Menu of the Year

A display of “good craft” and the “interesting marrying of textures and flavours” swung the jury in favour of Bruno’s in Dublin when awarding the 2002 Menu of the Year Catey.

 

Head chef Garrett Byrne has led the Bruno’s brigade for just over two years, following stints at Dublin’s Clarence hotel and Chapter One restaurant, preceded by a number of years in London at the likes of Orrery and Quaglino’s. He insists on using only fresh, seasonal ingredients to create a series of menus offering modern French food for brunch, lunch and dinner at the 100-seat restaurant.

 

His current menu has such choices as saddle of venison with parsnip hash brown, sauce poivrade and red cabbage; and tournedos of cod, brandade ravioli, mustard, French beans and crushed potatoes. Beef, duck, corn-fed chicken, brill and John Dory also vie for attention among the main courses, while starters make good use of ingredients such as smoked haddock, scallops, sweetbreads, pumpkin and beetroot. Byrne’s favourite ingredient, foie gras, also makes an appearance in a terrine served as a starter with a quince compote and toasted buttermilk bread.

 

The Menu of the Year Catey for 2003 will be chosen from 12 menus shortlisted by judges from all those featured in the Menuwatch pages in the Chef section of Caterer & Hotelkeeper. Among the runners so far is a former Caterer Adopted Business, Mustard & Punch in the West Yorkshire village of Honley, near Huddersfield, where joint chef-proprietors and brothers Chris and Richard Dunn cook side-by-side for their 65-seat restaurant.

 

The menu delivers traditional Yorkshire ingredients with a bit of a twist, such as a pressed ham hock served with pea risotto and frogs’ legs; and a trio of lamb featuring a mini-shepherd’s pie, a noisette and lambs’ kidneys served with caramelised and puréed swede.

 

Another bid from the North comes from the Samling hotel in the Lake District, where a dish of braised pig’s head consisting of the ear, cheek, eye socket, jowl and brains served with puréed potatoes and braised root vegetables on the spring menu became rather a talking point among diners. Chef Chris Meredith serves what he calls British country fare; and hearty meat dishes such as daube of beef with root vegetables, wild mushrooms, puréed potatoes and bacon go down particularly well.

 

In complete contrast, authentic Japanese food is the order of the day at London’s Zuma, also shortlisted for the award. Here, vegetables, seafood and meat are cooked on a robata grill over an open fire in the centre of the restaurant in full view of diners and under the direction of chef-proprietor Rainer Becker. The menu has no differentiation between starters and main courses, with dishes such as baked snapper in sea salt, seaweed, garlic and ginger often shared between guests.
This year’s winner will be announced at the Catey Awards on Tuesday 1st July.

 

Previous Winners:

 

2002 Bruno’s, Kildare Street, Dublin
2001 Five Bells
2000 Idaho, London
1999 The Glasshouse, Kew, London
1998 The River Station, Bristol
1997 The Star Inn, Helmsley
1996 The Canteen, London
1995 The Design House, Halifax
1994 Number Twenty Four, Wymondham
1993 The Box Tree, Ilkley
1992 Le Soufflé, Hotel Inter-Continental, London
1991 Calcot Manor, Tetbury
1990 Le Méridien, London
1989 Castle Hotel, Taunton
1988 Grand Hotel, Eastbourne
1987 Three Swans Hotel, Market Harborough
1986 Le Talbooth, Dedham
1985 The Savoy, London
1984 Waterside Inn, Bray

 

**Sponsored by:**Â Â Â Quorn

 

Sponsor message:

 

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Quorn is delighted to be supporting the Cateys for the first time this year, and is proud to be sponsoring the category of Menu of the Year.Â
This prestigious Catey is awarded for a balanced, stylish menu that demonstrates true skill and flair, and uses a range of ingredients to produce an appropriately priced menu that is truly suited to the restaurant’s customers.Â

 

Quorn fully recognises the creativity and dedication that is required to create a successful menu, and this award poses the opportunity to give due recognition and praise to those restaurants that have excelled in the field of menu development.Â

 

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