The Yard storms in to Knutsford #Blog

Stephen Wundke
7th December 2016

Ernesto Sciarrillo and Carl Noller make strange bed fellows socially but where food and drink is concerned they do it wonderfully and just gel. We went to the recent soft launch of their new place in Knutsford on King St and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It lacks for pose value, given that the intimate restaurant is primarily upstairs but that is the only thing it lacks for – except perhaps a few more seats if you are trying to get a table and lots of people were.

The great thing about The Yard is – it’s real, there is no pretence and it is not a triumph, like so many places, of image over substance. Yes it’s a little bit funky in terms of decor but all of that is backed up by honest, quality, Italian inspired food. Carl sources the best available produce locally and Ernesto backs that up with family classics from Italy. It’s a perfect blend, even down to the home made bread and smoked popcorn that greets you on arrival and it’s free – so rare these days.

For our evening we had as starters some gin cured Salmon which was superb but by far the feature of the dish was the jelly and sauces which brought the whole flavour of the salmon alive. We also had a celearic remoulade which was wrapped in soft, smoky parma ham and accompanied by a crispy small scotch egg that was all oozing in the middle and a perfect blend of tastes.

The main courses on our menu were Chicken filled with fontina cheese sitting on the most delightful compote of red peppers, tomato, celery and green beans, rustic and gorgeous. Somewhat surprisingly our 14 year old (fussy) ate the lot and pronounced how good he thought Carl was at cooking!! We were surprised at this non gadget device inspired outburst – it was from the heart – or maybe stomach! The other main was slow braised beef on an onion risotto served with banana shallots and whilst the beef was tender and literally fell apart the star of this dish was the shallots, which were sweet and rich and just added another dimension to the meal. That’s what good cooking is all about, how to make a few ingredients really sing, not how to put as many things as possible on a plate.

The Yard have made a bit of a reputation for their desserts and you can tell by looking at Carl (see picture) he enjoys his work in this area and when you enjoy something you normally excel and he does. The Chocolate Pots with homemade honeycomb and ice cream are indulgent, sweet, bitter and ohh so moorish and for those who thought they were too grown up for chocolate their treat was Panettone, bread and butter pudding with grappa soaked raisins and home made ice cream. It was, like the place, something for everyone.

We were feted with great hospitality, the venue has real charm and atmosphere and Ernesto and his family are wonderful hosts. Knutsford has a lot of eating choices but it doesn’t have anything like The Yard and once people experience the flavours, the hospitality and the feeling that you are not just a customer but a guest, it will be tough to get a table – just like Chester.

Thank you Ernesto and Carl – we really enjoyed ourselves.