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In most other English cities the Grosvenor Brasserie would be the finest restaurant in town. In Chester, it seems destined forever to have to defer to its posher sibling, the Michelin-starred Arkle. The two restaurants, located on the ground floor of this city centre hotel, share a kitchen, though not a kitchen staff. But where the Arkle can be formal and rather stifling, the Brasserie has a more relaxed, robust and approachable character.
As a brasserie, its menu is necessarily hobbled, with the intention of leaving some clear blue sky between it and the Arkle. It achieves this by offering peasant food, but peasant food that has been given an elegance and point that lift it beyond its humble origins. Traditional staples are deconstructed and reassembled with impeccable ingredients and a confident touch.
Its style would impress, even in Paris or Strasbourg. All leather, brass, tiles and mirrors, with a huge false skylight to dispel the shadows from a room that gets little natural light. The menu offers 'Light Bites' for consumption at the bar and the window tables but we are here to sample the pleasures of full-on restauration!
On our latest visit I started with the Mediterranean fish soup. As pretty a sight as I've seen in a long time: perfectly firm cubes of cod and salmon with mussels in a tomatoey soup served with rouille, grated cheese and croutons. Then that classic alsatian: choucroute, better known as sauerkraut. A small mound of the cabbagey stuff surrounded on four sides by a sausage from Toulouse, a duck's leg, a slice of foie gras and a block of pork belly. A soft grapey Riesling (when did you last drink one of these!) was a perfect partner for this, as it was for Tracey's salmon fillet on a crab couscous. Out of habit, we ordered a bowl of chips. These are usually superb, but, this being a late lunch, had spent too long under the lights and lacked crunch.
The pudding course arrived late and was problematic. Tracey's cake thing lacked commitment and fell apart too easily. My tarte tatin - a clever twist on the old classic, that reminded me of that Magritte picture - had suffered for its art and was not tart enough.
The staff are young and international - name that accent! A Grosvenor training is a very marketable credential. They move on swiftly, yet the standard of service is high. High, but not perfect. It might have been worthwhile discussing our wine with the sommelier, but - in lieu of an aperitif - we had already ordered it by the time he appeared. And the delay in the arrival of the desserts was like a missed beat (or three) in the rhythm of the meal.
Elsewhere - the menu, the food, the presentation and, it has to be said, the prices - the Brasserie has been going through a small but detectable elevation. It is setting itself targets that it must be careful to hit.
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