and concise text that shared olfactory as well as papillary description. Thanks for the complete "picture".

Thank you Margaret.

So glad to have your seal of approval.

My pleasure.

[CalumC]

Nice report David. Going to have to go back next time i'm home, it looks as if they've gone from strength to strength since starting up. Good value for a tasting menu, too.

[david goodfellow]

Chef Jon Howe features in tonights Britains Best Dish, The Chefs. ITV 5pm.

Some info here