22 Mill Street

[wgallois]

Thanks to Paul Bell and others on egullet for recommending this restaurant in Chagford, a stannary town on north Dartmoor. Chagford is small, pretty and prosperous (as well as 22 Mill Street there are other restaurants in and around the town, including Gidleigh Park, and there is a deli with a great selection of cheeses). On a very cold night, the bright shop-front of 22 Mill Street was a very welcoming sight, and the food and drink made the later brisk walk back to the car much easier. The chef-proprieter is involved in all stages of the meal, from greeting you on arrival, taking drinks orders, discussing the menu, and dashing back into the kitchen to co-ordinate the cooking. The hallmark of the restaurant is this personal touch, and it was quite clear that the place is run by people who care about food and about ensuring that diners have a good time. The restaurant was full with 21 covers and I had the impression that most of the others were returning customers.

We began with parmesan crisps whilst we looked at the menus. These were delicious. All three of us ate from a vegetarian menu which had been arranged in advance (four dishes on the carte, each available as a starter or as a main, at £26.50 for two courses , £29.50 for three; there is also a five/six course set menu at c.£35). The four dishes were an aubergine canneloni with goat's cheese, spinach and lemon truffle oil; a risotto with chanterelles; asparagus with rocket, parmesan and oilve oil; and a tomato tart with basil. The choices seemed to be the kind of dishes that could easily disappoint if they were not cooked with precision, but one of the nice things about the restaurant was that the menu descriptions often undersold the complexity and satisfyingness of the dishes in reality.The canneloni was a good example of this as it had a great combination of flavours, with sourness of the lemon combining with the smoky aubergine, the salty spinach and the creamy cheese. The flavour was added to by its neat appearance: there was something very satisfying about cutting through the aubergines serving as canneloni with the cheese/spinach pushing outwards, and then mopping the morsel through the truffled lemon oil.

Before these courses had arrived we had enjoyed the other stand-out dish which was a pre-starter soup of haricot beans with truffle oil - warming, rich and savoury. The bread – buttermilk or onion and cinammon – was very well-made.

For puddings two of us had a blackcurrant souffle with cinammon ice cream and one had iced nougat with chocolate and passion fruit (again I liked the simple naming of dishes, especially when it concealed surprises such as the manner in which the nougat would be served - covered with chocolate in the shape of an inverted comma, with passion fruit syrup and ice cream on the side). Coffee was good, strong espresso and the petits fours were pleasant. We tried some wines by the glass - a New Zealand Chardonnay, a South African Sauvignon Blanc and a Californian Cabernet Sauvignon - which were all good, and as has previously been mentioned, the wine list itself is very reasonably priced.

Sometimes one's memory of dishes the following day leads one to think that a restaurant was not quite as good as it seemed in the thrill of the eating, but one of the nicest things about 22 Mill Street is that the quality of the food seems even better the next day.

[Andy Lynes]

great review, thanks for taking the time to post it. Nice to know that some chefs are taking vegetarians seriouisly.

I seem to remember an article in Caterer magazine when the restaurant first opened, didn't the owners work at Gidleigh park and Paul Henderson put up some of the money for this venture?

[Gareth]

22 Mill Street, Chagford.

Chagford is a gem of a place with a very decent deli (try the pate, sourced from Wales) , a great dairy (good range of local cheeses, and clotted cream skimmed from the urn on demand !) and the kind of tucked away restaurant that everyone dreams of ‘discovering’ on their provincial tours of France.

Andy – the Geordie chef – trained at the Manoir (the Crewe Junction of chef CVs...) and the skills show. However, much more importantly, he limits service to a single sitting of about 22 covers (lunch and dinner – and definitely NOT Sundays). This gives him the time to run his restaurant as he wants to – a chef-patron, keeping standards up in the kitchen, whilst providing the welcome front of house. Not grandstanding – just honest hospitality.

The cooking is French and not cutting edge, but it is better than well done - with the emphasis on taste over frippary. Two of us had the set menu and two ordered from the card.

The amuse was a teacup of haricot blanc veloute, with basil oil and spicy red mullet. This set the scene for a meal that was never going to surprise, but consistently over-delivered on expectations. The soup was on the hearty side of refined, and on the flavoursome side of sophisticated – and none the worse for that.

The menus followed this pattern, well cooked turbot with earthy wild mushrooms; a nicely judged rissotto on butternut squash and saffron that balanced strong flavours well whilst delivering a perfect ooze to rice ratio. Elsewhere on the table rabbit and terrine was winning votes (especially for the inclusion of the kidneys – nicely pink). There was some over-richness: guinea fowl with fois gras and madera was unctious, but a little much to follow a heart-stopping starter of globe artichoke stuffed with mushroom and glazed with hollondaise.

The set menus included a couple of intermediates of sorbet and cheese that were perfectly OK (the cheese was well kept) but had a bit of a ‘making up the number of courses’ feel to them. However, dessert rounded things off nicely; the set option was a fantastic raspberry gratinee with honeycomb ice cream (I think Kensington Place used to do something similar...) that was like a warm liquid pavlova; a very fruity rhubarb souffle and cinnamon ice cream hit all the right buttons opposite.

