Brasserie Ma Cuisine, HaslemEre, Surrey 'z4 Robert Hardman
A FORMER tandoori by a zebra crossing in Surrey is not where you would expect to find an authentic little corner of France. Most Frenchmen who want to open a restaurant across la Manche usually go for a tried-and-tested city-centre spot, or trans- form a pretty country pub and pump out moules farcies for the county set. They sel- dom take over a Home Counties curry house, leave the Seventies wallpaper and eye-tingling carpet in situ and just start cooking honest French grub.
But that is exactly what Stephane and Nelly Jacob have done with the Brasserie Ma Cuisine in Haslemere. Jacob is no stranger to British expectations of French restaurants, having served Londoners for many years. He was maitre d'hôtel at the Brasserie St Quentin in Knightsbridge and at La Pomme d'Amour in Holland Park. He met his chef, Guy Laplace, while working at Ma Cuisine, late of Walton Street in Chelsea. That place, owned by Laplace's uncle, inspired the name of the new venture.
And now Jacob is far from the bright lights of Kensington. Indeed, he is some way from the bright lights of Haslemere, having set up shop on the outskirts of town in the sort of spot where one would expect to find. . . well, a curry house. The resi- dents of Haslemere, though, are becoming quite clued up about their food.
This tidy town, where the outer reaches of Surrey commuterland give way to the undulating sweep of the Hampshire Downs, has become something of a lure for diners from miles around. Mougins or Les Baux it is not, but the town is not short of decent food.
For many years, Haslemere was home to the award-winning Morels, a cosy knock- through of several pretty terraced cottages, which regularly drew diners down the A3 from London. In its place a new restaurant called the Little Gem is trying to resurrect the old standards with some success. Over the road at Arco Felice, a charming Italian family produces fine pasta and magnificent pizzas from a flaming oven. And just outside town sits the Lythe Hill Hotel, an established feature in the country-house hotel charts.
A job running the Little Gem brought Jacob to Haslemere but, having decided to stay earlier this year, he opted to set up on his own. In an age when the word 'brasserie' is routinely slapped on any joint capable of serving a sandwich, this really is a brasserie — except for the absence of brass. The menu is precisely what you would find if you were sitting on the banquette of a bustling, high-ceilinged, mirror-lined brasserie on a Paris boulevard: unfussy but reliable French staples and a set menu. In honour of Bemay, Haslemere's twin town in Normandy, this consists of a salade nor- mande with brie on hot toast, followed by equally Norman pork fillets in an apple and calvados sauce for £9.50 (including a glass of cider). As a group of six incomers from neigh- bouring Hampshire, celebrating my broth- er's birthday, we did not all feel obliged to show twin-town solidarity with Bernay. The birthday boy and my sister-in-law, Victoria, started with a duck confit salad. Generous on the duck, it won particular praise from Victoria for the quality of the tomatoes: 'no skin and no seeds'.
My chicken terrine, long strips of firm breast layered with parsley, was as good as any I have found in France, and suffered several raiding parties. Most superlatives, though, went to my mother's choice of the mushroom feuillete. This was not the sort of bland, imploding vol-au-vent affair that often follows attempts to marry mushrooms and pastry. The pastry came apart neatly and took nothing away from the flavour of the mushrooms.
The meat-eaters were the winners of the main course. My father's carte d'agneau was soft and succulent, my brother's fillet steak (Aberdeen Angus) was as good steak should be, and the Norman pork was full of flavour and without too much cream in the sauce. My own choice of panache de poissons salmon and tuna — was a little dry, although a tangy watercess sauce was some consola- tion. Everything came with large bowls of chips in the pommes allumettes style.
Among some varied puddings, the crème bailee stood out. 'It's not remotely sickly and it's not heavy,' declared Victoria. The same could not be said for the deice des amoureux — an éclair concoction — which was wolfed down despite everyone saying they were full. The wine list is extensive for a place of this size, with a Pommard ler Cm les Platieres 1996 or a Puligny Montrachet 1996 in the £42 range and a good house red at £9.70. I stuck to a delicious 1997 Lirac, although the £17.50 asking price might make some wonder whether they have real- ly left London. For all its Frenchness, right down to Jacob's central-casting moustache, he insists on British ingredients. 'Whatever the French say, British meat is better than French meat, he says diplomatically. There are the odd exceptions. The mustard and the baguettes arc brought over from France, although expat French chefs are apparently frightfully excited about the prospect of a baguette fac- tory opening in Birmingham.
Regional Britain could do with a few more Brasseries Ma Cuisine, producing well-cooked, old-fashioned French food without piling on the pretensions and the condescensions. Despite having opened just four weeks ago, Jacob is finding that the locals are catching on. I don't think he needs to do much to his food. But, once he has covered his start-up costs, he might turn his attention to the carpet.
Brasserie Ma Cuisine, 84 Weyhill, Haslemere, Surrey GU27 1HS. Tel: 01428 642642 Lunch: Monday to Saturday, 12-3 p.m.. Din- ner: Monday to Saturday, 7-10.30 p.m.. A la carte three-course dinner for two, including wine; £68. Two-course set-menu dinner for two, including wine: f35.
The author is a columnist and correspondent for the Daily Telegraph.
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