Dinner At The Newly Re-Built Garden Room At The Cavendish Hotel, Baslow
Published On Monday 7 Aug 2023 by Sticky Beak
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Aaaaah, if I’m dreaming, don’t wake me up! His Nibs and I were winging our way back to one of my favourite places, The Chatsworth Estate (home to the Dukes of Devonshire), having been kindly invited to have dinner in the newly built Garden Room Restaurant at The Cavendish Hotel.
Now before any of you get your knickers in a knot, I know that there was a Garden Room already here, but over the years the original has been refurbished and repaired, and there comes a point where sometimes the best course of action is to demolish and start again. Also, the new-and-improved Garden Room is about twice the size it was previously, and it now has an extended terrace. There are still the same views over the fields that it’s always had, though the estate’s forest manager has plans to improve these over the coming year or so 😊. Not that the weather was particularly show-casing the view in its best light; go away grey skies, did you not get the memo that it’s summer?!
Thankfully, the welcome we received at reception was more than enough to dispel the grey and gloom – one thing you can always rely on is a cheery welcome at any of the Chatsworth Estates hotels, restaurants and outlets 😊. We were offered the choice to have a pre-prandial drink in the lounge or to go through to our table, and usually we would have an apéritif but (thanks to a hefty gym session) I was absolutely famished. A smooth handover to the care of Samantha, our server for the evening, saw us being escorted to our window table in an amiable bubble of chit-chat.
The Garden Room has a refined-yet-relaxed feel to it, thanks to natural materials and muted colours used in its décor; Lady Burlington’s elegance and eye for interiors style clearly shows here. To compliment the thick stone of the back wall (that connects this space to the main body of the Cavendish Hotel) there are beautiful Terracotta tiles on the floor, wooden roller blinds at the full-length windows, and cane free-standing chairs paired with square, stone-effect tables. The central seating is a banquette, flanked either side by tables, whose backs are a lovely warm tone that harmonises with the flooring. Subtle lighting is provided by a row of plum and natural patterned lamps that are perched down the central line, and wall mounted fixtures.
Having taken in our surroundings, it was time to fix our gazes upon the dinner menu and, whilst we did this, Samantha sorted chilled water for the table and got us the wine list as well. As you would expect, the wine list was extensive; there is literally something for every taste and budget. No surprise when I tell you that our house is a divided camp when it comes to wine: he prefers white wine, I favour reds; however, I was having Lobster Risotto (£32) as my main, so was happy to let him have his way on this occasion. After a bit of deliberation, we settled on a Viognier that Stuart (the sommelier) went into detail about as he invited His Nibs to try it; that’s another thing you can count on at The Cavendish Hotel: the staff have unrivalled product knowledge 😊.
Samantha had given us space to talk to Stuart and a few minutes to decide on our dishes, then she came back over to take the order: Crispy Pork Belly (£14) and Home-Cured Chatsworth Farm Beef Bresaola (12) to start, followed by Chatsworth Estate Venison (£30) and the aforementioned Lobster Risotto. We also ordered sides of Charred Tenderstem Broccoli with Black Garlic and Onion Crust (£6) and Herb Buttered Asparagus (£7).
When our starters arrived, we both took a moment to appreciate the presentation as both dishes looked amazing! As with everything else at The Cavendish Hotel, careful consideration is given to how the food can be shown at the zenith of its beauty, which is why each starter came in crockery that allowed its colours and form to have maximum visual impact.
His Nibs’ Crispy Pork Belly slice had been carefully decorated with Pickles and dark Seaweed and crowned with a drizzle of Black Garlic Mayonnaise and it looked a decently sizeable portion for a starter 😊. Cutting through the beautifully crisped skin, The Man came to the pale flesh of the Pork and popped a piece into his mouth; silky creaminess and sublime tenderness were his reward. “What a gem” were his exact words as a smile spread across his happy face. Micro Herbs added their intense flavour to this glorious starter morsel that, having only a four ingredient-long list, really delivered in the taste stakes.
As with The Mans’ starter, mine only listed four elements in its composition: the Beef Bresaola, Peakland White Cheese, Rapeseed, and Sauerkraut. Looking at it on its dark platter though, you’d think there was way more to this dish. The Home-Cured Chatsworth Farm Beef Bresaola was wonderfully aromatic - surprisingly so, given how thinly the meat was sliced – and was complimented exquisitely by Sauerkraut’s salty and sour tones, the Cheese’s mild creaminess and the Rapeseed’s earthy, nutty hints. Like most of us (I assume?), I was expecting the Rapeseed to be in its liquid form and be drizzled over the dish; as it was, the oil was semi-solid and its sunny hue provided points of colour as well as flavour 😊.
Samantha had checked back to ascertain that we were enjoying our choices and as she came to clear away our empty plates, took a moment to have a chat with us about where we’d travelled from etc. Throughout the years, one thing I have noticed is that all the Chatsworth team (wherever they’ve worked) have had great conversational skills, though at The Cavendish Hotel the scope of topics is noticeably wider, as we discovered through our time there.
In the interval between our starters and mains, Stuart had come along to garner our opinion on the Viognier and also to top the glasses up. Again, pleasant conversation was had and this is part of what you are paying for when you visit The Garden Room; it’s the whole experience, rather than just the food – magnificent though that is! Shortly after, Samantha and one of her colleagues (a lovely young lady whose name I forgot to get, my apologies, because she certainly warrants a mention 😊) were presenting our mains and sides to us, taking care as to their placement.
