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THE ART SCHOOL AT HOME by Si Hall and Arthur Gold
Our good friend at the Art School restaurant , Paul Askew , has been causing quite a stir on our social feeds of late with his “ Art School At Home boxes ” so , purely in the line of research you understand , we thought we ’ d try them out !
Our first task was to find the menus on the restaurants new look website , we hit the shop button – and were greeted the delightful tempting menus of the restaurant – tantalizing and frustrating in one measure as who knows when we ’ ll get to enjoy The Art School surroundings again . A second pass , straight from the home page , to the shop and a little scroll down we had arrived at our virtual destination .
Chef Askew has prepared a selection of different menus including a vegetarian and vegan option . We opted for Menu 2 , priced at £ 45.00 per head , placed our order , selected our collection time ( the menus are available for collection on a Saturday and Sunday only ) and waited .
I have to admit at being slightly sceptical that , even given his considerable gastronomic talent , that Chef Askew and the brigade could pull off takeaway fine dining .
Saturday duly arrived and we took the trip across the Mersey to collect our fayre , delivered , contactless , to our vehicle by one of the team suitably kitted out in the appropriate PPE . There was a reassuring familiarity about the service , a kindness and knowledge , that despite these strangest of times , I ’ m pleased to report has been retained .
We made our way merrily home having treated ourselves to a paired wine box , well dry January can wait another year .
Our menu consisted of : Amuse Bouche served with Art School breads & Wirral single herd raw milk butter .
TO START Pithivier of Free-range chicken , chestnut mushroom and tarragon with Dijon mustard & verjus sauce .
MAIN Slow cooked Ox cheek in with thyme , garlic & bay leaf jus served with celeriac & black truffle puree , buttered cavolo nero and confit carrots .
DESSERT Valrhona dark chocolate torte with praline crunch , mango & papaya gel , caramel popcorn and passion fruit foam .
So , our first fear , that ingredients or local and seasonal produce , synonymous with Paul ' s restaurant and ethos would be compromised , fell totally unfounded .
Now , it ’ s widely known that we adore food , and having previously attempted to recreate Art School dishes from Paul ' s book “ Onwards & Upwards ”, I felt confident that I could tackle the contents of this at home box , although I don ’ t mind admitting to the fear of freestyling it a little and completely ruining our evening !
Fortunately for all concerned the “ At home ” box was equipped with step-by-step instructions for each dish . Each was perfectly packed , generous in portion size , and every attention to detail that you expect in the restaurant was present .
The time between courses we could dictate and whilst we rushed between the amuse bouche and our starter of pithivier of freerange chicken we enjoyed a leisurely break before our main , enjoying a glass or two from our paired wine box .
The evening was completed with the most incredible of desserts and apart from the dishes we were done .
Our verdict .
Fine dining , with the right care , attention and understanding of ingredients can be done to enjoy at home and while we missed seeing Chef Askew through the galley window it felt like we had a sense of The Art School at home .
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