Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons
OUCH!
Monday 12th September 2016 - at home about to set off to Great Milton in Oxfordshire…
“Oh no. No. No. Agh, aaagh… aaaagh… noooOOOooo!”
That’s as near as I can get to the words I heard as my wife slipped and luged down our stairs with coccyx crunching speed.
It wasn’t the greatest way to start a very special celebration.
My lucky screen shot taken just as images changed on the Le Manoir website. Placed here as it captures the over-arching presence of its creator and maître de maison, Raymond Blanc OBE.
I have already described our second visit to Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in two posts. One on the people and the interaction and one on the menu that evening.
So, two posts about one visit. But that was our second visit. High bloomin’ time I shared details of our first! This will complete a trilogy as I reminisce here about one special element of the celebration of our Ruby Wedding Anniversary.
If you prefer pictures to words - or want to come back to this post armed with visuals - there is a gallery here which covers our 2016 dinner, bed and breakfast - what was then called ‘The Dining Experience’. This visit had been talked about and planned as a way to mark forty years of our fabulously successful marriage (yes, Mrs C is out of earshot!). When my mother offered so generously to fund us the experience became a firm reality.
DETOUR
Before going any further I really should give some reassurance about the plight of dear Mrs Cheoff after that fall. She remained a while at the bottom of our stairs very much shaken and visibly shaking. In better time than might have been expected she was with me in our car heading south, no bones broken but with bruising and a tenderness developing in addition to that which has been between us for over forty years.
Travelling way too far down the M1 after missing the junction for Oxford added another hour to the journey as we approached via Aylesbury from the east. Finally arriving, I ignored the car park sign and drove straight to the front door. I believe excitement had got the better of me.
Chris took us from reception to the Dovecote. He and every other member of the team we met retained their individuality while delivering hospitality with the refined attention to detail which wraps around any stay here.
A garden walk (the weather was late-summer glorious for this entire visit) to counteract the onset of stiffness around Mrs C’s lower back was followed by a seat on the plumpest of sofas right next to Raymond Blanc’s newly acquired Lalique Le Cockerel. Here we were served tea and a slice of lemon drizzle cake (almost the equal of Mrs C’s!) by Natalie. She lived locally and had applied for only one job. This one. Obviously impressive at interview. It was fitting that Natalie looked after us again at the end of the evening as we relaxed with our coffee and petits fours.
We returned to the Dovecote and explored which taps operated the excellent plumbing. A hot tub was in order for my wife’s back. She would glow for the rest of the night with or without that bath. A glass each from the half bottle of Château de Boursault champagne in our room started this memorable evening
DINNER
Pre-dinner drinks are remembered for something more than the drinks alone. Mrs Cheoff stayed with champagne and I took a short trip down Memory Lane and asked for a Campari and orange. After our server had brought it and withdrawn I looked at the Campari over ice with its attendant jug of orange juice and murmured very quietly to Mrs C, “Hmmm, that’s interesting.” I remain shocked and deeply impressed at what happened in less than the next twenty seconds. Bar staff approached and asked if I had been expecting soda water rather than juice. Indeed I had been. I am still in awe of the imperceptible signals which communicated my message but I refuse to be alarmed by such attentiveness enough to think that our seating area was bugged or under video surveillance!
On the way from the bar to our table we passed through more rooms of the original manor house. They are charming and beautifully appointed but don’t quite prepare you for the effect on entering L’Orangerie (‘conservatory’ is a perfect example of a word too prosaic to adequately describe this environment). It is a large space with a high roof and could easily echo to the sort of sounds heard in a school dining hall. Instead, by means of careful lighting, spacing and noise insulation each table appears to be in an intimate, dedicated area which cocoons you for the night. This effect might be compromised in daylight but you are still conscious that you are in a special place.
As we were seated I looked across at my wife and we exchanged a silent, mutually smiled acknowledgement that we were adding some more magic to our relationship.
Below is the menu which we started to work through. Even though a Grimsby lass, Mrs C is less adventurous with fish than me and replaced her brill with a beetroot terrine.
The food was lovely. That is tantamount to damning it with faint praise. Experiences elsewhere lead us to a reasonably informed but still subjective verdict here. The summer vegetable risotto with tomato essence was glorious and I made my own version before the month was out (more of the restaurant offering later). My brill was a beautifully judged dish with the attack of wasabi perfectly subdued by cool cucumber. The apricot dessert was a great final flourish with textures, sweetness and acidity all working together well. Again I drew on Raymond Blanc recipes to produce similar flavours three weeks after our visit.
Apricot, amaretto, almond and marzipan ice cream, nougatine - adapted from ‘Cassolette d’abricot’ recipes in ‘Kitchen Secrets’ and ‘LE MANOIR AUX QUAT'SAISONS’
Our sommelier’s recommendations were much appreciated. Domaine Valette, Mâcon-Chaintré Vieilles Vignes for the ‘mains’ and you can see his note of the dessert wine on our menu. Donnafugata ‘Ben Ryé’ Passito di Pantelleria was a great suggestion with its dried apricot flavours. Richer and more complex than the Coteaux du Layon which seems to be a regular, but perhaps slightly lazy offering at many restaurants.
