So finally Wednesday had arrived, we were on day one of the two day cookery course and on the itinerary, Lobster Risotto, the same dish I ate in The Rick Stein Seafood Restaurant the previous evening, what a result!

There were some obvious differences like the quantity of Lobster meat, the colour of the Risotto stock, the reduction, but I was chuffed, it was a good rendition of the ‘professional’ version I had had the previous evening. Mine is on the left in case you were wondering!

I had received a lovely message from St Petrocs reminding me of my breakfast sitting, whaaaat, surely I had booked the evening meal, what a pillock! A quick call and within minutes I was back on track and booked for Wednesday evening at 19:45, phew that was embarrassing!

The informal Bistro was only a 5 minute walk from the hotel, very convenient, as I arrived the friendly front of house team welcomed me, and showed me to my table, the place was buzzing with excitement and anticipation as guests ordered their food and expectantly awaited its delivery.

As before I made my choices and constructed a ‘wine flight’, a glass of wine to match each dish (hopefully)! The comprehensive menu was very good indeed, with dishes like Pear and Rocket Salad, Oyster Charentaise, Turbot with Bone Marrow Gravy and Truffle Oil, certainly lots of choice and definitely French influenced.

So what to start with, hmmm, yep, Pidgeon, love Pidgeon, served with Watercress and Potatoes and the wine match was Malbec Classico, Kaiken, Mendoza Argentina 2018.

Using the internet: “The grapes were hand picked and sorted, and then cold soaked for seven days to extract aroma and colour. After that the grapes were fermented for 10 to 12 days, and then kept on their skins for 10 days to give colour and structure. Following fermentation, 40% of the wine was transferred into French oak barrels for six months, of which 10% were new and the rest second and third use. The rest of the wine was unoaked to retain the fruit flavours and aromas in the finished wine. The wine was naturally fined and gently filtered before bottling.” Whatever they did it was very very nice!

Now, the Pidgeon, something I have eaten many times, it was cooked perfectly, but if there was one criticism, the dish was a bit too acidic, it needed some sweetness (IMHO). Later that evening (much later), I was chatting with the Head Chef Mark on Instagram, and highlighted my observation which he embraced admirably, this was the 1st of several interactions, something that made my week evermore enjoyable, thank-you so much Mark for your virtual conversations.

Now to mains, another favourite, Plaice, a whole one, with roasted Red Peppers, Chilli, Garlic and Oregano served with buttered Potatoes, wine match was a Rick Stein White Burgundy Macon France 2020, nice.

There is something about Plaice, it has a unique (yes I know all fish,….unique..) flavour, slightly sweet, but different, delicate but with strength at the same time so can stand up to bold additions like Peppers and Garlic, well that’s what I believe…. It was extremely tasty and Ricks Burgundy was very good too.

The front of house had been very attentive all evening, allowing gaps between courses as I had also eaten at the cookery course during the day so definitely needed some respite to get though nights culinary adventure.

I’m really not a dessert person, I tend to find them too much after a big meal and usually go without, honest, I prefer cheese. But, this was a celebration of ‘Padstows Finest’ week so got my courage up and ploughed through, it had to be done!

So the Wednesday night Finale was a Chocolate Pave, Peanut Crumb and Salted Caramel Ice Cream, washed down with a delicious Sauternes Cypres De Climens Barsac Bordeaux 2014, so what can we find on the internet about this beauty: “Cyprès de Climens is the delectable wine for aperitifs, good food and epicureans. It expresses a spring-like character, a gushing temperament. Its nose is redolent of white flowers, mint, lime blossom, citrus fruit, apricot and spices. All delicacy and sensual seduction, it gives itself simply, showing a graceful and youthful lightness.” oooooohhhkaaayy in my opinion it’s very tasty and not too sweet!

So, another epic night, great front of house, extremely competent chefs in the kitchen, delicious food, delicious wine and topped off with chatting to Mark later that evening, another awesome evening.

………………………………Until next time…………………………..L8ers……………………..

(The Finale of the week comes next, it’s very special so watch out if you want to see what happened!)