The Artichoke

It was nice to return to the Artichoke which we have had the real pleasure of visiting a few times now and which is set in the delightful little town of Amersham. This is a fabulous restaurant run by Chef Patron Laurie and along with head chef Ben they produce some fantastic dishes. They also have a very friendly and professional Front of House team who really look after you throughout your stay. Our visit on this occasion was for the first of this years Christmas Sunday Lunches something they do every December. You always receive a lovely welcome when you arrive and on this occasion it was no different. We were then shown to our table which was actually the one we generally sit at and which gives you a good view of the open kitchen. While we looked at the menu we were given a nice surprise in being presented with a complimentary glass of champagne. You have the choice of three menus the A la Carte , Lunch Tasting Menu and the Full 8 Course Tasting Menu. It was the latter which we decided to choose. We started with some Chiltern Black Ale Bread with Lamb Fat Butter this was followed by a fabulous Amuse Bouche a Smoked Celeriac Veloute. Our first course was a delightful Isle of Skye Scallop with octopus , heritage carrots , pork & shellfish reduction. Followed by a fantastic Roasted Salsify with black truffle & creme fraiche dressing , toasted hazelnuts & radicchio The next two courses were equally as amazing with the first being a Pan Roasted Foie Gras with agen prune , malted almonds & puff pastry. This was followed by a great take on fish and chips. It was a fillet of Halibut with apple mussel & cider sauce , triple cooked chips & sea beet just devine Now it was time for the main course to which you are given a choice either the Venison or Partridge. We decided to have one of each. The Saddle of Venison came with a venison sausage , red cabbage purée , beetroot , potato , flowering sprouts , onion & bacon crumb & a sloe gin sauce. While the Partridge was accompanied by black pudding , morteau sausage , parsnip , kale , raisin purée , chestnuts & pear. Both of these dishes were simply amazing We then had a cheese course but with a difference as it was a Vacherin Cheese Soup this came with quince compote , spruce powder & fruit bread. This was a very clever dish and absolutely delicious We then finished with desserts with to which we started with a fabulous Rum Glazed Pineapple with candied red chilli , pistachio pastry cream , meringue & Szechuan pepper ice cream. This was followed by a Dark Chocolate Ganache with cherries , buttermilk ice cream & salted caramel ricciarelli. We then finished with coffee and petit fours which really rounded another truly fantastic lunch. During this time we were joined for a chat by owner Laurie. It's always nice to talk to ether the owner or the chefs when you visit a restaurant as you really get a feel for their passion and dedication that goes into every plate of food. This is definitely a restaurant I would highly recommend and don't worry if you think it's a little far to travel for a lunch as there are plenty of places to stay which are all quite reasonable and just a short walk away. I'm certainly looking forward to my next visit in the not to distant future

Seasonality appears to have taken pride of place over local sourcing and provenance of ingredients, but happily there still some chefs who manage to combine both factors and at Artichoke this is certainly the case. The tasting menu no longer offers a choice of main, which always seemed to us something of a throw-back, and every course was in perfect harmony with the rest to make up an extremely well-balanced ensemble. Super home-made focaccia and whipped butter preceded a chilled melon soup amuse-bouche which set us up for some brilliant, tenderly charred octopus, with oyster leaf adding a touch of minerality to the dish, and this was followed by poached, charred and pickled elements, in particular some beautiful beetroot, contrasting with green vegetables and brought together by a super dill emulsion. Outstanding foie gras with tayberries and toasted rice for the crunch brought us to a fish stew (or bouillabaisse) with classic fish, brill and John Dory, highlighted by pickled fennel, saffron potatoes and an excellent rouille. The main dish was local duck which exhibited exemplary flavours and was notable for its black garlic dressing. Three desserts may seem a bit much, but each contained just enough perfection to make you want more. Macerated blueberries with an excellent digestive biscuit crumble, an accent of lime, and viola leaf chiming in with white chocolate mousse brought us swiftly on to one of the all-time ultimate indulgences of strawberries and chocolate, lavender meringue, strawberry crème pâtissière and buttermilk sherbet strawberry soup. We finished up with a feta medita, the stupendous baked apricot backed up by intriguing puffed mustard seeds. If there is one thing you can guarantee when you dine at the Artichoke it is that Laurie Gear and Ben Jenkins will serve up a meal that will leave the offerings in many one-star restaurants absolutely standing. This has been the case for many years, and, with its style evolving and advancing on a regular basis, Artichoke continues to be synonymous with high class and delicious fine dining.

