Reviews

Andrew Stevenson, Restaurant Critic

www.andrewstevenson.com The Dining Room, Rawtenstall

If you look at that vast organ of collective hearsay, wikipedia, you get the impression that Rawtenstall is famous for ... absolutely nothing. They mention that it's the birthplace of Jane Horrocks, but manage to omit that Rawtenstall is home to Britain's last remaining temperance bar, Fitzpatricks, with its excellent sarsaparilla and dandelion & burdock among other restorative non-alcoholic drinks, alongside shelves laden with herbs and spices of varying degrees of mysteriousness, all looking destined for non-culinary purposes, to judge from their monochrome appearance. The Helmshore Mills textile industry working museum is just down the road, as is the northern terminus of the East Lancs preserved railway line. Rawtenstall's market, which proudly preclaims itself the friendliest market, is an interesting mix of outdoor cabins (à la Clitheroe) and traditional market hall.

Opposite the market hall is something that should add to the fame of Rawtenstall, but appears curiously overlooked by all the food guides, except Hardens.

The location is somewhat unpromising and you wouldn't expect to see an advertising A-board outside many Michelin-starred restaurants. This isn't Michelin-starred, but should be. To my mind, some of the finest food in the north west is being served here. I find the dishes very well conceived, very well balanced, very well executed, and beautifully presented.

I've never actually eaten à la carte here, having always been tempted away by the excellent value offered by the tasting menu or the equally excellent value set lunch. The latter offers three courses for £16.95 (less for fewer courses), which is astounding value for the quality of food and execution.

Today was the set lunch, starting for me with a room temperature fillet of mackerel served on top of some lightly pickled ceviche-style carrot (and something else). The balance of the un-ceviched mackerel and the ceviched (if you'll allow me to make up words) vegetables was just right. Top stuff.

Before moving on to main course, we had an additional starter off the à la carte, mine being the terrine of foie gras. This was served with a rather nice gewurztraminer jelly chopped, and mixed with a fine brunoise of apples, a much too thick brandy snap (the first real fault I've found in the food in numerous visits) and some very fine home-made brioche, which had been toasted with a degree of precision that is quite rare. The terrine itself was well-made, though perhaps a slightly small slice, but was a bit underflavoured: it needed a bit of salt, though a bit more marinading of the livers would have achieved the same result I think.

Then it was back to the set lunch. Set lunches are the time for restaurants to wheel out cheaper cuts (and indeed there was a slow cooked shoulder of lamb), but my main course featured the primest of prime cuts, the pork tenderloin. Perfectly cooked and served with peas three ways (though that's not how the menu described it, as that just mentioned the risotto): fresh peas, a pea purée and a superb risotto of peas and cider-marinated bacon. Although there would have been no problem switching to à la carte for dessert (and the chef's selection of desserts for sharing was recently an exceptionally good selection of exquisite desserts), the lure of "apple crumble tart" on the TDH was too much for me. Super light yet crisp pastry, with a nicely tart apple filling topped with an almost streusel like crumble, served with a scoop of excellent vanilla ice-cream, was really spot on. It would be tempting to slip a touch of cinammon into such a dessert, but on this occasion I much appreciated the purity of the apple flavour.

Incidentals are top notch too. Bread is home made and superb: four varieties, all tasting of what they're supposed to. Petits fours are very fine: a perfect miniature lemon tart with a gossamer of crispy brûlée topping, an ultra light lacy tuile and a superbly hedonistic chocolate truffle. The wine list perhaps doesn't have the same interest or skill as the kitchen, but there is sufficient to match the food at not too unreasonable prices.

That is the most recent visit, but based on a number of visits, The Dining Room is one of the best restaurants in the North West, if not the North of England.

