EATING OUT
EATING OUT
Restaurant Interlude Leonardslee Gardens Brighton Road, Horsham, Surrey, RH13 6PP Telephone: 01403 289490
I think this is a first for me, in that I am going to do a restaurant review without mentioning the food too much, but before you turn the page and go to another article, please bear with me whilst I explain further. Just recently my wife and I were invited to visit Restaurant Interlude, a contemporary restaurant in Lower Beeding, Horsham. The restaurant is set within the mansion house of the Leonardslee Estate, whose Grade 1 listed gardens re-opened in 2019, after being closed for 10 years. I mention the gardens as they provide the ingredients for the dishes, and the garden guides what the menu will be, with the aim to bring the gardens to life through the food. The man tasked with doing this is Chef, Jean Delport, and along with his team he has secured 3 AA Rosettes and a Michelin star to date, but I suspect that they won’t be resting on their laurels and will be striving for more. The issue I have here is, that as a reviewer, by explaining the dishes I will spoil the whole dining experience for you, as Restaurant Interlude doesn’t just serve up amazing and innovative food, it creates a theatre around each dish, and by mentioning what happens is a little bit like giving away the end of the book before someone has started reading it, or saying who the murderer is at the start of a murder mystery! I will do what I can to do Restaurant Interlude justice, as it truly deserves it, and give you a flavour of what to expect without spoiling it for those of you who are in for a real treat when you go. The first thing that may surprise you is that the restaurant only has one sitting which starts at approximately 6.30pm, which is because the tasting menu is 17 courses, yes 17!, (but don’t worry, some are small) and your journey through the produce of Leonardslee’s Gardens will take around 4 to 4 1/2 hrs. WWW.THEAMERICANHOUR.COM
You are advised to not be late and that is clever, as you would ruin the surprise element of the courses as you would get to see what was coming before it came to your own table. There is another restaurant that has such theatre and length of dinner service located in Bray, and although not as accomplished yet, Restaurant Interlude clearly has its sights on reaching the same heights. The mansion house is very much in the country, and luckily we had allowed ourselves additional time to find it as our sat nav insisted on taking us to the garden centre on the estate rather than the mansion house itself, which is just a little further up the road. Guests are recommended to arrive at around 6pm so they can enjoy a drink in the bar beforehand, and start the 17 courses with some amazing canapés. Chef Delport’s origins are from South Africa, and he brings a number of special treats into his menu from that culture and cuisine. With our drinks we were served a trio of canapés, a wonderfully rich and powerful venison biltong (which I understand is one of the South African border forces staple diet as they confiscate so much of it!), which had been left drying just long enough to allow the majesty of the meat to come through, but not long enough to be tough. The other two canapés are also firm South African favourites - a pillow shaped burnt shallot, which doesn’t on the face of it sound that appealing, but was delicious, although my personal favourite was the Slaphakskeentjies. Slaphakskeentjies, is a traditional Afrikaans onion salad which is as South African as a Braai, and was a lovely combination of the sharp onion and vinegar mellowed by the zing from some mustard. I really could have eaten more, but with such a number of courses awaiting I needed to pace myself. Once the canapés and a glass of something cold and fizzy were completed we were led to the dining room to continue our fusion of the gardens in Horsham and the cuisine of South Africa. The dining room is just like you would
expect the living room of a country mansion to be, with high ceilings and a set of patio doors into the garden, and an eclectic green wallpaper. The tables are well spaced and are covered with pristine starched white table cloths, and the staff are always there to help when needed, whilst letting you enjoy your meal with your fellow diners. As I said, I will not elaborate more on the next 3 hours of gastronomic delight, as much as I would really like to, as it will spoil your own visit, but suffice to say the dishes were a lovely mix of meat, fish and vegetables, and all were served with a lot of flair. In fact, my wife took photos of every course as she was amazed by the beautiful presentation of each and every course, as all were picture perfect, and some were so intricate one can only imagine how long it took to chop and place some of the ingredients on the plates. The contents of each dish were expertly explained by the waiters, and diners were also provided with a little card explaining every dish and where on the estate the ingredients were sourced from, which was a nice touch. Indeed, the estate and its self-sufficiency also stretches to the wine, where a number of bottles of both white, red and sparkling are from the estate, and I can vouch for their quality! When I go to a restaurant I want to be wowed, I want to have dishes I haven’t thought of and dishes I could not recreate at home, and here at Restaurant Interlude you have all of these along with some of the freshest and finest foods the English countryside can provide. If that wasn’t enough the restaurant is located in a grand mansion house, and the service is impeccable, which is a true recipe for success, and it is nice to see them receiving the accolades they have. I will watch with interest in the next year or so, as I suspect this may become the first restaurant in Sussex to have more than 1 Michelin Star. www.restaurant-interlude.co.uk WWW.AMERICANINBRITAIN.CO.UK
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