FOOD&DRINK

No formal menu, a tiny venue and fantastical gourmet thrills all night? Melissa Blease reckons this could be a new foodie revolution for Bath.

Back in the good old days, before they turned into accountants enslaved to gross profit, hygiene ratings and TripAdvisor ‘reviews’, chefs were outrageously pompous egomaniacs hell-bent on prandial perfection. Today, Marco Pierre White promotes stock cubes during X Factor ad breaks, Gordon Ramsay has turned into a Stateside reality TV show anti-hero and the only MasterChefs about whom the chattering classes chatter are whingeing about their ‘passion’ to a Snow Patrol backing track on primetime TV.

While the pretentious sophistication of Michelin-starred diners may still offer a showcase for the obsessive, inspired, hedonistic auteurs willing to dedicate three weeks of their life to distilling the essence of roast artichoke into one single, gelatinous droplet, such experiences are rarely accessible to those of us for whom £300 represents a week’s salary (if we’re lucky), not dinner for two on a Wednesday evening. If ever the time were right for a new foodie revolution, it’s now. And if ever there were a chef to show Bath the way forward, it’s Gordon Jones.

Now Gordon – who honed his skills under superstar chefs Martin Wishart and Martin Blunos before embarking on a long-term residency at the Royal Crescent Hotel, where he eventually worked his way up to head chef status – isn’t anywhere near as belligerent as MPW nor as rude as Ramsay (although I wouldn’t recommend that you ask him for tomato ketchup). But he’s clearly a risk taker. Only the bravest entrepreneur would open a restaurant in a tiny former cafe (maximum covers: 14) in a homely neighbourhood a steep trek away from the city centre. Only a chef with supreme confidence in his abilities would more or less eschew the whole concept of a formal menu altogether in favour of a set six-course taster (£35pp) based around ‘you get what you’re given’ principles. And only an experience this unique could, after a decade of reviewing restaurants, evoke such emotion: a veritable rush of sheer, thrilling, delighted excitement from start to finish.

I didn’t take a notebook to Gordon Jones - it’s a pretentious affectation that critics (or fake critics) use as a shortcut for ‘Do you know who I am?’ (to which the response, in my case, would generally be: ‘No.’) As a result, my rambling recollections aren’t intended to be comprehensive, but instead represent typical highlights of an elegant, multifaceted feast that came with more twists, turns and flourishes than three series of 'Strictly Come Dancing' put together.

Red cabbage bread came in a brown paper bag that, once opened, delivered a warm, yeasty odour that I’m guessing you’d only ever inhale were you to sit in the oven alongside it while it baked. Basil oil and thick, glossy balsamic reduction came in test-tubes, and a tomato soup amuse-bouche came topped with a froth that tasted like serrano ham but turned out to have a smoked eel derivation. A dish of actual smoked eel tasted like caviar, while a plate of wood pigeon tasted entirely of its earthy, gamey self. Dessert was a milk chocolate soufflé that tasted like I’d imagine heaven would taste if you’d been a very, very good person on earth, and a selection of organic/biodynamic wines to match each dish kept on coming throughout. Meanwhile, low-volume background music as eclectic as the menu acts as a gentle buffer between conversation at one table and the next, a beautifully scripted Finnish homily adorning the wall behind the bar adds further subtle eclectica, and Gordon himself keeps a keen eye on proceedings as he whips up all kinds of magic in his tiny open kitchen, resulting in a fantastical version of the best intimate supper party you’ve ever been to.

If, however, you prefer mediocre food cooked by an accountant in lacklustre surroundings, you’d be better off declining the invitation.

CONTACT

MENU GORDON JONES 2 WELLSWAY, BATH, BA2. FFI: 01225 480871, WWW.MENUGORDONJONES.CO.UK

THE VERDICT A fascinating experience on all levels - the Bath restaurant revolution starts here

Copyright Melissa Blease 2012