Core at Home

As a frequent visitor to Core by Clare Smyth I would first like to congratulate them on the honour of being awarded Three Michelin Stars. Personally this award was only a matter of time in coming. So as we’re unable to visit them at the moment we thought it would be a great opportunity to try their Cook at Home service. They were offering a Five Course Tasting Menu along with snacks , bread , petit fours and a bottle of champagne. You could also as we did add on an extra Cheese Course. So it came Saturday and we waited with anticipation for our order to arrive. In the morning you receive an email which contains two videos. The first was members of staff describing each course in detail with the second being one of Clare herself guiding you through the preparation of each dish. You could clearly see from these videos how much work had gone into making it as easy as possible for the customer. The next thing to happen is that you get a call from Core themselves an hour before your delivery is scheduled to arrive. We were then in for a surprise because our phone call was from sous chef Antonio who along with waitress Lynn would be delivering the package personally. It was great to see them when they arrived and after a nice chat we brought our order inside. We took Clare’s advice by laying everything out so that you could see which items went with each course. They also included a thermometer and tweezers to assist you with cooking and presentation. You couldn’t really go wrong as every item was clearly labelled.

So as the champagne was chilling in the fridge it was time to begin. We started with the Sourdough Bread that just had to be warmed in the oven and Snacks which consisted of cheese & onion gougeres , pepper & olive tart , smoked duck wing and a foie gras tart.

Champagne

Sourdough Bread

Snacks

Now it was time for our first course a Baked Isle of Mull Scallop with Black Perigold Truffle & Cauliflower which was absolutely delicious. This was followed by the Cornish Sea Bass with cockles , clams , coastal herbs & lovage oil a dish that I’ve enjoyed at the restaurant and have now had the pleasure of eating it at home. Next to come was the main course of Duck and Red Grapes with thyme , honey , timut pepper and a side of Pommes Anna. If this dish wasn’t amazing enough the addition of the potato made it absolute heaven.

Isle of Mull Scallop

Cornish Sea Bass

Duck and Red Grapes with Pommes Anna

We decided to save the cheese course until the end so therefore moved on to our pre dessert The Other Carrot which literally just had to be removed from the fridge and plated. This was followed by the Lemonade Mousse with yoghurt & honey which is a fabulous lemon delight.

The Other Carrot

Lemonade Mousse

So once we’d warmed the Fig Roll we could finish with the Cheese Course along with the accompaniments of raisins , pickles , gel & crackers. This we followed with the Petit Fours of Vanilla Madeleines & Treacle Tart and some Malteser Truffles courtesy of manager Tiago 😁

Fig Roll

Cheese Course

Petit Fours

Malteser Truffles

This brought to an end a truly “CORESOME” afternoon. Everything was first class which is nothing less than you would expect from Core. Each dish is tailored to be as simple as it can be in order for you to have the most enjoyable michelin starred dining experience in the comfort of your own home. So yes for a very special occasion I would highly recommend making a booking for one of their upcoming menus. Although we didn’t this time you can also order matching wines as well as cocktails. I’m looking forward to my next Core dining experience which I hope will be back in the restaurant but if not would have no hesitation in ordering another amazing Core at Home package.

Thank You Clare , Rob , Jonny and all the team and hope to see you all again soon x

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