Brasserie Blanc: Walton Street, Oxford

This is not surprising, perhaps, since it became a champagne-drenched affair eventually to involve a substantial stretch of Walton Street.

Not a few passers-by that day will surely have been telling friends and family ever since of the occasion when they bopped with Richard Branson (one of Raymond Blanc’s backers at the time).

The restaurant, designed by style guru Sir Terence Conran, was not in fact the first Petit Blanc. Raymond ran one a decade or so before in what is now Gee’s in Banbury Road. His first chef there was John Burton Race, later to become a well-known face on television. (A couple of weeks ago, quite by chance, I bumped into him in a pub in Devon. He had news which I’ll be sharing with readers in a couple of weeks time.) For some years now, the Walton Street restaurant has operated under the name Brasserie Blanc. It is part of a small chain which also includes establishments in Cheltenham, Winchester and (most recently) Chichester. Raymond regards the Oxford branch as his ‘local’ (which of course it is) and often lunches there on a Sunday. On the website he likens the place to a high-kicking cancan as distinct from the “magical waltz” that is Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons. He says: “Brasserie Blanc is a place for relaxed enjoyment where I can offer you simple, high-quality food that comes as close as possible to the meals that my mother prepared for me at home in Besançon.”

I have long been a fan of the place, though naturally visit less frequently than the owner. Recently, various friends advised it was on something of a high, so it seemed a good idea to see for myself. Rosemarie and I ate there last week, on Tuesday, hoping that dinner there would brighten this rather dull day of the week. It did.

The Christmas period had begun here the day before with the putting up of the decorations, but there was no sign of this in the demeanour of the other customers or, indeed, in the range of dishes on offer. Good. We’ll leave turkey and mince pies to December 25 — if then.

My main course of confit guinea fowl suggested a bird that would prove an admirable substitute for those lunching à deux on Christmas Day. One of the day’s specials (the other was a starter of cold roast beef with rocket and parmesan salad), it came with a slab of dauphinoise potatoes, and a rich ‘stew’ of French mushrooms, green beans and onion marmalade. Dark and flavoursome, the leg and breast portion of the guinea fowl was not large but adequate.

This was especially the case for someone who had started, as I had, with a rough-cut terrine of pork with Armagnac, featuring at its centre a delicious layer of prunes.

With the main course I had a side order of minted petit pois, noting the scarcity — creamed leeks apart — of any of the other vegetables you might expect to see. There were no carrots, beans, or any type of brassica, Brussels sprouts included. Looking back at my review of Le Petit Blanc from June 1996, I notice I made the very same complaint then.

I see, too, that Rosemarie proved consistent in her choice of starter, a cheese soufflé. Then it was goat’s cheese; last week it was Ford Farm cheddar (with apple, apricot and walnut salad). Both excellent.

She continued with that staple of French cuisine, boeuf bourguignon, which naturally turned out to be of classic construction. The meat was slow cooked to a tender delight in a robust, winey sauce heady with the flavour of herbs and baby onions. With it came smooth mashed potatoes.

Her pudding was apple and frangipane tart, which would have been enjoyed more had not the taste of the almonds been overlaid with that of cinnamon. The pastry was also rather soggy. I had a quartet of first-class cheeses — Reblochon, Cantal, Tomme de Bordeaux and (the non-French ‘guest’ ) Stilton — with biscuits.

We drank one of the two ‘white wine specials’, Entre-deux-Mers, Chateau Grand Jean, 2009. I had forgotten how delicious this white bordeaux, from the sauvignon blanc grape, can be. Ideal, I’d say, for Christmas.