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Venue: Le Petit Bois, 145 Alcester Road, Moseley, B13 8JP; Website
Choice: Confit duck leg (£18) Chooser: Ben (chef founder)
I think I speak for all of Birmingham when I say the closure of Little Blackwood, the most Moseley of restaurants for all the right reasons, was an unexpected punch to the city's gastronomic gut. But out of the wreckage comes Le Petit Bois. Translating as 'The Little Wood' it replaces Little Blackwood in name and style but, remaining thankfully under the management of Ben and Zsofia, it has changed in essence by zero. Gone are chef Ben Taylor's often Eurasian dishes, and in their stead French, French and French options — Ben being classically trained. The menu will please if not surprise, with Zsofia's front-of-house warmth even more remedying now that the dishes hit a homelier note than in the previous incarnation. Classics, they may well be, but in many ways that tests the chef more than Little B's leftfield creations of yesteryear — there's no hiding when you're putting out dishes like these and the kitchen need hide not a jot. Which is apt given chefs were, themselves, bringing out dishes, something that always inspires confidence especially when one of them is in the final of the British Culinary Federation's Young Chef of the Year award. Moules marnière came in a the kind of deep, white wine and garlic sauce that would leave an emotional crater on even the most versed of Parisian diners, the ballsy saltiness demanding a slurp of white as companion. The wine, by the way, comes in carafes or bottles poured direct from key kegs. Key kegging means the wine arrives as fresh as is humanly possible from the vineyard, side-stepping the barreling and bottling processes which expose the wine to air. Grenache and viognier were the house options, but a Beaujolais comes in this week. Being as the idea of having to eat snails again is more terrifying to me than dying alone, I passed them up, but they were coming out of the kitchen hard and fast, a rate that suggests they won't be coming off the menu any time soon and neither should they. The French onion soup (or, as they call it in France, 'onion soup') appeared cauldron hot, the elixir bubbling around the gruyère croûte, creamy cheese rolling about in the heat. When it cooled, 48 hours later, it was outstanding example of the classic, the beef stock alone a three-day culinary process with the onions undergoing one hell of a caramelising and enriching process to come out so sweet. So immersive, cosying up against the acidity of the sparkling Crémant in which they've stewed. On mains the confit duck leg with haricot blanc casoulet and sauce verte was the champion. Snug, earthy, robust, it's the kind of dish that winters were made for. Filling, but not so filling that you won't be asking for more bread to wipe the bowl, the cuisson on the duck just where you want it, pink inside but the exterior crisp and naughty. It's worth having a look at the sharing plates with the fruit de mer a show-stopping platter that requires two days notice, the seafood arriving fresh, 6.30am every day. They're not messing about on sourcing, by the way, one trout last week arrived in restaurant just three hours after being caught and Moseley's Maison Mayci are baking the bread fresh, daily. A joy to have these two back and behind a neighbourhood restaurant that requires cherishing. All they need now is a rave broadsheet review. Bet you a tenner it happens by Christmas. Menu
Le Petit Bois have a special four-course Beaujolais inspired dinner on November 18 and they are taking bookings for Christmas Day too, right now.
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