The Observer
With Jay Rayner away, Emma Beddington was drafted as The Observer’s stand-in critic, and more or less admitted from the outset that she had never really eaten at a decent restaurant before, so any expertise that she had on the subject of “fancy food” was based on having watched “three seasons of The Bear and 9 million of MasterChef“. So she duly headed to a new spot in a “labyrinthine country house hotel complex” from a TV-familiar chef, Great British Menu alumnus Adam Degg.
Whatever her shortcomings in gastronomic experience, Emma can certainly write, issuing forth bravura sentences that Gerard Manley Hopkins or Dylan Thomas would envy for their alliteration, assonance and internal rhyme. Try reading this aloud: “His dark-crusted, brown-butter custard tart dusted with star anise and nutmeg sugar shimmies, threatening collapse, at the slightest spoon nudge; pine caramel adds resinous complexity.”
So what did Emma make of the whole fine-dining schtick, as an “immersive”, lived experience rather than food-porn entertainment on the goggle box? Well, she managed to get hot under the collar at being charged £6.50 for a glass of water at a meal she had already told us was “free” (presumably as in, ‘on expenses’). But she seemed to enjoy eating the actual food – especially “the gloriously, almost ridiculously, OTT” signature lamb sharing dish.
“Fifty Two is better than fancy food as entertainment: it’s honest-to-goodness fun,” she concluded. Perhaps she should eat out more often.
Jay Rayner - 2024-07-14
