Grace & Savour (*) – West Midlands, UK

Such a beautiful find at a surprising midlands location in the UK. Grace & Savour is based at Hampton Manor and is set amongst the manors old walled garden that has been completely brought back to life with a huge focus on produce quality, rare varieties, flavour and sustainability.

The head chef, David, offers a tour of the garden if you’re staying overnight and really sets the stage for the meal with an outpouring of passion for soil health and all things agriculture that feature throughout the tasting menu.

Lovely minimal decor within the restaurant looks over the garden and open kitchen and it makes for a super relaxing theatre stage style service. On the point of service, dishes were brought by kitchen and front of house team members throughout and they had so much to say about the produce. This was a joy to hear and they clearly have been on many visits to local farms, they hold the passion for the ethos David laid out clearly around sustainability and farming practices.

Absolute stand out dishes for me included: 3, 4, 5, 6, 11.

I wouldn’t have felt like I’d missed out if the meal didn’t include: 2, 10.

Overall, I found the meal delicious, enjoyable and educational in the least overbearing or preachy way possible. I’d be surprised if this restaurant doesn’t receive a second star or at least a green star.

(1) A broth of roasted duck bones with organic peas, Scottish girolle and Sea buckthorn from the Cornish coast.
/ No pic unfortunately, I was far too carried away talking!

(2) Biodynamic cucumber from Toby with aubergine and our bread miso finished with sunflower and cucumber petals from our garden.

(3) A tart of Chapel Organic beetroot with lacto-fermented beetroot honey and biodynamic yoghurt from Loch Arthur Creamery.
/ stand out bite for me, I loved the beetroot and yogurt flavour so much.

(4) Tartar of Dunwood Farm's Wagyu sirloin with black garlic, pickled elderflower and a salad of nasturtiums, watercress and lacto-fermented wild garlic.
/ indulgent umami goodness with an unexpected pickled elderflower element cutting through.

(5) Organic field mushroom with toasted buckwheat and Welsh black truffle.
/ again, an intense umami hit. Nothing unexpected but very delicious.

(6) Razor clams with sea herbs from the Cornish Coast, cobnuts from Billy with a broth made from apple, mussels and sea pepper oil.
/ did not expect to like this as much as I did, really wonderful and fresh flavours.

(7) Seeded sourdough bread made by Adam, our in-house baker, served with butter infused with the same grain the bread is made with.

(8) Cornish Scallops hand dived by Frazer with sweetcorn from our garden, chilli peppers from Toby and dried scallop roe.

(9) Cornish line caught wild seabass with a sauce of the smoked bones, kohlrabi and preserved gooseberry and fig of last year.
/ serving the sea bass with the sweet, acidic preserves was a triumph choice.

(10) Duck from Worcester duck famn with duck faggot, pickled beach rose, agastache and mexican marigolds from our garden.
/ tasty sure, but for the main course this felt a little familiar or maybe I’m just not a huge duck fan.

(11) Organic blueberries from Trehane nurseries with toasted marshmallow, lavender and buttermilk.
/ toasted marshmallow flavour was so unexpected but made for a lovely pre dessert.

(12) A parfait of honey from Maggie in Knowle, with biodynamic redcurrants from Toby at Four Acres Farm and crème fraiche sorbet.

(13) Chobnut Financier with Crème Fraiche and berry compote