Casamia Review June 2011

Casamia
38, The High Street, Westbury on Trym, Bristol
(0117 959 2884)



Before they won their well deserved Michelin star, the Sanchez-Iglesias brothers ran a little restaurant in my home town of Cheltenham, which was very well respected but a commercial disaster. I felt a personal investment in their enterprise, and more than a little sadness at its closure. It was on the site of a plot of property previously owned by my family for several generations; I was actually born in the apartment above, and the site is now owned by family friends. For some reason there was no real buzz around town - location, location, location - and it remained instead a "best kept secret". Great to collect the selective plaudits, but would have been better to collect the ten pound notes.

Closing shop and finding themselves back at their parents traditional Italian restaurant in a suburb of Bristol, the boys took the kitchen over and reworked the offer with Italian influenced modernity and fireworks. Their imaginative menu's and undoubtable skills have resulted in critical success, that Michelin star, and winning the competition to find Gordon Ramsey's Best Restaurant in Britain. It really is THAT good. It really is ! But it's also relaxed, unstuffy. Serious about food but unpretentious to the max (hard to say when dining on a 8 course tasting menu at £68 a pop and for those that do not understand moderation there was an unpublicised 14 course menu at £98) The chefs are so lovely, enthused and friendly you immediately want them to be your best friends.

The dining room is entered via a gated courtyard, filled with herbs and flowers, and the appearance is very much of a smart Trattoria. Staff were friendly and professional, without being obsequious. Each dish is delivered to your table by one of the student chefs that has a hand in preparing it, the ingredients and the (de)construction explained. The service is spot on, thorough and attentive, but not at all ostentatious.

Food included a pretty 'art on a plate' wild boar salami salad, stunning beetroot risotto with fennel, succulent salmon cooked 'sous vide', the most tender pork I have tasted outside of Tuscany, and a delicate taste bud tickler in the form of Pine Nut Pannecotta, complete with liquid nitrogen presentation. The appearance of every dish was artistic and exquisite. Everything was delicious and had an understated flair. Wine list is modest in size, but well priced.

I took my son with me; the meal was a 'Goodbye to University' treat. I have been dragging the offspring around Michelin star restaurants for years and he decided that he liked Casamia as much as his personal favourite, Purnells in Birmingham. His memorable moment was enhanced by a long and inspiring chat with Chef Johnray, and a trip around the development and research kitchen they are building above the restaurant. I've run a restaurant and I know the last thing a chef usually wants to do after a long service is spend 45 minutes chatting to a table, but he was so enthused, almost evangelistic about the future of Casamia, that we were both totally charmed and fell a little bit in love with this talented young man.

I am eagerly awaiting an opportunity to return.

We ate :

scrambled duck egg
cured pig, thyme

wild boar salami
sheep curd, carrot, pesto

beetroot, barley,
iced yogurt pickled fennel (2006)

salmon, italian
garnish cauliflower

iberico pork, mushroom
apple sauce, celery root

selection of local
cheeses £10 supplement

pine nut pannacotta
amalfi lemon sorbet

traditional tiramisu
the smell of renato’s numero uno

chocolate and sweets