QUEENIES from the Isle of Man were featured on the menu at one of Britain’s top Michelin-starred restaurants and sampled on a new TV series last night.
Queenies cooked as part of a multi course “tasting menu” were cooked for comedy stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in last night’s second programme in the innovative series ‘The Trip’ where they travel around the north of England visiting top restaurants.
Coogan and Brydon have created a formula which totally breaks new ground and totally rejects the mould of restaurant reviewing with the two involved in a brilliant exchange of personal insults and impersonations with the food taking a back seat and often being the mediator.
This week’s programme saw the two in a personal battle to provide the best Sean Connery James Bond impression and a fabulous exchange of “Ray Winstones” with Coogan and Brydon comparing their impressions over “a bowl of snot”. Coogan’s words were the highlight of the show. "I want the money next Wednesday, but before that you're gonna drink a goblet of my sputum." Fantastic.
The Manx queenies appeared half way through the latest episode of the programme, served with a pea puree and various unidentified salad items in the classic miniature format which typifies tasting menus.
The luxury restaurant to find itself the latest film set for the fantastic banter between Coogan and Brydon was the famous L’Enclume, based on an idyllic riverside site at Cartmel in the Lake District which currently charges between £65 and £80 per head for its choice of three tasting menus. The restaurant also offers 12 stylish rooms which can cost up to £1,000 for a suite at Christmas.
The restaurant is committed to including the best of locally available ingredients and says its food philosophy aim is “to present guests with the most amazing local ingredients, all composed with harmony and focus, purity and simplicity.”
L'Enclume has retained its 8/10 rating in the Good Food Guide but has risen to 4th place in its list of the best restaurants in the UK and has recently been awarded its fifth and final AA rosette, one of only seven restaurants to achieve this in the UK.
L'enclume has also been voted best UK restaurant by BMW sponsored 'Square Meal' magazine restaurant awards.
The magazine said, "There were many strong contenders but one restaurant outshone them all, L'enclume. With its bucolic Lake district setting, pared back interiors and inventive modern cuisine it has become one of the most popular foodie destinations in the country and fully deserves this year’s top spot."