Andrew Robinshaw's cooking is assured, skilled and inventive, without any excesses that can arise from inventiveness. I find the food is better (or rather more consistent) than at Northcote Manor (and I prefer the more informal atmosphere at the Dining Room to the temple of gastronomy feel that Northcote cultivates), better than all the restaurants run by Paul Heathcote, better than many of the Lake District restaurants. Nutters in Edenfield is probably the closest local competitor: I find Nutters slightly over-bearing and the food isn't as good as they think it is: I've had some great meals there, and some less good (the best was the first time, at the old Nutters site, when we persuaded Andrew to do a tasting menu for us at lunchtime, and as we were the only ones there, he came out and talked us through some of the dishes). Probably the closest restaurants in quality and standard to the Dining Room are L'Enclume in Cartmel, Hipping Hall near Kirkby Lonsdale and the new Michael Caines at Abode (in the former Rossetti hotel in Manchester). L'Enclume is in a class of weirdness of its own, and doesn't really bear comparison. Hipping Hall (like the Dining Room, curiously ignored by all the major food guides, apart from Hardens) has a very near level of quality of food, maybe slightly better executed on occasion, but the Dining Room edges it slightly for me as the menu changes more regularly. Michael Caines at Abode is also at a similar level of quality, but it's in a dark basement down anonymous corridors and concentrates on a grazing style of menu. If pushed, I would probably say that The Dining Room just about edges slightly ahead of the food at Hipping Hall near Kirkby Lonsdale, and what pushes it ahead is the more frequent menu changes: indeed, the second time we had the tasting menu at the Dining Room, they adjusted the menu to avoid duplicating the dishes we had had on the previous visit. Edging slightly ahead of Hipping Hall, makes this probably the best restaurant in the north west

. 9/10

August 2008

written by Andrew Stevenson

Rawtenstall may seem an unlikely venue for tasting menus, but Andrew Robinshaw’s Dining Room does fine dine to change your mind

*if you’re not from the north, then it’s not likely that the town of Rawtenstall will mean all that much to you.

Lancastrians, however, know it well, but only for one thing only: skiing. As home to the North West’s best known dry ski slope, Rawtenstall was always the place to go to limber up for Courcheval, but when it comes to other exotic practices – fine dining, say – you were better off elsewhere.

In the last two years, however, the old mill town’s profile has changed somewhat, thanks, in part to the return to the north west of local chef, Andrew Robinshaw. With his experience of working in Michelin starred restaurants, including Chateau de Montreuil in France and later at Petrus in London, Robinshaw was determined to make haute cuisine work in his home region. After reacclimatizing at Nutter’s in nearby Rochdale, he finally set up his own place, The Dining Room in Rawtenstall, two years ago this summer.

“It’s a new experience for the people around here,” he says. “We’re on our own. There’s only an Indian and a Chinese in town, whereas in London you had fine dining on every corner. Out in the sticks, it’s not an everyday thing.”

Robinshaw was determined not to dumb down and has accordingly offered a seven-course tasting menu since day one, in addition to the modern French a la carte and a good value set lunch (from £9.95 for one course plus coffee) At £35 for the full tasting menu, it’s not what he calls “silly money” – on some nights over half the guests will go for it.

Working alongside such famous names as Marcus Wareing and Gordon Ramsey at Petrus has been good for building a name locally. The experience there was an eye –opener for the young chef. “You know what it meant to be a perfectionist when you’ve worked there. You’re in at 7am and you’re not out until 2am. It’s not somewhere you could necessarily work for a long time though.”

Now in his own kitchen, Robinshaw prefers an easier-going environment for his team of three. The restaurant opens 5 days a week for lunch and dinner, but there are no double bookings, even though some nights he could fill 40 covers twice over. “It’s hard here to get good staff when you’re a nobody as such, a good restaurant with no reputation, because at the end of the day, where’s Rawtenstall? I suppose La Gavroche wasn’t well known in its first year.”

Despite Robinshaw’s respect for such restaurants, The Dining Room is not your typical ‘fine dining restaurant’, all snooty sommeliers and crystal stemware. It’s tailored instead to a less experienced audience, and also to it’s new home, a former Indian restaurant on a busy A-road. It’s a breezy, relaxed space, with squishy sofas, chunky wooden tables, jolly service, leather tablemats and polka-dot napkins. Robinshaw’s aim was to offer a friendly, welcoming environment in which to explore his ambitious cuisine. “There’s such a stigma to fine-dining restaurants,” he explains. “There’s the idea there’s got to be Mozart playing in the background, because that’s the ways it’s always been. People are afraid to change, even though (the established conventions are) not necessarily what people want. At the end of the day, I want to build my reputation and I want to stay open. With 30 staff and six customers, I won’t.”

He admits that some people thought he was mad to aim so high in down-to-earth East Lancashire. “Some said it would work, some said it wouldn’t, he recalls. “You have to keep asking ‘is it feasible to carry on with this, or should I cut my losses and start doing pizza and pasta?’ But there’s no point busting my balls to learn it all, only to start turning out lasagnes. I know there’s a market here. Too many people tell me to stick at it.”

