I made a call at the end of last year to revisit all of the starred restaurants in Birmingham. These are, after all, the pillars of the cities hospitality; the first bit of information we spit out to anyone listening. It’s either “more Michelin stars than any city outside of London”, or “five more stars than Manchester” depending on which mouth is doing the spitting. Neither of which matters. The fine dining scene here isn’t an accident or a coincidence, it’s a family of brilliantly talented chefs who spur each other on via competition, friendship, and mentorship.
Perhaps the most recognisable of those is the self proclaimed Yummy Brummy Glynn Purnell; Saturday Kitchen, Great British Menu, My Kitchen Rules. A man who according to trusted information site Wikipedia is “undoubtedly the greatest chef to come from Chelmsley Wood”. Try telling that to the maverick behind the stoves of Coppice Fast Food. Glynn won Birmingham’s first ever Michelin star whilst head chef at Jessica’s and has held a star at Purnell’s for 15 years. I don’t go enough according to Phil from Loki. He’s right.
He’s there in the kitchen (Glynn, not Phil) on the afternoon we eat and once we’ve finished the squid ink dyed meringues and potatoes with chorizo mayo, he’s straight out to see us. I say see us, he’s knocked the cheese snow into some of Omar’s Chardonnay. That course – Memories of Sioxante Dix – is a cracker. Parmesan custard, deeply flavoured and aerated, with cheddar snow set in nitrous oxide, and pineapple in various forms. Close your eyes and it really is cheese and pineapple on sticks. Even the wine tastes faintly of it.
The bread lighter than I remember it being is still a very generous serve, with a salted butter and another lightly whipped with plenty of herbs. Lobster with tomato and caviar is absolutely knock-out, particularly the cook on the crustacean, but all brilliantly worked together, followed by potato masquerading as fettuccine in a cheesy sauce with loads of truffle, let down only by some very al dente potato. Then a dish that still amazes me twelve years after I first tried it; beef carpaccio, octopus braised in red wine, soft cheese with chives and bresaola. A tempest of textures and flavours that seemingly riff around stifado; I’ve always loved it without fully understanding it. In many ways like anything Bret Easton Ellis has written.
Now the sharper of you may have noticed that it’s all a bit off-piste menu-wise. They are aware when I book that it’s a birthday lunch masquerading as a business lunch masquerading as an excuse for three friends getting pissed, meaning that the surprise menu is a mix of Purnell classics, some newer dishes, and some lunch items. The two courses that follow are new, I think. A perfectly timed scallop, roasted one side only like a Brit on holiday, with wild mushrooms, sea aster, broad beans, lemon gel, and a killer sauce just the right side of fishy. Then lamb with harissa and aubergine, a study in how to cook meat, punchy and clean despite my god awful picture from the bottom of bottle number three. If these are new the future is very bright.
We’re stuffed now. Really stuffed. So much so that we ask for one dessert instead of the three planned. The choice is easy; Great British Menu’s ‘10/10/10’. A burnt English cream in an egg shell, strawberries as macerated, purée, and sorbet, some crystallised tarragon and honeycomb. I’d forgotten how well it eats. It is without question one of the great dishes in Birmingham, arguably one of the great modern British desserts. There’s dessert wine and Armagnac. Quite a bit of Armagnac. So much so that I can’t tell you a jot about the petit fours.
I have no idea what this costs because Omar paid as a birthday treat, but I can tell you from experience that it’s one of the better value starred restaurants with menus from £55 to £130 per person. It’s also old school hospitality; the front-of-house all exuding charm and wit, with chefs bringing the occasional courses out. Phil is right; the cooking here is brilliant, but there is also something more going on. A certain magic that you can’t teach lies at the heart of Purnell’s.
9/10
Podcast season two loading Jan 2024.
