Juniper
Towards the end of last year, Paul Kitching decided to take a long, hard look at how the kitchen at his one-Michelin-starred restaurant, Juniper, was working. He had become increasingly frustrated that his ambitious and highly individual style of cooking at the 40-seat Altrincham restaurant wasn't reaching the tables as he wanted it. His conclusion? Much of the fault lay in the fact that he was very hands-on as a chef-proprietor, and was getting involved in cooking all the dishes on his menu.
So he decided to simplify, handing responsibility for individual dishes to specific chefs in his five-strong brigade. "Giving the guys more responsibility gave them confidence. They've really grown up a lot in the last six months."
Kitching still cooks certain dishes himself, of course. He doesn't only patrol the pass. "I cook my favourites of the moment," he explains. On the current menu, brought in for spring, that means a baked chicken dish (slow-cooked) served with spring greens, Roquefort, coloured rice, toasted malt loaf, white asparagus, hazelnuts, peas and a toffee glaze (£19).
It also means a new spring lamb offering, also slow-cooked. Like many of his contemporaries, Kitching is an enthusiastic practitioner of this method. "It just concentrates the flavour," he says. "The customers keep commenting on how rich and buttery the flavour is. But we don't add butter - just cook the meat on a little bit of tinfoil."
The lamb - short, best end - is served on a square plate ("I'm very square at the moment") on a bed of lentils. "It's in the top left corner," says an infectiously enthusiastic Kitching. "In the top right and on the diagonal in the bottom left," he continues, "are some sultanas which we soak in curried syrup and then sprinkle with bees' pollen, which is fantastic: it's a honey-salty-gummy sort of thing."
The final touches to the dish are dried leek and, in the bottom right corner, scraped new potatoes cooked in a little water and lemon juice which are placed on a nest of black pasta. Tried out as a Saturday special a week ago, the lamb has been a winner.
A joy in playing around with the basics of classical cuisine and everyday food is Kitching's trademark. The fun is evident, too, in his menu descriptions, with little asides like "a refreshing new dish", "simple thoughts", "new direction". Taken out of context, they could sound pretentious, but the menu simply reflects Kitching's personality and gives his restaurant an idiosyncrasy which distinguishes it from the crowd.
Take another bit of sophisticated fun: "Secretly cooked" beef fillet "with individual deconstructed items to be found in a classical beef burger". A deliciously tender piece of beef is served on a bed of sweet corn and finely chopped apricots. Also on the plate are a bread beignet coated with sesame seeds ("the bun thing"), a quenelle of tomato concasse topped with gherkin and smoked bacon and a cheese biscuit. The biscuit's made with cheese slices melted down with cream and truffle oil, which is then sprinkled with things like sesame seeds, capers, onions, gherkin, chopped green and black olives, baked for three hours, and dried off overnight. Result? - a crispy tuile. Tastes and textures are brought together with a smoked hicory sauce and dried iceberg lettuce - the cup-like outer leaves are dried on a hot plate over two days for an extra bit of crisp.
Desserts at Juniper continue to use nostalgia triggers to challenge diners. Rice pudding soufflé comes with a surprisingly successful cough medicine sorbet (don't worry, it's a kiddies' syrup made mostly of glucose).
Assiettes are a big thing, too, and allow constant tweaking to go on. A winter selection of spice desserts (£9) at one time included ginger cake soufflé, cinnamon sorbet, and clove crème brûlée. It's been replaced by a quartet of apple desserts (£8): sultana soufflé, Granny Smith sorbet, dried grape ice-cream, apple and cinnamon crème brûlée.
If that's not challenging enough, there's always a pub-inspired selection. No, honestly: lemon tart with lager and lime sorbet, Cheddar cheese ice-cream, a dried tomato and sweet Branston pickle gâteau. As I said, Kitching's having fun pushing the boundaries.
Juniper, 21 The Downs, Altrincham, Greater Manchester WA14 2QD. Tel: 0161-929 4008
What's on the menu
Creamy parsnip soup, scallops, bacon, tarragon, salsify and Horlicks, £8
Slow-baked sea bass fillet, haggis, rhubarb crumble and custard "simple thoughts", £9
"A selection of unusual flavours" curried cod, black pudding wafers, pineapple, apricot ribbons, hot scone, feta, apple pur‚e, Argon oil cream, pumpkinseeds, £10
Baked fillet of turbot, creamy crab bisque, dried smoked salmon duo, scallop, mange-tout diamonds, smoked mackerel glaze, cottage cheese, lentils "served in a modern style", £19
Very tender saddle of venison, merguez sausage, red barley, prunes, milk chocolate tart, liquorice glaze "new direction", £23
Glazed classical lemon tart, £8