Personal highlight was the starter of sweetbreads with brown butter. Nothing flash or innovative but with attention wholly on flavour. The sweetbreads were crisp on the outside, but not overcooked. They were balanced on some finely shredded savoy cabbage to just counterpoint the richness and the butter had a vinigery, caper-y depth.

The wine list is workmanlike and interesting enough, with nothing over £40 a bottle. Total damage four 4 with service, coffee etc. £177. I have frequently paid in excess of this in London at restaurants that have had their moment and now slipped into disappointment/complacency (Mju, Admiralty ...etc.) It is nice to see someone doing something designed to be enjoyable and sustainable - concentrating on how the food tastes and giving people a good night out.

It really is worth a visit – especially when the wallet can’t take Gidleigh Park down the road...

Gareth

PS Elsewhere in Devon the Traditional British Hospitality Industry is thriving. The Two Bridges Hotel on Dartmoor is a lovely setting and I’m sure the Hotel itself is very nice but it was not exactly at its most accessible on Saturday. The roaring log fire looked welcoming but the equally welcoming bar was not available to non-residents. Oh well, perhaps a coffee...? Well, no....although residents could be served (indeed there was a group of 4 sipping away in the corner) they didn’t start afternoon tea for non-residents until Wednesday week. And so, with a smile, a cheery goodbye and a mind-numbing incomprehension of the concept of flexibility they waved more business away. Its just down the road from Dartmoor prison – could it be a franchise operation ?

[nicola]

Had lunch here last Friday and it was really good. We went for the set lunch (£24 for 3 courses - excellent value). I started with an artichoke heart with mushrooms and a delicious very light cheesy sauce (sorry for the non-professional description!!). This was followed by calves liver which was served with a beautifully rich but delicate sauce (if that's not a contradiction in terms) and basil mashed potatoes. As a person without a sweet tooth I then went for the cheese (which unusually didn't attract a supplement - a pleasant surprise). I was presented with a selection of about six, the only one of which I can specifically remember was Epoisses as it is one of my favourites). All were in excellent condition.

The breads (we were given a basket with three different types) were very good and the service was efficient and friendly (we had a chat with the chef about his recent visit to Barcelona). I just wish this restaurant was near where I live!!

There were only two other tables occupied (I guess Friday lunchtime out of season is a bit slow), one a table of four and the other a two. I would guess the latter were regulars, if only because they were on very good terms with the gorgeous retriever who watches over the guests in the lounge.

We also shopped at the deli (Blacks), the dairy and the local butcher (where we bought an excellent leg of local lamb). Chagford is definitely a place to visit if you are in the area.

[Airwaves]

22 Mill Street has, over the last 18 months or so, become one of our favourite places for a dependable meal out.

Our latest visit was last Thursday for my wife's birthday. One disappointment was that besides ourselves there was only one other person eating. There had been cancellations regrettably.

The usual interesting choice throughout. This evening we had:-

Whilst choosing our meal - Parmasan crisps & asparagus stalks as an amusle guele

At the table - A cup of bean (? - memories - must take notes) soup with pieces of red mullet in it before we started

I had for my starter - Sweetbreads fried off, with capers and oil reduction sauce. I really like my offal, and had nearly bought some sweetbreads the previous weekend in Barnstable. Delicious.

For main course my wife had Confit of Dartmoor Lamb, with olive & potato cake, shredded (stir fried?) artichoke & aubergine. As someone who will not touch rare meat - she prefers meat done to death! - this dish was ideally suited. Don't know which cut was used - it wasn't shank as you see in Gastro Pubs, unless it was cut higher up the leg. The meat was falling apart, just as you would expect a confit to be.

Keeping with the strong flavours theme I had Venison steak with potato rosti, beetroot and red wine reduction sauce. The venison was beautifully tender. I even enjoyed the beetroot - a vegatable I usually hate.

For puddings my wife had hot Passion fruit souffle whilst I had the Plate of Raspberry - which consists of a raspberry sorbet/biscuit, mini raspberry souffle, chocolate case containing raspberry parfait, and a miniture brulee (turned out, with a topping of crispy caramel) with raspberries inside. The Passion Fruit souffle was, as always, beautifully risen and was served with a generous jug of warm Passion Fruit Juice.

All round, once again, a very good eat indeed. Looking forward to possible another visit for lunch in the week afetr Xmas.

Best of the season to you all

Airwaves

[Suzi Edwards]

Thanks for the report Airwaves and welcome to the eGullet forums!

[wgallois]

Back to 22 Mill Street just before Christmas for another feast. Many of the dishes have already been mentioned on this thread, so I'll concentrate on the stand-outs: awesome artichoke hearts with Hollandaise and diced wild mushrooms (unrestrained pleasure); a very good ravioli dish that came in a zingy lemon and basil veloute; the already mentioned 'plate of raspberry', which is indeed excellent; and best of all, the bread (it's worth going there for this alone).

22 Mill Street is a very personal enterprise, as Gareth mentioned, with Duncan taking control of absolutely everything (coats, drinks, cooking, service, and our breakfast as we stayed over). The best manifestations of this attention to detail come in the cooking - the food is fantastically precise, as well as being delicious - and the care that goes into the development of menus. Duncan had prepared a menu with a choice of five vegetarian courses for Becky and I, all available as starters and mains, and all really interesting.

Edited January 7, 2005 by wgallois (log)