Natalie served us coffee and tea in one of the lounges after dinner. Among other petits fours I waxed lyrical about the ‘Mini liquorice Magnum’ which Great British Chefs have as a Gary Jones recipe. If Natalie is still with the team I hope she doesn’t get the sack when I tell you that she arrived with a second tray for us including more ‘Magnums’. Yum!
I’ll reinforce my previously suggested ‘faint praise’; for us the food is truly accomplished but it has less impact than many other kitchens which deliver more challenging ideas and more developed flavours. Executive Chef Gary Jones says:
“I don’t believe our food is overplayed. I believe that it’s natural, it’s respectful and it tastes of what it is - we treat it as simply as we possibly can. And we’re just taking the pure essence of that product and putting it back on the plate”
That is an undeniably honest approach. There are honest approaches to cooking elsewhere but I am pretty sure that Le Manoir offers food which fits the expectations of guests - and that the vast majority of those guests are hugely happy.
There is irresistible refinement at Le Manoir which caresses you whether you are at table, in your accommodation or gently taking in the buildings, gardens, orchard and grounds. Go elsewhere for excitement in other guises. Having said that, we were regularly distracted through our stay by other guests and shared their enjoyment of being so wonderfully well looked after.
BED
Very comfortable. No doves were needed to coo us to sleep.
and BREAKFAST
The daylit conservatory reminded us of the harsh reality that we would be leaving later that day. We were reasonably unadventurous. The variety and interest of the previous night’s dishes was enough to make breakfast a time for taking in food as fuel with much less of the indulgence enjoyed at dinner.
There is still temptation available for those who have the stomach for it. And, as we would later find out, special requests will be readily accommodated.
THE ORCHARD
After breakfast we took a longer walk through the grounds to the south-east to inspect and wonder a little at a relatively new project between the car park and the A329 road boundary. Planting here was already four years old and a further four since have seen it establish and be the subject of ‘The Lost Orchard’. It is just one example of the passion with which Raymond Blanc pursues the investigation, preservation and cultivation of the best and most suitable ingredients.
The air freshened as we gave up taking in the names of more than a hundred varieties of apples and pears. No real threat of rain - but in any case we had an indoor appointment before we said our goodbyes.
AN UNEXPECTED TOUR
We had settled our account right after breakfast. Reception had picked up on my love of cooking and arranged for a visit to the kitchen. Chris, who had welcomed us the previous afternoon, appeared again and would round off our stay with his attentions. He led us through to the extensive wing of rooms which comprise the kitchen, management offices and the famed kitchen school.
Suppliers including Jody Scheckter’s Laverstoke Park Farm were listed in the office and produce passed through corridors in trays and crates on their way for preparation and mise en place in the kitchen. The gardens here are a constant source of inspiration to chefs but I think you would be lucky if everything on your plate has been grown quite so close by.
We chatted to a relatively new pastry chef and saw the large number of elements being assembled for lunch and dinner services. Chris explained the running of the pass and I simply felt glad that we usually have to manage only another two to four guests at home.
Gary Jones appeared and we were introduced. I think I managed to recognise and acknowledge his influence on this kitchen and his contribution to British cooking in a few words but we certainly were keen to praise the whole team. Mrs C confirmed that her risotto had been the star of her dining experience. “It was so good I would have liked a repeat for my breakfast!” she added. Gary identified the very chef who had cooked it the previous evening so that personal thanks could be delivered. “And next time please speak up sooner - he would have gladly brought some to your table this morning,” said Gary, confirming the willingness and ability to indulge which underpins your stay.
We emerged into sunlight flooding the main entrance courtyard. Instead of a whirlwind tour we had been treated to a relaxed but informative look at many aspects of the way excellence is laid before guests. With the help of many other team members Chris had given us a very professional and hugely enjoyable insight into the delivery of star-studded fine dining and hospitality. We were quite shocked that this additional ‘quick’ treat had lasted almost an hour.
MEMORIES
Our visit had given us so much which impressed immediately but almost certainly too much luxury and richness to take in straight away. We will always be grateful to everyone who created memories which we still talk about. At a special time for us it was great to be looked after by special people.
We stayed in the area and enjoyed the accommodation of others. On another garden table that afternoon we tasted one more reminder of the last thirty-six hours - the mini cherry Bakewell cakes hidden in our farewell bag by Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons.
Delicious.
It had all been delicious.
FOOTNOTE
Below is a screenshot of the survey we were asked to complete after our stay.
It has taken four years for me to publicly voice these thoughts about our stay. We expressed thanks to individuals and groups of staff face to face before we left but have not added to reviews on any other platform. Both Mrs Cheoff and I baulked at assessing that final trio of feelings on the survey. Le Manoir remains a wonderful place which will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for some and a regular haunt for others. Ours still stands as the former - the ‘Evening with Prue Leith’ was too different an occasion to truly count.
A reluctance to be made to feel important, pampered or sophisticated says more about Mrs C and me than anything else. The fact we share that reluctance is one more facet of a marriage which still has more agreement than divergence.
We also both agree that we wouldn’t have missed our experience at le Manoir for the world.
THANK YOUS
Thank you to Raymond Blanc for his vision. Thank you to the changing team who will give you the same experience should you visit.
And thank you, Mum, for a gift which I suspect gave almost as much pleasure to you as it did to us.