Both vegetable side dishes were excellent; the Asparagus and Broccoli spears were still wonderfully crunchy. There’s nothing worse than soggy veg, is there? Their bright tones epitomised summers’ energy, and the flavour from both was superb: clear, clean and bold. A simple but flavoursome herb butter gave the Asparagus a wonderful glossy sheen and complimented it perfectly. My Tenderstem Broccoli had been partnered with a thin, crisp Onion crust and drizzled with sticky Black Garlic, whose sweet-yet-tangy, gently earthy notes were drizzled over the vegetable. Who says that vegetables are bland and boring? Not Chef at The Cavendish Hotel, that’s for sure!
Whenever we’ve had Chatsworth Estate Venison before it’s always been superb, and it was no different this time with The Mans’ loin. The outer of the Venison had been sealed to a rich brown, with a deep pink centre that had a subtle lustre; exactly as it should be served: rested to relax the fibres and let them reabsorb the juices, without any oozing residual blood on the plate. Sublimely tender and with a gamey, earthy taste typical of ‘wild’ deer, as opposed to captive, farmed animals, this was a dense, satisfying piece of meat that was accompanied by Tenderstem Broccoli, Pickles and a large quenelle of Black Garlic Mash. The pickles provided a smashing edge of sharpness (as well as a contrast in colour) that balanced the sweetness of the mash marvellously.
Recently, I’ve been eating a lot of seafood (and thoroughly enjoying it!) so I was keen to try the Lobster Risotto and see how grain and wave partnered up. Jolly well, as it turned out 😊. Creamy, hint-of-bite rice was punctuated generously with large pieces of fragrant Lobster, meaty Mussels and salty-and-sweet Clams with their edge of fish taste. The combination of these elements could easily have been unremarkable, but the addition of flavoursome Parsley, sharp, citrussy Lemon and peripheral pungency of Garlic made sure that this wasn’t the case.
Yet again, Samantha (and Stuart who was now assisting his colleague as the Garden Room filled up) had come round to check that we were happy with our meals, and the other lovely young lady discreetly looked over, too, a little later on. One thing that the Chatsworth team do is use prime, in-season produce and this was showcased perfectly on this occasion by the days’ crumble being Apple, Pear and Rhubarb.
For a moment, I was tempted by the Chefs’ crumble, but then I spied the Raspberry Bakewell Slice with White Chocolate Mousse and Raspberry Sorbet (£9) and, being a Derbyshire lass, couldn’t resist it. The Man Bird opted for Chocolate Delice with Blood Orange Sorbet (£11), though he was torn for a moment by the Crème Brulée with Fennel Pollen, Mango, Passionfruit, Coconut and Black Sesame (£9) – how fab does that sound?!
The Delice was, as you’d expect, incredibly rich and had a high percentage of Cocoa in it that had the brains’ pleasure centre jangling in delight 😊. A wickedly dense, smooth texture ensured that the delice clung to the inner of His Nibs’ mouth, allowing its full spectrum of flavour to cascade over every taste bud and sensory nerve, seducing them as it did so. Velvety, creamy White Chocolate was expertly piped along the top of the delice slice, decorated with an edible, dark purple Pansy and a White Chocolate disc. Adjacent to the chocolate temptation was a quenelle of jewel-coloured Blo
od Orange Sorbet and this was face-scrunchingly tart; I just wish I’d managed to get a photograph of The Man Birds’ face at that moment! As sharp as it was, the Sorbet provided the perfect antidote to the decadence of the delice and stopped this from being a run-of-the-mill, 2-dimensional dessert. Bravo, Chef 😊.
Whatever the course, Chef Adam Harper has instilled in his team that quality is King, but quantity is its Queen and there was certainly no disputing this with the size of the slice of Raspberry Bakewell that was placed before me! And how pretty was it? A pale, light-textured sponge was studded throughout with fresh Raspberries and some of the fruits’ juice had ‘bled’ into the mix giving a delicate halo around the Raspberry and marbling the sponge; as I said, pretty. It also delivered on the taste front, too 😊. Tiny swirls of White Chocolate had been precisely piped on the top of the Bakewell slice and between each one was a ruby red edible flower petal; tiny but impactful, visually. As with His Nibs’ dessert, my choice was also partnered by a sorbet: this time Raspberry to accentuate the fruit in the sponge, and its exuberance danced in my mouth. This was a marvellously light conclusion to my meal.
Needless to say, this was one of those evenings where I sorely wished that a time-travelling DeLorean would magically appear so that I could relive our experience at The Cavendish Hotel! As it was, we had to bring ourselves back down to earth slowly with a pot of loose-leaf Peppermint Tea.
Upon leaving, Samantha retrieved our coats from the cloak cupboard where she’d thoughtfully put them at the beginning of our evening. We were bidden “good evening and safe journey home” by all the team and left with huge smiles on our faces. Hot Wings more than happily awarded to the smashing Cavendish Hotel and its staff: Chatsworth quality yet again delivered 😊.
To experience this exquisite venue for yourselves get in touch by phoning 01246 582311 or visit www.devonshirehotels.co.uk to book a table, which I would most certainly advise. Open 7 days-a-week, The Garden Room offers service from Noon-9pm.
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