On the Second Day of Christmas

“Your 2010 Christmas present is 12 memorable meals out over the next 12 months, featuring:
Michelin Stars
Celebrity Chefs
Spanish Tapas
Modern Seafood
Modern Italian Cuisine
High Class Dim Sum
in London, Surrey and farther afield”  

“On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…” a tasting menu at Brooklands Brasserie in Weybridge, Surrey.  

Opened in March 2010, Brooklands Hotel is located next door to Mercedes Benz World and within the legendary Brooklands motor racing circuit preserved with the help of Brooklands Museum. Along with 120 bedrooms and a 2011 Professional Beauty Awards Finalist spa, Brooklands Brasserie and Bar offers “an inspiring yet relaxing setting for you to dine and socialise in.”  

Madame Thermomix met Brooklands Brasserie Executive Chef Grzegorz Olejarka at the 2010 Restaurant Show and subsequently sold him two Thermomix TM31s to help him produce what he calls his “Art on a plate.”  

Chef Olejarka was a challenger on the recent first series of Iron Chef UK and earned not one but two stars for Dish of the Day. His Halibut Served with Beetroot Textures won high praise from judges and Iron Chef commentators alike, and the recipe appears on the Channel 4 website. Iron Chef commentator Nick Nairns said of Grzegorz Olejarka, “We may have discovered a new talent today.”  

We put Chef Olejarka’s talent to the test and were rewarded with a six-course tasting menu that proved to be one of the best meals we have had in a long time. It will certainly be hard to beat in this Twelve Days of Christmas Feasting Series in terms of value, as for a mere £32 each we enjoyed:  

Amuse bouche
Seared diver scallop, foam and mint leaf purée, fish bisque  

Starter
Foie gras and pear press terrine with grape chutney and toasted brioche
dotted with delightful cèpes and a micro herb salad  

Fish course
Slow poached cod wrapped in Nori, samphire and black trumpet mushrooms served on a bed of mixed seafood (crayfish, mussels and clams) in a fish velouté  

Middle course
A coffee cup of chicken stock potato purée with parmesan crisp, deep-fried frog’s leg and fried basil leaf 

Meat course
Cannon of lamb wrapped in cabbage, candied beetroot, pied bleu mushrooms, rosemary jus with broad beans, leek, carrot, baby turnip, Alsatian crosnes and yellow beetroot

Dessert
Raspberry gelato with almond crumbs, raspberry soup and surprise: a dry ice volcano!  

Coffee and petits fours  

Chef Olejarka presented us at every course with “Art on a plate” as well as artistry on the palate. Tastes were balanced. Unusual elements enhanced rather than detracted. Dessert even presented us with a touch of alchemy, as dry ice hidden in the plate reacted with the raspberry soup poured over the dish to create a “raspberry volcano” as a delightful surprise ending to our meal.

John said that our special menu at Brooklands Brasserie created by rising star Grzegorz Olejarka was “The best meal we’ve had in England outside of a Michelin-starred restaurant” and I heartily agree.

I think that says it all, don’t you? 

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