Inlamentation – an unforgettable dining experience from Michael O’Hare

I’d had two memorable experiences over the years at Michael O’Hare’s now closed The Man Behind the Curtain restaurant. So when I received an email about the opening of a small 16 cover restaurant called Inlamentation O’Hare was opening in Boston Spa, I jumped at the chance for my wife and I to book and check out the new venture.

O’Hare originates from Redcar in Cleveland (historically and geographically in the North Riding of Yorkshire) and has become renowned for his adventurous, creative cooking. After appearing on BBC’s The Great British Menu, he is now a regular judge on the show as well as many other TV cookery shows.

He has a reputation as a rock’n’roll chef, with his blond rockstar locks and his ink including a flying V guitar. In fact as we were walking down the High Street to the restaurant from the car park, we knew we were in the right place when we saw O’Hare preparing dishes in the upstairs window above a hair dressers.

So we found the front door and were taken upstairs where three tables of two were situated across two small rooms, with an additional 4 seats at a counter over-looking the kitchen. The room we were in had a stunning chrome fire place, but was bright, white and minimally furnished, which was a great departure from The Man Behind the Curtain’s urban rock chic.

The napkin was held in a silver skeletal hand which I guess was a nod to the past.

My wife ordered the non-alcoholic wine flight and I went for the standard one. Having sampled the non-alcoholic ones which my wife had, I can honestly say that I would have been happy with them if I had been driving.

My flight included a glass of champagne, a lovely Ocampo white from Tenerife, a French Sancerre rouge and a Domaine Cauhape. All the above paired well with the many courses but there was one other wine which really stood out, which I would usually have run a mile from.

A German Reisling – Maximin Grunhaus “Herrenberg” Grosse Lage  - it was only 7% alcohol as well but it was stunning and complimented the middle dishes served perfectly..

Credit where credit is due too. Whilst Michael O’Hare came and served some of the dishes and explained how he had cooked them, the rest of his team were great. Friendly, knowledgeable and helpful with a couple of very young staff who were repaying in buckets the trust that had been shown in them. The service and sommelier definitely helped make the dining experience more memorable.

I’m not going to go into lots of detail on each dish as there were too many on the tasting menu to describe in detail, but I managed to get a few pictures to show how wonderfully the food was presented.

So a few of my favourites from a the night…

A poached oyster with silver leaf

A tempora langostine with plankton powder

Tuna Tartare

Perhaps my joint favourite savoury dish of the night, a lightly barbequed scallop with lemon

A sweetbread veal parmo (obviously a nod to Michael’s Teeside roots) – it was very cheesy

Glass skin duck in duck sauce

Lobster in a Thai sauce was my other favourite savoury – it had a lovely chilli kick

There was an opportunity to pay for an extra dessert course, so not wanting to miss out we placed our order. This was a particularly special dish and you had to wonder just where its inspiration had come from. Small, beautifully formed but outstanding.

A salted caramel duck fat sauce, with smoked ice cream and caviar – a pudding I will never forget!

Finally, O’Hare’s take on a Turkish Delight – I thought it was a mini Krispy Kreme to start with. Beautifully presented.

On asking the staff permission to share the pictures online, they explained that Michael O’Hare planned to change the menu so often by constantly creating new dishes and innovating that any pics on social media would soon be out of date.

In summary, the meal was not cheap but as an experience it was worth every penny. There are not many Chef’s who are as innovative as Michael O’Hare and it cannot be long before he gets a Michelin star for this new venture. The food was outstanding and I experienced tastes and flavours I had never experienced before.

I think this is a wonderful addition to Yorkshire’s thriving fine dining scene and I am sure it will be a great success.