Address: Thyme Kitchen, Curborough Countryside Center, Watery Lane, Lichfield, WS13 8ES
Visit: 26 April 2025, dinner for four people
Price: *
The Review:
Sauce Supper Club hosts monthly fine dining pop-up events in a very comfortable restaurant facility called Thyme Kitchen, located at the Curborough Countryside Center in Lichfield. This is a great venue that hosts regular pop-ups with well-known celebrity chefs. We attended an event with George Birtwell who was the Senior Sous Chef at Tommy Banks’s The Black Swan at Olstead, and is now Events Head Chef of The Tommy Banks Group’s Events Division (alongside head chef Tom Dale).
George was an apprentice at Michelin-starred Northcote Manor, working there for three years whilst studying, before moving to The Three Fishes in Mitton in Whalley, and then to two Michelin-starred Ynyshir in Wales. He was then a development chef at food manufacturer TRUEfoods for four years, before he started as chef de partie at The Black Swan at Oldstead in 2022. He is famous for his success on Master Chef The Professionals 2024, where he made it through to the final, although he eventually lost out to Dan Merriman.
The 5-course menu tonight, plus snacks and bread, was priced at £120 pp and the optional wine flight at £55. I thought these prices were very reasonable based on the quality of the ingredients and high standard of cooking.
We started with two snacks. Flatbread topped with lamb tartare, olive and tabasco sauce, and fried tempura cod cheek and caviar. Both of these had good flavours. These were paired with a Velfrey Welsh sparkling wine, made by the traditional method, which was refreshing with a hint of crisp green apples, that worked very well with the acidity and flavours of the snacks.
Next was pan roasted scallop, served with a Jerusalem artichoke fondant, caramelised artichoke puree, pickled artichoke, artichoke crisps, and with a smoked butter and chicken fat sauce. This was a very good dish. The scallop was perfectly cooked with excellent natural sweetness, and the artichokes added great flavours and textures, all with a generous amount of butter! This was paired with a barrel fermented white Rioja, CVNE Blanco, with ripe orchard fruit aromas, vanilla from the oak, and enough body to compliment the sauce and enhance the earthiness of the artichoke.
The bread was remarkably good. It was a milk loaf rolled around braised beef, served with a beef dripping butter. This was incredibly tasty as you would expect, with great textures.
The fish course was monkfish in a Thai curry sauce with lemongrass and coriander, a courgette fondant, and pickled courgette, with a coriander oil, and lashings of butter. This was very similar to a dish George made on the first round of the Master Chef show. This was very enjoyable. The fish was cooked perfectly and the sauce was very fragrant with vibrant flavours. This was paired with a dry Riesling, from Moselland, Saar, Germany, which was a great choice. Rieslings and spicy food are a great match, and this is a very nice dry wine with citrus, floral notes and good minerality.
The main course was beef fillet, Roscoff onion, white miso, beetroot, chives, and pickled shallot. The beef fillet was cooked perfectly medium rare and had great flavour, melting in the mouth, accompanied by a deeply flavoured beef jus. This was paired with a Rocky Road Cabernet Sauvignon from Margaret River, Australia, a great choice with the beef. This was a very successful course, with excellent beef and a perfectly matched wine.
The pre-dessert was a sour cherry sorbet with sour cherry smoothie, and a burnt butter and almond brittle, which was very refreshing. The main dessert was a dark chocolate cremeux, hazelnut, double caramel mousse, and beef fat caramel, with a vanilla ice cream. This was paired with a fortified Grenache from Roussillon, Rivesaltes Grenat, which had flavours of ripe black cherries, stewed plums with cocoa and spice. This was a very rich, sweet dessert, and the wine complimented it perfectly.
George had created a very enjoyable menu and executed it flawlessly. There were great flavours and textures, with some high quality produce. It’s not surprising he was a Master Chef finalist. The wine flight was excellent, carefully chosen and great value for money. This was a very enjoyable night at Thyme Kitchen, and we will be returning for future pop-up events.
The Menus:
The Wine Pairing
