"The Bridge at Wilton is newly
opened", writes Mr HGC (of Ross-on-Wye).
"My wife and I had dinner there last night
- excellent! We looked at the rooms and there
are bedside lights. Get in there in good time
rather than falling in the door at the last
minute as you usually seem to do". As if.
Here we are then, at this hotel-by-the-bridge,
where we are welcomed by a man who takes us
up the staircase to a "Superior" room
that has a view of the long, grassy garden leading
down to the Wye.
...Now here's a nice idea. On the dinner menu,
along with an image of the footman frog, there's
a list of aperitifs. I order kir, which arrives
in an elegant straight-sided tumbler, while
my husband's Manazilla sherry is in a matching
baby tumbler. Sitting on a black leather sofa,
we order a bottle of Yalumba Y Viognier simply
because I have happy memories of visiting the
Yalumba vineyard while in Australia years ago.
Classic Jazz, à la Ella Fitzgerald or
Frank Sinatra, is playing in the background.
Looking at the menu, we decide we like the sound
of everything on it.
"This place must be
quite convenient for the Hay-on-Wye Literary Festival,"
we suggest. "Yes, we even had Bill Clinton here last
year," Robert tells us.
In the elegant, low-ceilinged country restaurant ,
with its gnarled oak floors, white starched cloths
and vases of daffodils on each table, we taste each
other's dishes. His starter, traditional Welsh Ffagodau
(faggot) on a pea purée, is wonderful and he praises my roast
parsnip and and maple syrup soup with toasted pumpkin
seeds, one of the best soups I've had. Next, I've ordered
halibut baked in a paper bag with a lemon, steam ginger
(sic), and grapefruit dressing. Simple but, again, a brilliant
mixture of flavours - and how glad I am that I'm not expected
to eat the bag. My husband has braised shank of lamb with
parsnip and carrot purée and parsnip crisps.
Puddings are even more delectable. "You choose; I
like the sound of all of them," I say. "no,
you choose." We end up sharing these works of art.
They are served on blue glass plates. The chocolate crème
brûlée with lavender ice cream has a purple
pansy on top; the Calvados rice pudding is surrounded
by fresh red berries. Oh what a pity to disturb them.
Later, on the way upstairs,
we meet the chef, who seems surprised when we tell
him how much we enjoyed the food. Later, we discover
that he trained with a Michelin-starred chef and worked
with Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisions.
...In the morning, we discover that Mike and Jane Pritchard,
the owners, were in the bar last night. Robert, who
seemed to do everything, is, in fact, the barman. Jane
is in the kitchen cooking breakfast, and Mike does
his bit when they are busy. Its a very hands-on place.
- Paddy Burt paid £96 for b&b; £6 for
drinks; £15.50 for wine; £59.50 for dinner;
£2 for coffee. Total £179. |
