A group of friends and a fine dining restaurant that defies convention in a "gastronomically traditional" town: the perseverance of the boys from Coarse, Durham, proves that even far-flung dreams can come true.
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"Tucked away in a small courtyard in downtown Durham, this warm and welcoming restaurant is the realization of the dream of four friends who financed its opening. The simple, rustic décor "hides" great food; the tasting menu of modern British dishes changes seasonally, and technical mastery can be seen in the details, such as well-executed sauces." With these words, the MICHELIN Guide welcomes Coarse, a gourmet eatery that opened in Durham last September 15, into its pages.
Just four months after opening, the four friends and partners Ruari MacKay (the chef), Niall Watson (the sous chef), Gemma (his fellow manager), and Craig Lappin-Smith (the dining room manager) saw their food dreams come true. "We had been open seven weeks and were just starting to offer our first tasting menu when we noticed a tweet from the MICHELIN Guide mentioning us. Unbelievable, we thought, we certainly did not imagine we would appear in the guide so soon. Well, with much pleasure I can say that we were wrong," says Ruari.
Gaining a space of their own in the MICHELIN Guide, for the three friends, was quicker and easier than finding the right location where Ruari could express his talents at the stove. In fact, the idea to embark on this new adventure came to Craig soon after the first lockdown, when he contacted Ruari, with whom he had already worked at Bistro 21. The two met and decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign, with which, however, they failed to reach the amount needed to purchase the restaurant they had identified on Silver Street. Undeterred, they continued to look around until they stumbled upon what is now Coarse's North Road establishment, managing, moreover, to finance themselves.
Coarse is in fact the English town's first fine dining restaurant and offers regional cuisine based exclusively on local produce - no ingredient travels more than 100 miles from Durham to reach its destination. Not surprisingly, food critic Jay Rayner has praised the dishes on the menu several times in his reviews in The Guardian. "I like to make good food with simple raw materials. I don't put too many elements together and respect each individual flavor. If you can get a good chicken there is not much to do, you just cook it well. We are constantly looking for new ingredients and want to offer them to our customers in a different way than they would normally expect. We like to stimulate people's senses, sometimes even having them taste foods they are familiar with, but in a slightly revised guise," Ruari says. One of the chef's mentors was, in fact, Terry Laybourne, still his inspiration: "Terry uses local products and never overworks them. I think that's what has always stuck with me about his cooking."
So Ruari, from Coarse, offers a six-course tasting menu for £40 and a five glasses wine pairing for £30. Much attention in the menu is also given to vegetarian customers and those with special dietary needs. "We are focusing on fruits and vegetables. We are not moving away from meat, but nowadays many people don't eat it anymore. I confess that I am a fan of fish, I love to cook it and enjoy it often. We follow the seasons and change the menu every four to six weeks. This is the first time in my career where I feel I really express myself. We have no rules and restrictions, and that is precisely our strength. We have the freedom to do what we want," Ruari concludes.
Source: chroniclelive.co.uk
