Out of Town: Salford - Face and Foot - An Offaly Good Night

Half of STB went out in Salford, SN writes

Chefs Richard and Mike served up a cornucopia of innards in Salford for one night only and I had a beautiful and adventurous Doctor with me to identify the parts...

This my first visit to a Face and Foot pop-up - I was very impressed.  These are ticket only events: single dates promoted mainly through Twitter.  Anyone in the North West who wants a fine dining experience on the edge should follow them @facefootfood  to keep in touch. 

This event was hosted at The Kitchens a fine facility for foodies and their chefs in Salford's Spinningfields district.  It's worth saying this type of event would have cost a good deal more in London and I dare say it would have been much less convivial.  The food was amazing but I wouldn't underplay the atmosphere our hosts create which added so much to the experience.  Rarely do LM and I get to chat to other diners in London (we once managed it at Galvin La Chapelle). We knew no one there at the start of this escapade - but soon the warm, friendly and very funny conversations gathered momentum and carried on all night (and onto Twitter too).  Interesting and interested people are all that are needed and we moved from Cilla Black to a Beatles Conspiracy Theory to working up a cheap and profitable Dragon's Den idea for putting unruly children to sleep (but not in the veterinary sense... I think....)

We were two of 14 diners and once assembled on one big table canteen style - we were away.

First up - a raw liver cocktail and a Tequila shot - though daunting the chilled liver, mixed with tomato and strawberry, was smooth and as approachable as a pate.  The shot was a good match.

Next up, tiny lamb's liver with mushrooms and sherry on crostini - absolutely delicious

The slider of ox heart tartare was full of flavour and gloriously meaty - truffle chips were quickly devoured.

The three soft tacos took us from lamb brain to pig cheeks via chicken hearts.  It may be giving you too much detail to say my main delight was matching the texture to the origin. Each had it's own glorious accompaniment and by this stage the wine, chatter and enthusiasm for the fare were in fullest flow.

Timely then that the chefs produced a pudding to lift the room to new heights.  Chocolate, blood and orange pudding - what was added in a very corporeal sense was body to the run of the mill mousse.  It had a persistence and flavour to bowl you over with every mouthful.  The Choc Chip and Bacon cookies are the 'take away and try at home' dish I think - texture was again a surprising component but sooooo satisfying.

The good doctor and I were euphoric (and I was driving so it wasn't the wine!) as we left - we summoned up enough energy to go dancing afterwards too.  Reminding us that offal is tasty and not too filling - not to mention the health benefits.

More to the point - this type of dining, in this type of setting proved a real game changer for me - as previous posts have shown - we are all over new restaurants and great chefs in London.  Manchester has a lot to offer too and dining canteen style adds so much more to the night.  Thanks to everyone who made it offaly good.

The tickets were £21 and the clever wine choices £10/bottle