Lunch @ ABode - Pranzo @ ABode

Cara Tatina,

thanks so much for your kind birthday wishes, you are always so kind.

It was great re-living your journey and stay in Manchester, I am happy you have had a good time here! You are welcome back anytime, of course!

Talking about my birthday, I wanted to tell you where Stuart took me for a birthday lunch last Saturday: we went to Michael Caines' restaurant at the ABode Hotel in Manchester city centre.

Michael Caines is a famous English chef from Exeter, some of our English readers might have seen him guest on several cooking programmes on telly. I would have never thought I'd had the chance to go to his restaurant, so when Stuart told me I was really excited!

As soon as we got there, we were greeted with a smile and taken to our table by one of the waiters, the first of 7 that looked after us! Oh yes, I counted them all! Someone took our food order, someone else the wine order...someone else again brought our food and so on...still, it was not as pretentious as it may sounds, the atmosphere was still very relaxed and the waiters were so discreet, they made sure everything ran smoothly.

The restaurant was very modern and so stylish, black and white with orange accents, like the waiters ties and the gerberas on the tables. And such an attention to detail: I loved the cute little spoon to be used to sprinkle the rock salt!

tiniest spoon I have ever seen!

We each had 3 courses chosen from the Christmas Amazing Graze Menu. For starter, I had Tuna tartar, with honey and soy vinaigrette, wasabi yoghurt, pickled turnips and beetroot.

You already know that I am a slow eater...well, I took my time to eat this delicious starter as well, even longer than usual! Each bite was so tasty, I am not kidding!

Stuart instead had Chicken and ham hock terrine with quince purée, candied walnuts and salad mâche.

Of course I had a taste of his starter as well, we chose different dishes on purpose so we could have double the pleasure!

For main course I had fish again, I went for a Pan-fried sea bream with stir-fry of mange tout, shiitake mushrooms and bean sprouts and lemongrass foam. I'd never eaten a foam before and I was very curious to try it!



I have not been disappointed, once again it was an explosion of flavours! Stuart instead went for a more seasonal choice of Roast turkey with all the trimmings.

The meat was succulent and even the Brussels sprouts were delicious!

Finally it was time for my favourite course, dessert: I decided what I was having for pudding even before I chose my mains! I went for Orange tart with confit orange sorbet.

The sorbet was sitting on a little cup made of dark chocolate, a lovely bitter flavour against the sweet tangy orange...loved it! Stuart followed tradition and went for a classic Christmas pudding with cognac crème anglaise.

Traditional, yes, and nothing wrong with that, it was once again delicious!

The whole meal was washed down with a bottle of white wine, probably the most expensive bottle of wine we have ever had, however it was a special occasion after all and I have to thanks my lovely hubby for this special treat!

--------------------------

Cara Tatina,

grazie mille per gli auguri di buon compleanno! Sei sempre tanto cara! E che bello rivivere i giorni trascorsi assieme a Manchester attraverso il blog, sono felice che tu ti sia trovata bene, ero sicura che Manchester ti avrebbe accolto a braccia aperte!

In questo posto vorrei ricollegarmi al mio compleanno per raccontarti di dove mi ha portato a pranzo Stuart sabato scorso. Siamo andati al ristorante di Michael Caines all'interno dell'hotel ABode in centro a Manchester.

Michael Caines è un famoso chef inglese, i nostri lettori inglesi lo avranno visto sicuramente in tv ospite a qualche programma di cucina. E' la prima volta che Stuart ed io andiamo in un ristorante di questo tipo e dire che eravamo eccitati all'idea è dir poco!

Durante il corso del pranzo siamo stati serviti da ben 7 camerieri diversi, ci credi?! Il locale era moderno e molto stiloso, decorato in bianco e nero con qualche sprazzo di arancio, come le cravatte dei camerieri e le gerbere sui tavoli.

Stuart mentre legge attentamente il menu

Scommetto che sei curiosa di sapere cosa abbiamo pappato? Allora, vediamo se riesco a tradurre il menu!

Come antipasto io ho scelto tonno alla tartara (dici che ci ho preso? tonno crudo, insomma) con una vinaigrette di miele e soia, yogurt di wasabi e rape sott'aceto...semplicemente delizioso! Stuart si è gustato un patè di pollo e prosciutto con mela cotogna e noci candite.

Abbiamo scelto pietanze diverse apposta così avremmo potuto scambiare assaggini :-)

Ho proseguito con del pesce, un'orata con verdurine saltate in padella: mange tout, funghi e germogli di soia con una spuma di citronella. Non avevo mai assaggiato una "spuma" e direi che non ne sono rimasta delusa, anzi, che bontà! Stuart invece ha scelto arrosto di tacchino e con contorno di verdure al forno, una pietanza tradizionale durante le feste natalizie, ma preparata da questo ristorante era tutta un'altra cosa, ti dirò!

E finalmente siamo al dolce, la mia parte preferita! Mi son leccata i baffi quando mi è arrivata una stupenda crostata di arance con sorbetto, sempre d'arance, servita su una tegola d'ardesia...la mia faccia parla da sola, vero?!

Stuart ha finito il suo pranzo con un'altra ricetta tipica: Christmas pudding! A proposito, son piaciuti quelli che hai portato a casa come souvenirs?

E' stata davvero un'esperienza da non dimenticare, ci siamo alzati da tavola sazi e soddisfatti, entrambi ci siam detti che potremmo abituarci senza problemi a questo tipo di cucina!

Il tutto è stato possibile grazie al mio caro Stuart...grazie mille!!!

Stu sfoggia il suo cappotto nuovo