First published in Restaurant Magazine 24 May 06

Hilary Armstrong

squaremeal.co.uk
The Dining Room Address 8-12 Burnley Road, Rawtenstall, Lancashire, BB4 8EW Tel 01706 210 567

Although fine-dining is not yet commonplace in the small Lancashire town of Rawtenstall, in the two years since local chef Andrew Robinshaw opened the Dining Room, it has certainly made its presence felt. After putting in the time at top restaurants in France & London, Robinshaw’s back in the North West, bringing his experience & passion for great food with him. He’s left the stuffy temples to haute-cuisine behind him, however, instead preferring to showcase his modern French cuisine in his relaxed restaurant with its simple white walls, chocolate brown leather chairs, & solid wooden tables. Robinshaw’s seven course tasting menu – at a very attractive £35 – foregrounds his love of good local produce & fresh seasonal flavours. But for those with smaller appetites, go for a lunch menu starting at just £9.95 for one course with coffee, or try the à la carte & a Goosnargh duck chestnut & tarragon boudin, with pickled fennel à la grecque & spiced tomato jam; pan-seared fillet of cod with braised savoy cabbage, crispy bacon frazzles & foaming mussel cream; & apple, rum, & raisin crème brûlée with granny smith sorbet. Save space for some of the cute petits-fours. Cuisine Type British (Modern) Location Lancashire MAP Guide to reviews Send Square Meal your comments Back to search results
written by squaremeal.co.uk

The Times18th March 2006

guardian media. The Guide. 4th February 2006
Before Andrew Robinshaw moved back to his native Lancashire, he worked in France and at Gordon Ramsay’s Petrus. It shows. Not for him flashy molecular tricks or concept tapas, instead The Dining Room’s menu is a roll call of familiar English and French dishes, rendered with subtle imaginative twists, a dash of modernity and heaps of class. Oak - smoked haddock soup has real depth and clarity of flavour and sits around a stack of potato and welsh rarebit croutons. The beef Wellington is a perfect amalgam of sweet pink meat, earthier mushrooms and good pastry. Less traditional, salmon and lobster ravioli arrives wrapped in exquisitely thin pasta and accompanied by a foaming carrot cream, crispy carrots and deep fried coriander. A somewhat bland cheese board is the only qualm. Otherwise, this is assured cooking with character. Ramsay would approve. TONY NAYLOR. THE GUIDE, IN THE GUARDIAN. Saturday 4th February 2006
written by Tony Naylor

manchester evening news 30th december 2005
Chef Andrew Robinshaw and partner Sarah Dugdale have set the bar high with their first venture, The Dining Room in Rawtenstall. It was a real delight to discover this place. The seven course tasting menu was expertly crafted and demonstrated the chef's confidence and flair. Unassuming in its little pocket of the Rossendale Valley, this place will be one to watch in 2006 as word of mouth will inevitably draw more punters in through the doors. If I think hard enough I can still taste the pan-seared rainbow trout fillet with tomato and soft herb confit and foaming sauternes cream. Magical.
written by Rashid Razaq 30th December 2005

rawtenstall's exciting newcomer
ANDREW Robinshaw opened his Rawtenstall restaurant, The Dining Room, In June last year. An experienced chef at a high level, Andrew clearly Impressed the investment team of the Lancashire Rosebud Fund which came up with a five year loan that enabled him to open with some style.

His food fully justifies the confidence shown In him. We went for lunch there and, two weeks later, we were back, craving more. Andrew was working in the kitchen on both days and, as the menus were markedly different on each occasion, we are able to confirm that his skill Is wide ranging.

His experience In the catering Industry includes two years in France, some of the time as Pastry Chef at the Michelin Star kitchen of the Chateau de Montreuil. Later he became Senior Chef at Gordon Ramsays Petrus Restaurant in Mayfair. The food served at The Dining Room has been described as 'modern English with a touch of French'.

If you cannot choose between such starters as confit of pork with caramelised apple and roast shallot dressing and smoked haddock boudin served with a warm cherry tomato compote, you may rely on the soup. On our first visit I enjoyed the celeriac soup with crispy bacon bits and white truffle oil.

A main course of braised shank of lamb with fondant potato, black-eyed beans, thyme dumplings and a rich Madeira sauce was exceptionally tasty, My wife felt that her rusted cod could not have been bettered with its tempura mussels and foaming lobster bisque sauce.

