Come dine with us

It’s a brave move for any restaurant to swim against the tide. Shifting culinary trends usually determine which way the industry moves and at a time when the rise of gastro-pubs continues unabated it takes an establishment confident in its offering that steadfastly refuses to bend to trends.

Artisan, in the small East Yorkshire town of Hessle, are daring to be different. In an intimate setting with a set menu and unhurried service, this is dignified dining with minimal fuss but maximum effect. It’s an experience, a proper night out.

It’s also brave to do this in the current financial climate with just 16 covers and two staff in a quiet town on the edge of Hull. Husband and wife team Richard and Lindsey Johns opened their restaurant in a modest Georgian townhouse eight years ago and have since built a reputation that has enjoyed significant regional and national praise for its elegance and dedication to excellence.

They argue, convincingly, that a meal out should be unique and that turning country pubs into restaurants devalues the dining experience by diluting with excessive options what should be a rarefied atmosphere.

They believe that we don’t need another restaurant offering a choice of four different steaks with straight, curly or wedge chips as well as 20-odd other well-worn dishes.

Richard runs the kitchen single-handed, producing five courses every evening of exemplary design and delivery. He puts great stock in his ingredients but he also has a keen instinct for how they combine and his dishes always look sumptuous. Front-of-house, Lindsey hosts, serves and acts as sommelier with ease. She occasionally has a helping hand on busier nights but watching her glide round the dining room, keeping all her customers happy , you can’t help but think that anyone sharing the space with her would just slow her down.

Set menus may well deter some people. But in France, Italy, Spain or many other European countries with a strong culinary tradition you are often presented with no-choice dishes rather than an over-stuffed menu.

Looking at our evening’s menu it’s difficult to think that we’d have chosen anything different had there been more dishes on offer.

First up was a dinky cup of sharp and tasty potato and horseradish soup served with perfect home-made tomato and roasted red pepper bread.

A bowl of roast tomato risotto with creamed truffle goat’s cheese and parmesan crisp got the courses proper off to a colourful, creamy start. I could have eaten a family-size bag of the parmesan crisps, so tangy and satisfying were they, but with so much food still ahead, the supplied single blade was ample. There was a smattering of parsley mixed in the risotto to bring the flavour of the cheese along and that it did ably.

Our first main course was wild fillet of Scottish salmon with warm citrus, herb and smoked salmon couscous, basil oil and a dollop of caviar on top. I am suspiciously picky about the source of my salmon but when the answer “line-caught on a day boat out of Eyemouth” met my provenance query I felt I knew all I needed save the name of the skipper. The lemony sharpness of the fluffy couscous worked wonderfully with the faultlessly- cooked fish and the caviar was a subtle and cunning accompaniment rather than an extravagance.

Lindsey selected our wines for the evening and the powerful South African Pinotage she recommended sat deliciously with the next course – honey roast Goosenargh duck supreme. It was served with fresh truffle, spring onion crushed potatoes, duck sausage, carrot puree and red wine sauce and before we could succumb to the fatty/ oily worries that usually accompany an anatine arrival we were tucking into a marvellously-cooked wonder.

The duck was mildly gamey, juicy and tender; the sausage yielding with a hint of chilli and the carrot puree so sweet and tender you could easily mistake it for custard (this is not negative, believe me). My highlight of the evening.

Dessert brought the evening’s only choice of dishes: crushed meringue and summer berries, a cheese board or what we chose, a Belgian chocolate pot with orange curd and crème fraiche ice cream. It looked a little undersized on arrival but it turned out to be to be thick, unctuous and sensibly apportioned. Offset by the ice cream, raspberries, peach compote and a chocolate twig it rounded off a fine array of dishes.

Our evening demanded an unhurried four hours yumm-ing and aaaah-ing over beautiful food in an atmosphere of dignified intimacy. You almost feel that you are in someone’s dining room at home. At 16 covers per evening, four evenings per week Artisan provide a special night out to far fewer people per year than probably any restaurant you can find. Their philosophy is sound – this is occasion eating of the highest order and highly recommended.

Set menu: £50 per head. Wines: £22 upwards. Open: Wed – Sat evenings and Sunday lunch on request

Artisan, 22 The Weir, Hessle, East Yorkshire, HU13 0RU. Tel: 01482 644906, www.artisanrestaurant.com