We make no bones about it - Artichoke remains one of our favourite restaurants, and we are still capable of judging it as dispassionately as possible and making unbiased comparisons of it with other fine-dining destinations. The atmosphere is relaxed, something made natural by the confident and always friendly service, and enhanced by the variety of dinner guests, on the evening we were there ranging from ordinary citizens like us to a member of the House of Lords (and Times journalist). For the level of cuisine achieved the menu is remarkably reasonably priced, and Laurie Gear and Ben Jenkins have reached new heights in the quality of their cooking and the wonderful presentation of the dishes on the plate. We opted for the tasting menu, the prelude to which was a sensational Lancashire bomb mousse, served at just the right not-too-hot temperature. A great start and just the way to get you looking forward to the rest of the meal. This feeling was underlined by the smoked haddock tartare with its rocket, radish, microherbs, beguiling horseradish ice cream and russet apple - a perfect demonstration of the three t’s (taste, texture and temperature). Another example of how to match ingredients followed, roasted scallop with a mild curried cockle sauce, pickled cauliflower and cauliflower purée - a joy to eat and a joy to behold! An extra course was kindly served, a tribute to the game season in the form of Yorkshire grouse, blackberries and blackberry sauce, bacon, a little cornet containing a terrific concentrated foie gras ganache, and crunchy nuts; yet another winner. It appears to be a trend to serve one veggie dish on an otherwise conventional menu, and Artichoke came up with a stunning mix of roasted salsify, autumn truffle, a selection of mushrooms, puffed wild rice and rye bread, topped off with a delicious chervil emulsion. The fish course was a homage to Cornwall, superb cod loin, River Fowey mussels, “coastal” vegetables, chickpeas, which worked surprisingly well with the fish, and a sensational chicken tea adding a contrast. We chose different dishes for our mains, my wife had some excellent local Buckinghamshire venison saddle with smoked celeriac purée, a marvellous blue cheese crumble, fruity poached quince and cavolo nero, and mine was tender local partridge, nicely gamey, with classic golden raisins and traditional chestnuts, hispi cabbage and a suitably meaty sauce. The pre-dessert was another stand-out, the lightest blackcurrant and goats cheese mousse matched with a lovely biscuit crumble. After a surprise extra, an amazing, light, orange soufflé with ginger, we went for different desserts: a brilliant Brillat-Savarin cheesecake with pickled pear, an outstanding granola and poire William sorbet, and a truly great lemon Bavarois with a perfect arbequina olive oil jelly, citrus fruit salad, properly powdery lemon thyme sherbet and topped off with excellent almond biscuit crumbs. Just to complete this wonderful meal a delicious finale of chocolate sprinkle tart, chocolate ganache and pistachio came with our after-dinner mint tea. And still the Michelin enigma remains: How can this restaurant be properly ranked by The Good Food Guide in its Top 50 and given a score equal to that of a number of Michelin two-star venues, and superior to some others, and Hardens justifiably award it top marks, and yet not get even one measly star from the tyre company.

