Hi all, how are you doing on this windy Wednesday (that’s the weather, not me). What I love about Derby is the expanding foodie scene, with restaurants and various eateries offering tasting menus and one-off sample nights. This is a great way to check out the restaurants’ offerings, which usually showcase a diverse selection from their menu. If you fancy trying a new place in town, head on over to Blacksmiths Loft on Sadler Gate. Here is their Tasting Menu for tomorrow evening. (PS the photo on the header is their gorgeous sea trout, not on the Tasting Menu, but I couldn’t resist posting, as it’s a beautiful image.)
I don’t know about you, but the Scallop Carpaccio sounds amazing. I caught up with Head Chef at Blacksmiths Loft, Chris Parry, who had this to say about the Tasting Evening.
“We are running our first Tasting Menu at the Blacksmiths Loft on Thursday 19th November. The idea behind it, is to give our customers an idea of what we are about and to take them on a journey of exciting flavours, textures and temperatures. We have an innovative shredded pork doughnut with chorizo jam, burnt apple purée and smoked paprika sugar as one of the courses and a modern twist on the flavours of the Bloody Mary cocktail as another. It should be an excellent evening!”
Chris added: “Our ethos on food here at Blacksmiths Loft is to keep it as local as possible, promoting local businesses such as Teds Greengrocers in Derby Market Place and Owen Taylors Butchers just a few miles down the road in Leebrooks. Although 80% of our ingredients are produced locally, we use ideas and flavour combinations from all over the globe. An example of this is our scallop dish with red lentil daal, cauliflower purée and cumin caramel which is a nod to Indian cookery, of which I’m a huge fan of.
“We also have an Asian inspired sea bass dish and a modern take on the Italian tiramisu on our Christmas party menu. We love putting twists on British classics such as our Apple Crumble Custard dish which is our best-selling dessert.”
Blacksmiths Loft also offer Sunday lunch, where they run a reduced menu at a very reasonable price. Their best-selling dish is their succulent silverside of beef, sourced from Mr Chamberlain’s Glebe farm in Shardlow. They serve it with all the classic trimmings, including huge Yorkshire puddings and a fantastic gravy.
If you want to give your taste-buds a treat with this Tasting Menu (booking is essential), please call 01332 368822 now or hop onto website www.blacksmithsloft.co.uk for more information.
Have a most excellent week guys, what have you got planned? I’m reviewing Le Bistrot Pierre Friargate and then off to Nottingham this weekend to review Joe’s Kitchen Restaurant, bake a cake for charity, and catch up with gal pal A (more on both restaurant reviews in a standalone post).
See you soon,
RAxx