W
L
THE CURIOUS QUAFFER
KUBA WINKOWSKI
(AT THE ART SCHOOL)
Since opening his doors to the public, at The Art School
Restaurant in Liverpool in 2014, chef Paul Askew has
achieved two things. Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, he
has succeeded with providing those of us who have visited
The Art School with wonderful food and wines to match.
Secondly, he has for many years also been flying the flag for
Liverpool when it comes to bringing a host of gastronomic
experiences to the region.
As many of you will know Paul Askew has hosted many fine
dining experiences at The Art School restaurant for some time.
Many have involved bringing into the fold a number of world
renowned chefs. All of this, though, is part of a bigger picture
which involves both the bringing of culinary experiences to us in
the North West region and the desire to “develop a gastronomic
city”. For this, Paul Askew and his team are deserving of huge
credit.
A couple of weeks ago one such event involved a ‘Special
Dinner with Chef Kuba Winkowski’. Many of you may know
of him, possibly from the television or from his days as the
head chef at the Feathered Nest Inn in the Cotswolds. From
moving to England from his home in Poland at the age of 24
and attending catering college, to being named National Chef
of The Year 2019, he has literally flown to the very top of his
profession in no time at all. His food is exquisite and refined in
equal measure. Obviously, attending to taste his wonderful food
was important to me and for my attendance at the dinner. As
important, however, were the wines that were chosen to match
it.
To start the evening everyone was treated to a glass, or two, of
Charles Heidsieck Champagne and a selection of canapés in the
Art School Cellars. Once seated for dinner the Amuse Bouche
arrived – smoked Siberian sturgeon, kohlrabi, Attilus caviar
and sour cream. Then the main event!
36 wirrallife.com
TO START...
The starter was Welsh wagyu beef tongue, charcoal potato,
horseradish and dill. There were some pretty strong flavours
in here, yet the decision was to match it with ‘Domaine de
Terrebrune’ from Bandol (2017). I thought that this was going
to be a tough match; on the one hand some strong flavours
from the food, and on the other a rose wine from the South
of France. It worked wonderfully well though. The wine is a
blend of mourvedre, cinsault and grenache. The wine gave us
some rose petals, some citrus, a touch of creaminess and just
the right amount of minerality and freshness to both match,
and hold its own with the food. It just goes to prove that decent
rose, particularly from regions like Bandol and Provence in the
South of France, are not only very quaffable on their own, but
can often be serious food wines too. I would love to see more
rose wines on restaurant wine lists these days.
INTERMEDIATE...
Next up – Peterhead cod, ‘nduja agnolotti, cuttlefish ragu, cider
broth. In the cider broth it is worth mentioning that there was
some chorizo too. So, once again some very strong flavours here.
Again, at first sight, serving this dish with ‘Podero Castorani’s
Jarno Blanco’ (i.e. a white wine) from Abruzzo in Italy (2013)
was a bold choice. The wine consists of some 70% trebianno
d’abruzzo, 20% malvasia and 10% cococciola. Once again it
was a great match for the food – in fact an inspired choice.
Candy, citrus, nuts, apple, slightly sweet but beautifully fresh.
Importantly it held its own with the chorizo in the cider broth.
MAIN...
Salt aged duck, dumpling, red miso, beetroots, pak-choi. This
was served with ‘Cuatro Pasos, Mencia’ (2016). This was,
again, an interesting choice; but for a slightly different reason.
Of course, most of us would go for a glass or two of red wine
with this course; again one with strong flavours (the dumpling
itself had very powerful flavours). However, for those of you
who may not know (and I suspect many may not) mencia is