GRAFFITI
Amazingly, the city of Cambridge is rather short on good restaurants. The 2003 AA Restaurant Guide lists only one in the area with three rosettes (the one-Michelin-starred Midsummer House), and two more with one. But the arrival of contemporary hotel chic in a town steeped in tradition has brought with it a welcome dining addition - Graffiti.
Graffiti is part of the newly opened Hotel Felix, a 52-bedroom operation housed in a Victorian mansion, whose modern makeover provides a suitable backdrop for head chef Stuart Conibear's Mediterranean cooking.
Thirty-four-year-old Conibear, who before Graffiti was premier sous chef at the Dorchester and then head chef for the opening of Le Petit Blanc in Cheltenham, is keen on using traditional culinary techniques with contemporary presentation. "A lot of Mediterranean dishes are stew-like, served in a bowl. But we are trying to bring that into a new era," he says.
Suprˆme of duck with charred asparagus and globe artichokes (£18.95) comes served in fondant potatoes which are arranged to give a Russian doll effect. "We make fondant potato, then cut the centre out of the potato, and the centre out of that again, lining the shapes across the plate. We put the filling in the holes and duck is layered on top of the biggest piece."
Starters are more authentically Italian, such as vitello tonnato (thinly sliced roast topside of veal with a tuna mayonnaise). And Conibear is careful to put plenty of native Italian ingredients to good use, too. The risotto primavera (£6.25 as a starter) comes with barba di frate, or monk's beard (similar to chives, only more bitter).
A front terrace is used for alfresco dining, adding about 40 more seats to the restaurant's usual total of 72. Diners eating outside can choose either from the main menu or from a lighter café-bar selection devised by Conibear, which features dishes such as roast lobster, crushed potato rémoulade and purslane salad (£17.95).
"We have people ordering across the two menus. We're flexible," says Conibear, who tries to create a relaxed attitude in the dining room, where banquette seating and an open fireplace dominate.
Graffiti's eight-man brigade is busiest on Friday and Saturday nights, when average spend might push £50. Weekdays are mainly business lunches, while at weekends the kitchen also caters for hotel events like weddings.
Puddings might include honey-and-Bourbon mousse with candied filo pastry (£6.50) and chocolate pudding souffl‚ with black cherry compote and mascarpone. If there is more than a whiff of comfort to this and the rest of the menu, don't be surprised to hear that after his first job in London at the Goring hotel, Conibear then worked at the Ivy for four years until 2000.
"The Ivy taught me consistency, and that's what I want to repeat here," he says. So far so good, it seems, with the news earlier in the summer that the AA had handed Graffiti two rosettes after just a few months of service. n
Graffiti, Hotel Felix, Whitehouse Lane, Cambridge CB3 0LX. Tel: 01223 277977. Web: www.hotelfelix.co.uk
By Dan Bignold
CHEF'S CHEAT
When chopping mixed fresh herbs, pile them up together, then cut them in fine juliennes one way, then turn them and do the same the other way, rather than chopping over them in all different directions. This prevents them from bruising and turning black, so that you retain flavour and colour for longer.
WHAT'S ON THE MENU
- Steamed mussels with chorizo and chilli, £6.75
- Home-smoked duck breast with a shallot compote, potato r"sti and cassis vinaigrette, £8.75
- Plum tomato, Italian cheese and spring onion galette with basil dressing, £6.50
- Salt cod gnocchi with wilted treviso and tomato passata, £14.95
- Pan-fried halibut with a chorizo and butter bean stew, coriander pesto £18.75
- Tournedos of beef with a Gorgonzola mousse, dauphin potatoes and shallot jus, £21.95
- Selection of Italian cheeses, £6.25
- Iced berries with a hot white chocolate sauce, £5.75
- Espresso brûlée with a pecan shortbread biscuit, £6.25
