A labour of love
Above: .
When the Vanilla Pod opened in Marlow nearly six years ago, restaurant critics were rapturous in their praises.
The Guardian’s Matthew Fort said the food was ‘beautifully imagined, marvellously assured and impeccably judged.’ In The Independent, Richard Johnson described a menu ‘infused with imagination.’
Gordon Ramsay declared that owner-chef Michael Macdonald ‘cooked from the heart’ and the Vanilla Pod was ‘his labour of love.’ But, I wondered, six years on, had this young thirtysomething chef still maintained the sparkle of those early days?
Well, I can honestly answer that question with a resounding, ‘yes,’ ‘yes’ and ‘a double, treble yes!’ Macdonald’s formative years in Michelin-starred kitchens in France and stints in England at Chez Nico and La Tante Claire have turned him into a formidable force in the fine dining stakes and Marlow is jolly lucky to have him.
The Vanilla Pod’s location, in an attractive, Georgian terrace house in West Street, once the home of poet T S Eliot, is also a key to the success of this delightful restaurant. It is bijou and cosy and, since its refurbishment last year, caters for only 28 or so diners on round tables with comfortable high-backed chairs. Macdonald’s training and experience, plus an instinctive rapport with ingredients, give him the edge over many of his competitors. He has a clever knack of making the most unlikely pairings, combining flavours that transport the taste buds to a higher plane.
Vanilla, his favourite ingredient, appears in most dishes, both sweet and savoury, but combined with other herbs and spices, it takes on an elusive quality.
We decided to choose the five-course taster Gourmand Menu (price £50) to give us a flavour of what this restaurant is all about. This feast also included delicious home-made walnut bread, a celeriac velouté amuse-bouche and a couple of other pre-course teasers.
My husband, the designated non-driver, took advantage of restaurant manager Antonio Moreschini’s extensive knowledge of the grape to recommend a glass of wine to match each course
The feast started, for me, with a fresh outlook on the humble beetroot - a soft and succulent beetroot risotto gently cooked with intensely-flavoured stock, with goat’s cheese melting atop.
The seared scallops which followed, served with a purée of vanilla poached pear, finely-chopped red wine shallots in a vanilla ‘gastrique,’ were our introduction to the chef’s intuitive flair in matching the sweet with the savoury.
A light foamy, pink grapefruit mousseline with a flash of sweet fig syrup preceded our main courses - a choice of steamed sea bass or pan-fried duck breast. I chose the fish which was beautifully fresh in a very flavoursome vanilla and saffron velouté with lovely buttery Anna potatoes atop a mix of haricots verts, baby roasted onions, asparagus and salsify. My husband’s attractively pink slices of duck were moist and tender, served with fondant vegetables.
This was followed by a cheese course. A slice of sauvageon, from northern France, was served with a dollop of dark plum jam and was a perfect segue into the sweets.
The final treat was a warm bitter chocolate fondant with an ice-cold vanilla parfait – a fitting finale to a superlative meal.
My visit to the Vanilla Pod has far exceeded my already high expectations. My husband, no stranger to good food, even went so far as to declare it was the best and most memorable meal he had ever had – and, you know, I’m inclined to agree with him.
The Vanilla Pod is holding an Italian wine matching evening on May 9. Menu includes five courses and a selection of wine for £75 per person
THE VANILLA POD
West Street,
Marlow SL7 2LS
Tel: 01628 898101 www.thevanillapod.co.uk
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