On the lunchtime set menu there is nornally a choice from two desserts and a selection of cheeses. My wife's chocolate and hazelnut slice was served with melt-in-the-mouth shortbread biscuits, caramelised hazelnuts and orgeat (a syrup). I'm happy to say that she does not have a taste for dark chocolate, and so this excellent dish was passed to me. My own choice was equally good - white-wine poached pears with vanilla panacotta and caramelised straws.

Panacotta seems to be a speciality of the house. I noticed from a sample menu that they have also served amaretto panacotta with a Earl Grey syrup and praline. We had intended to have only two glasses of the house dry white, a Colombard, but it proved addictive and in the end we totalled five glasses. It would have been more sensible -and cheaper to buy the bottle at £11.50.

One can eat from the set lunchtime menu for £9.95 per person for one course, £12.95 for two courses, or £14.95 for three course all of the prices including good coffee. On each of our visits our total bill was between £40 and £50. At lunchtime one could eat well more cheaply by choosing two courses with a glass of wine for a total of less than £20 a person and we suggest this as an introduction to an exciting new experience in Rawtenstall.

The restaurant faces the market at the start of Burnley Road Internally the decor is attractively modern, and the staff is friendly and attentive. The Dining Room is closed on Mondays, but is open for lunch between noon and 2pm from Tuesday to Saturday inclusive, and between noon and 3.30pm on Sundays. Opening times in the evening from Tuesday to Sunday are between 6.30pm and 9.30pm.
written by brian crowther Lancashire Life - August 05

manchester evening news july 05
In the car, on the way to Rawtenstall, I'm being told about the town's footwear past. Brogues, loafers, heels, trainers, wedges, plimsolls, laced. slip-ons, buckled and even Velcro. According to one of my supper companions, the photographer, this town was built on slippers. As we meander towards the Rossendale Valley he's foaming at the mouth talking about the finest chequered, lambs-wool lined, slippers known throughout Christendom.

I toy with kicking him out as we near Bolton, disturbed by his obvious foot fetish, when he suggests a tour of a shoe factory as an appetizer. The photographer earns a reprieve as he starts on The Dining Room, which he has been urging me to review for some months. The restaurant is the brainchild of chef Andrew Robinshaw and his partner Sarah Dugdale. Robinshaw has worked in Gordon Ramsay's Petrus and more recently at Nutters In Cheesden.

The couple have converted an unassuming former textile building into an outpost of fine cuisine among the Hush Puppy plantations. Punters are whisked upstairs to the bar where over drinks and a memorable aubergine dip and nibbles, menus are perused and orders placed It's all very civilised with the charming and informed staff happy to interject and steer diners through the richly dense selections.

All three of us opt for the Seven-course tasting menu (£35 per head), curious to see what type of mystery package the chef will create. The line-up is changed daily and the only concession to choice is when customers are asked if they are allergic to or have a strong dislike any foods. The rest is left in Robinshaw's hands. The photographer and my friend Seb choose a bottle of the house Merlot (£11.50) as a versatile wine, while I'm on the mineral water.

The downstairs dining room is neutral and inoffensive with a good use of space to create the feeling of intimacy, but not at the expense of privacy at each table.

Little did we know as we sat down for our first course of courgette and rosemary soup laced with rosemary oil that we wouldn't be wrapping up this epic adventure until some three and half-hours later. The photographer waxes lyrical about the foam on the soup. It is the best he has seen outside the Establishment restaurant in Manchester: I found it perfectly refreshing and elegantly balanced.

There was some banter between Sob and the photographer about religion and politics, but just as they were about to reach consensus on a solution to the Middle East problem, our second course arrived and they both shut up.

The ham hock and foie gras terrine with homemade toasted brioche and plum chutney was an Olympic double-back-flip. It brought home the points with a soft, billowy brioche cradling a superior terrine.

We segued effortlessly into the next compact course with our waitress introducing each dish like a guest at a debutantes ball. We were unequivocally united in our praise for the pan-seared rainbow trout fillet with tomato and soft herb confit and foaming sauternes cream. Seb became whimsical about the tomato confit and the foaming confit had the snapper turned-on again.

Now the Scrumpy Jack cured salmon, Waldorf style salad with a sweet cider reduction we had next was not part of the tasting menu. The photographer had insisted and the staff had been kind enough to accommodate. In itself it wasn't too bad a dish but it undermined the structure of the meal and detracted from the obvious thought put into the sequence of the courses.