This is the thought that occupied my mind as we paid and left the Artichoke after a meal that had some good points but on balance left me underwhelmed, and unconvinced by what almost seems like a lobby to get this place a Michelin star. The food I had today- a set lunch of pickled herring, megrim sole in a beurre noisette , and their selection of cheeses , was not ambitious or complex. It was testing no-one to make it, and was unable to convince me at least that this is one of the best restaurants in the UK outside London. Further the portion sizes for starter and main were very small. Now I need to say at this point that we eat out a lot- our main meal is in a restaurant well over 100 times a year, and our repertoire ranges from 3* to neighbourhood Italian . So I really do understand that quality modern European cuisine is not served in huge platefuls; nevertheless these portions stood out for their smallness. Three tiny pieces of pickled herring, and a dreadfully small megrim (which I buy and cook myself) . Nevertheless there were clear signs- in the bread, the petits fours, the coffee, that this kitchen can do better than what we were given to choose from and eat today. Its just a pity we didn't get to see more of it. Now I do have a clear view on the question set in this review's title. It is that if you are an ambitious restaurant then everything that leaves the kitchen should be of a style , quality and quantity to make you feel you're showing what you can do. If it doesn't then what incentive are you offering to make customers want to come back, and maybe next time choose a la carte? If showing what the kitchen can do ( even within a restricted choice) isn't possible for £28, then charge what you need to do that, but I'm unimpressed by a two-tier kitchen, trading on great reviews and awards but actually delivering something different. This is a highly rated restaurant on Square Meal, but I do note that of 12 diner reviews, eight are from the same two reviewers, all rating across the board 10's . This seems odd, and is artificially inflating the aggregate rating, and unfairly reducing the value of those votes that aren't 10. Square Meal- should this be happening? Our bill for 4 today was a little over £220, which included a decent bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and a glass of a slightly flabby Gavi. Not expensive if what we'd eaten was as good as this kitchen could produce, though we may never know. Service was pleasant and nicely paced throughout, though we did feel a little pressured to order at the outset.

This was the first time we've been here for an evening and what an excellent dining experience it was . A very warm and friendly greeting on arrival then escorted to our table to let the festivities begin. We decided to go for the Tasting Menu with matching Wines and I have to say it was heaven starting with a fantastic Trout dish then an amazing Crab Thermidor followed by a delightful Artichoke dish and stunning Cod course then on to the main courses and my highlight a glorious Venison with orange curd and the braised Beef which was very rich . The matching wines were a delight coming from Italy,Hungary,Austria,South Africa and France. Now to dessert a fabulous Poached Pear Galette and a Cambridge Cream & Rhubbarb . All in all it was truly a fantastic evening which was made even better due to the great warm and excellent service from every member of staff . So if it's a fantastic evening with amazing food and wine in a great little town then take a trip to Amersham and visit this restaurant. I'm already looking forward to returning in June #food #hospitality #restaurant

Onwards & upwards for this fantastic restaurant glad to have visited again and when the food & service is of this quality it's not a hard choice to make. This time we had the New Lunch Tasting Menu and as expected it was stunning with amazing Beetroot Soup to start followed by Brill , Brezain Cheese , the stunning Venison Sausage added to this were excellent desserts Zabaglione , Mincemeat Galette and a little extra a fantastic Prune & Armagnac Soufflé. All I can say don't feel you have to travel to London for Michelin style food just take a trip to Amersham and you will not be disappointed I for one will be returning again soon

The Artichoke is a fantastic restaurant set in a beautiful village of Amersham creating food that any Michelin Star restaurant would be proud and along with the excellent service you receive make it a pleasure to visit. Can't wait to return which is soon

