Piste – Bringing the best of Europe to Tarporley #Blog
Gaile Wundke
16th December 2016
Piste first opened it’s doors in the heart of Tarporley’s bustling high street in 2010. The family run wine bar and restaurant headed up by James Hughes, prides itself on its relaxed and welcoming environment, with an emphasis on quality, service and value. The kitchen is run by Head Chef Duncan Angus who previously worked as chef to the McLaren F1 team! The restaurant has won many awards and one they are most proud of is the Marketing Cheshire Restaurant of the Year which they won in two consecutive years. So, with such an outstanding pedigree, we knew we were in for a treat!
I am a great believer in omens and we started our evening with an extremely good one – a parking space right outside the front door – an omen which very much set the tone for the rest of the evening!
As soon as we walked through the door we were warmly welcomed and shown to our table and despite being amongst the early diners the restaurant had a lovely atmosphere, something which very few places achieve with only a handful of diners. I should point out that we arrived at 6.30pm on a Monday night and by the time we left, most of the tables had been taken.
Diners can choose from a Table D’Hote or Main Menu. The Table D’Hote offers 2 courses for £14.00 or 3 for £18.00, 12-9.30pm Monday to Thursday, 12-7.00pm Friday & Saturday and 12-3.00pm on Sunday. We chose from the Main Menu and what a lot of choice there was including Nibbles & Light Bites, Sharing Boards and of course, with a name like Piste, a cheese fondue!
After some deliberation we chose, Black and white pudding wellington, fried duck egg, French fried onions £7.00, Crab, spring onion and chilli pancake rolls, sticky plum jam, beansprout and coriander salad, £8.00 and Pan fried scallops, roasted belly pork, black pudding, apple puree £12.00 (this dish can also be ordered as a main course for £20.00).
The wellington contained clearly defined pieces of black and white pudding, encased in a crisp puff pastry, topped with a perfectly cooked duck egg. Once pierced, the golden yolk of the egg oozed over the wellington and the crisp French fried onions, added both flavour and texture. My husband who had ordered this for his starter, said that he would come back to the restaurant just to eat it again – high praise indeed! The crab, spring onion and chilli pancake rolls were excellent, a bigger portion that I had expected and full of crab, that you could actually taste – believe me, as a crab lover that is a rarity. The sticky plum jam added the perfect balance of sharp and sweet with a pop of freshness from the salad. Finally, the scallops and belly pork. The scallops were cooked to perfection, the pork soft and unctuous, the black pudding rich and robust, all brought together by a slightly sharp, but extremely delicious, apple puree. I think each of us could have happily eaten our starters all over again given the chance!
As with the starters, deciding which main courses to have was equally challenging as everything sounded so good, but choose we must, so we eventually opted for Confit belly pork, braised ox cheek, tartiflette, sweet apple compote, puy lentil, pancetta and cider fricassee £17.00, The Piste Burger, with Emmenthal Cheese £12.00 with an additional topping of Bacon £1.00 and Parmesan and truffle oil chips £4.50. Finally we chose, Braised shin of beef, potato rosti, braised red cabbage, roasted shallot, vine cherry tomatoes, red wine jus £16.00 with a side order of Spinach £3.50
The presentation of the starters had been excellent and when the mains arrived they didn’t disappoint, the food at Piste really does deliver a wow factor! The belly pork was just so good, the fat had been rendered down to leave soft juicy meat with the crispiest skin imaginable, the braised ox cheek, rich and delicious and the accompanying tartiflette, compote and fricassee, provided the perfect compliment in terms of flavour and texture. The burger was another triumph, succulent meat in a lightly toasted bun with the usual lettuce, tomato and onion garnish, accompanied by homemade garlic mayo and tomato salsa. Finally, the braised shin of beef, which had been recommended by our waitress and she was right to do so, an ambrosial tower of moist tender meat, crisp rosti, soft caramelised shallot, slightly sweet & sour cabbage and vine tomatoes, bursting with the now distant memory of summer flavour!
To conclude what had been a pretty exceptional meal we chose two desserts, sticky toffee pudding and chocolate & vanilla ice cream. It came as no surprise that yet again the presentation was impressive, the sticky toffee pudding was rich, dark and very moist, surrounded by a pool of sweet sticky sauce, topped with a scoop of ice cream, which provided a refreshing contrast. The chocolate and vanilla ice cream arrived in an oversized brandy snap, quite possibly the most imaginative presentation for two scoops of ice cream that I have ever seen with the added bonus that the brandy snap was delicious! The tangy raspberry coulis and fresh fruit provided a fruity ‘zing’ that cut through the rich buttery flavours of the rest of the dessert. A perfect finale to a very well orchestrated meal!
Piste is quite simply a really lovely place to have a meal and it is no surprise that they have won so many awards. If Piste were an acronym, it would surely stand for Perfect, Independent, Stylish, Tarporley, Eatery – because that’s exactly what it is and I for one, can’t wait to return!