The wood pigeon with potato fondant, orange confit, carrot and blood tonic sauce divided us. I thought the carrrot confit was a little sickly sweet and the tonic sauce overpowering. As we entered the home straight, nicely stuffed, we tasted the divinely more-ish hazelnut praline creme bruise with homemade honeycomb. It is hard to do this dessert justice without a scratch and taste panel in this column. It has to be tried.

Just as we thought it couldn't get any better we were clapping with the joy of a parent watching their toddler take his first steps. The raspberry souffle with coulis muscled on to the dinner table all masterful, full of puff and tartness. A cheese platter was presented to Seb with an array of local or native cheeses and we ended with some exquisite petit fours.

The Dining Room wes definitely worth the hour-and-a-half round trip to get there. I left slightly tired and giddy. The meal here was an edifying experience and I felt like handing out cigars to celebrate the birth of something beautiful.
written by rashid razaq MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS -- july 2005

stepping out in ramseys shadow
After absorbing several expletive charged episodes of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen on television, it's a question you can't resist asking anyone who has worked with Britain's most high profile chef. "What's it really like sharing the gas hob with this man?"

Andrew Robinshaw, a member of the brigade at Ramsay's acclaimed London Restaurant 'Petrus' when it was awarded its fifth rosette, is tantalisingly circumspect 'You have to be strong minded to put up with all the pressures,' he said. 'But you learn'.

Andrew, 30, whose learning curve also Induded stints in some of the leading restaurants in France, decided to return to his roots - he's originally from Rochdale - and open a place of his own. After searching around the area with his partner Sarah dugdale they came upon premises in a striking Edwardian building a stone's throw from the market in the centre of Rawtenstall and in June 2004 launched The Dining Room.

His forte is for classically-inspired modern interpretations of dishes using the best of local, seasonal ingredients, the regularly changing menu including a commendable range of fish and game.

London's loss is emphatically Rossendale's gain, for in little more than 12 months, this 40 cover restaurant has won plaudit after plaudit for Andrew's superbly executed modern Anglo-French cuisine and as guests at October s Lancashire Life Luncheon discovered, The Dining Room has established Rawtenstall as firmly on the county's culinary map as the Annual Fair did for Lancashire Folklore. And as readers will see elsewhere in this month's magazine, the restaurant has been shortlisted for Lancashire Life's Newcomer of the Year.

We assembled in the contemporary-styled yet intimate, clubby first-floor bar with its polished wooden floor and deep brown leather couches to sample a selection of canapes over a welcoming glass of champagne. Both were precursors of what was to come: delightfully elegant Le Treziot Grand Reserve Blanc de Blanc Champagne, a recent discovery by the day's wine expert, steve pay of suppliers John Stephenson and Sons of Nelson, was just the first of a fascinating selection with lunch. And the delicately-crafted morsels heralded a rare talent at work in the kitchen.

Amid the modern setting of the ground floor dining room, again sporting rich creams and browns with quality linen and tableware, we began with braised chicken terrine laced with fore gras on a toasted brioche with red onion marmalade. Not only a delicious collation of precise flavours and luxurious textures but also marvellous to look at, the dish married perfectly with Steve's choice of Stanart Grand Cru Riesling d'Alsace 2002. Cave de Pfaffenheim combining ripe apple fruit with a steely acidity.

The main course was a tour de force. Imagine the skills involved in serving a perfectly cooked ballantine of boned-out quail breast and confit of cumin-scented duck in an exquisitely - fashioned, delicious pastry case. Now imagine doing it 40 times over, virtually simultaneously! It came with sweet red cabbage, just-so fondant potato and intriguing 'Fitzpatrick's blood tonic sauce' - based on a local temperance bar's fruit cordial. Go on Gordon, eat your heart out! The accompanying wine - another sublime partnership - was one of Tuscany's finest, Chianti Classico Riserva Villa Caffagio 1996.

For dessert. caramelised lemon tart which came with hazelnut praline and raspberry sorbet, offered a delicious adeptly-balanced fusion of sweetness and citrus piquancy and once again, the wine choice - Clos de Cray Signature, Montlouis Moelleux 1997, a botrytis chenin blanc from France's Loire Valley - was spot on.

Welcome back, Andrew, Lancashire has a new star in its culinary firmament.
written by Ray King Lancashire Life - October 2005

email this page - print this page

• About Us • Menus • Events • Reviews • Contact Us •

The Dining Room : 8 - 12 Burnley Road, Rawtenstall,
Lancashire BB4 8EW - Tel: 01706 210567