We are devotees of The Artichoke and have been for some years which is why we are fully in agreement both with Hardens when they state that “the debate should not be whether or not it should have a star, but whether or not it should have two” and with The Good Food Guide which rates it much higher than a whole raft of one star outfits. You are guaranteed a top-class fine dining experience here, without the self-conscious flashiness and theatre some places seem to consider necessary to make an impression. We got straight into the amuse-bouche, a delightfully pure and welcomingly refreshing chilled watermelon soup, which set us up nicely for the smoked haddock with radish, super horseradish cream balancing the subtle smokiness of the fish, and shades of beetroot. We had decided not to take the wine flight with the tasting menu, and after consulting the knowledgeable restaurant manager and sommelier, Matteo, we chose what turned out to be the perfect white for the first four fish and shellfish dishes - inevitably an Italian wine by a top maker, Cervaro della Sala. Scallops are customary, almost obligatory, in good restaurants these days, but not all of them are handled as well as this - impeccably roasted and with a stunning shellfish tarragon reduction, outstanding local, peanut fed, ham, and an amusing carrot mousse decorated with a carrot top. The next dish on the menu was cucumber, not something I enjoy as the main ingredient, so I was offered Lyme Bay crab which I gratefully accepted. My wife was very happy with the pickled cucumber, the ubiquitous burrata, cucumber foam, rye bread crumbs and nasturtium leaves and flowers adding colour and bite. My classic shredded crab was graced with Isle of Wight heritage tomatoes, a remarkable tomato essence jelly, an original passion fruit dressing which brought out the taste of the crab, and croutons for crunch, and made me really pleased that I had managed to forgo the cucumber. There was no question of declining the next dish, the king of fish, turbot, a generous fillet simply presented in all its glory, bathing in a superb oyster and champagne sauce and accompanied by Jersey royals, and quite munchy sea veg and seaweed provided added texture. The Artichoke tasting menu permits a choice of main, and my wife preferred a change from lamb, so she selected the very local duck, succulent breast and extra-tasty confit leg, confit bacon, a proper portion of ripe peas, cooked baby gem lettuce, fragrant marjoram and some amazing duck liver butter on a large crisp. I wanted to try the Sicilian syrah with the lamb rump, and they proved to be very suitable match, with the melt-in-the-mouth meat perfectly backed up by a lovely aubergine purée, borlotti and cocoa beans, juicy olives, tenderstem broccoli, quite pungent feta, and an unannounced but very welcome portion of stunningly good sweetbread. The pre-dessert was a sharp yet sweet redcurrant compôte on iced yoghurt, just the job to cleanse the palate for our desserts: a szechuan pepper ice cream with pineapple tart and pistachio, followed by a winning strawberry galette with pastry cream, caramelised white chocolate and strawberry sorbet for my wife, and a sensational pickled French cherry jelly with Brillat Savarin cheesecake and toasted oats for me. Laurie Gear and head chef Ben Jenkins had pulled it off again!

At the Artichoke you are always guaranteed top-class dining, the superb cooking reinforced by front-of-house staff who are properly trained, responsive and enthusiastic about the food they present to the diners, unlike the one-star place in Leeds we visited recently, and by perfectly matched wines with the tasting menu selected by the always excellent restaurant manager/head sommelier Matteo. Laurie Gear and his sous-chef Ben Jenkins are constantly devising new combinations of ingredients to add to their store of successes and cleverly reflecting the best of seasonal produce, and the tasting menu is a perfect example of this. The home-made bread was well up to standard and came in very handy to mop up any last drops of the super sauces and purées. The amuse-bouche of white onion and cider soup with nettle pesto began the tasting menu on a high note which was held in perfect pitch throughout the meal. The starters were uniformly excellent - artistically presented smoked haddock in a brilliant combination with horseradish sauce, a selection of heritage beetroot, radishes and a decoration of microherbs; followed by delicious Lyme Bay crab, three varieties of Isle of Wight tomatoes and passion fruit seeds; perfectly roasted Isle of Skye scallops with a lovely heritage carrot purée, peanut-fed ham and a striking pork and shellfish tarragon dressing; and, finally, a top-drawer asparagus dish blending asparagus tips with a duck egg sabayon, morels, Lancashire bomb cheese and surprising rye bread cubes to deliver another lip-smackingly good plate. This led on to a splendid fish dish of halibut in an historic oyster and champagne sauce and flanked by sea vegetables and Jersey royal new potatoes. We both chose hogget as our main dish, the meat tender and with the proper taste of the yearling sheep and this was complemented by amazing sweetbreads, white sprouting broccoli, borlotti beans, lovely gravy and a white garlic and olive pesto adding to the richness. We had no qualms about the two desserts to follow as all the dishes had been so well balanced with each other and the service so immaculately paced to match our particular intake. Orange was the theme of the palate cleanser and the orange cream, sherbert and crystallised rind more than adequately met the requirements and the rhubarb galette with a pastry cream that was equal to the slightly sharp rhubarb sorbet, caramelised white chocolate underpinned by an element of ginger brought the feast to a climactic finale. Once again a triumph!

