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When you phone for a table at stickywalnut you get a little conversation about whether this is your first time, whether you ever ate at the Village Bistro, which used to operate from these premises, and so on. It seems that you are being primed to deal with a shock, to throw away any preconceptions of what might happen during your evening in Charles Street, to expect only the unexpected.
This may be wise: although at first glance the room seems very familiar - only some rather lush modern flock wallpaper signals the change of identity - in fact stickywalnut is a very different fruit from what went before.
The menu is presented as a single A4 sheet, underneath another page - this one of drinks - on a clipboard. At first we thought this was a gimmick and that we were going to be in for a whole night of fun tricks and party pieces, like some close-up magic show. But no, it turned out to be a practical and straightforward approach to presenting the short menu.
First off, the drinks. The page leads in with half a dozen cocktails. Given that Hoole is not over-endowed with cocktail bars, this was a pleasantly unexpected opportunity for a little aperitif. We chose a prosecco with cassis and a negroni - this latter nicely presented in a blaze of colour. House wines are available by the glass from £3 and are augmented by a selection of bottles on a blackboard from £20. Shamefully, I have forgotten what the beer offer is. The dinner menu is really well put together. There are nods to many of the modern currents of thought: offal, foraged things, bold flavours combined sensitively, seasonality, terroir. There is some decidedly foreign gear, but it is good to see so much that is English. Deep frying - frying of any kind, actually - is missing, presumably on account of the ergonomics. Stickywalnut, again in line with current thinking, has abolished pence and priced all dishes in whole and half quids.
It was disappointing that the bread, billed as sourdough and focaccia and baked on the premises, arrived with one half of the deal completely missing. The focaccia was good, better than we have had in Italy, but the absence of the sourdough - which wasn't flagged up by the waiter - was an avoidable error. A starter of paella with squid was notable for the char on the squid, which gave a depth to its taste, like halloumi cheese from the barbecue. Roasted beets with ricotta - a surprisingly generous dish served on a wooden trencher - were sweet and tender, banishing vinegary childhood memories. Goat tagine was soft and delicious. The use of coriander instead of more traditional Moroccan spicing migrated the dish from North Africa to Asia. Pork belly was rolled and stuffed and served with a good crackling. We chose a side of new potatoes, crushed, with sultanas that might have escaped from the tagine. A fluffy chocolate brownie came with a lovely home-made walnut ice cream.
The cooking is robust, generous, clever. It operates within the capabilities of the little open kitchen, without giving the impression of having been constrained by it. Although it is never tricksy or pretentious, the presentation is alive with interest and promise. It is operating at a level which some of Chester's more celebrated addresses do not.
Service was charming and professional. Tables - there are six downstairs with more upstairs - were well separated, though the congenial atmosphere seemed to encourage episodes of inter-table chitchat. There is a very attractive lunchtime menu and a slightly modified Sunday menu. Stickywalnut looks set to delight us for a long time to come. Blessed are they that live in Hoole.
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