There has been some trumpeting lately of the virtues of keeping things simple and venues which set out to do just that appear to have been rewarded for it. This is all well and good but it should not mean that imagination and technique should be overshadowed. We have had issues in the past with starred pubs and restaurants that put dishes on the table which simply do not come up to good home cooking standard and which we resent paying out good money for when we can eat better chez nous. We tend to go out of our way to find the best in fine dining because we consider it a treat when we eat out to be able to enjoy top-class cooking rather than home from home stuff, although this appears to be a concept which is not "trending" at the moment. To this end we have in the last three years dined in over 60 Michelin star restaurants and more than 30 of the restaurants listed in the top 50 Good Food Guide. Most of these serve anything but "simple" food but still retain their ratings, some though, by our reckoning, are simply overrated. We have our own, not exclusive, list of those worth returning to and a fairly long list of those we see no point patronising again, and Artichoke figures most definitely in the former category whether it has a star or not. It is thanks to The Good Food Guide and Square Meal that we first tried Artichoke and we have been irregular regulars now for getting on for three years and have even considered moving closer than our habitual two hour drive to make it possible to eat here more frequently. Laurie Gear is a prime example of consistent top quality. He clearly believes that what he puts on the table should be rather more than a cut above bog standard simplicity and he seeks out the best of ingredients and new combinations thereof without ever losing sight of the fact that he is cooking for the general dining public and not just to impress professionals in the catering business, and our latest exploration of his tasting menu confirmed this for us and the other lucky diners present in his restaurant. The amuse-bouche set the tone for the rest of the meal - a soft and super tasty mix of thick parsnip soup with Lancashire bomb cheese, and the perfectly balanced sequence of dishes that followed certainly lived up to the expectations it aroused, starting with delicately smoked cod, the smokiness beautifully matched by horseradish cream and contrasted with radish and heritage beetroot, then a stunning marriage of outstanding scallop with "winter finished" ham and a lovely pork and shellfish tarragon dressing. Next came a surprising veggie dish which amazed us with its textural complexity and fulfilling tastiness - roasted salsify with terrific hazelnut crumbs and truffle jel, super chervil emulsion and sweet cicely and golden enoki. Delicious! The fish course was distinguished by the way the basil sauce went perfectly with the wild stone bass and by some truly excellent crab gnocchi, fennel and courgette. The local Chiltern Hills partridge was my selection for the main course and, of course, it was a perfect example of how to cook a game bird and combined superbly with charred pear on a bed of curly kale, which is not my favourite but handled properly can make a valid contribution to the overall dish, as was the case here, parsnip bark and purée and, heralding Christmas, some lovely chestnut. My wife went for the other game option, a delectable cut of smoked venison saddle with an epic companion in the form of an orange curd which was an ideal match for the smokiness of the meat, and chervil root, brussels sprouts and sweet pickled red onions. The clever goat's milk mousse and sorrel sorbet pre-dessert set us up brilliantly for the raspberry-based dessert with its bavarois, lemon jelly, yoghurt curd background for the outstanding combination of fresh raspberries and basil sorbet balanced to perfection with a whey meringue. Once again an example of the talent, imagination and technical skill of the chef, and rounded off by a great selection of accompanying wines properly and expertly presented by the sommelier Matteo, and good service from quite young staff clearly under the tutelage of Jackie Gear herself.