NEWS FROM SMITHS
SMITHS RESTAURANT
1-3 Church Road Eccles Manchester M30 0DL
Tel: 0161 788 7343
FOR SOME REASON, I'M HAVING TROUBLE FORMATTING THIS PAGE SO, EVEN IF YOU FIND A LARGE SPACE AFTER THE JAZZ LISTINGS, PLEASE KEEP ON SCROLLING - THERE'S MORE TO COME !
" From the Dining Room to Blackpool on a bike "
DALE'S FUNDRAISING
FOR THE CHRISTIE HOSPITAL
He's cycling to Blackpool on 12th July
but don’t panic, he’s coming back ( though probably not on a bike !!! )
‘Mr Unfit, and those are his words not ours, is taking part in a 60 mile bike ride,
from Manchester to Blackpool to raise money for the Christie Hospital
- a place that’s played a huge part in his family's life.
If you’d like to sponsor him, ask Dale or Chris how you can help.
How much doesn’t matter ......every penny helps Christies help others.
THANKS !!
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WHAT THE PAPERS SAY.
To see what the press have to say about Smiths - scroll to the bottom of the page
Ring 0161 788 7343 to book your table
(
picture of Smiths' Jazz Musicians by one of our younger customers
! )
( Click here to read Jeremy's 'ode' to the tenth anniversary of Jazz at Smiths )
Hear some of the North West's finest musicians at Smiths
Pay for your meal and drinks - and the music comes free of charge !!
...again we've got old favourites - and new faces...
Jeremy Sassoon and Paul Bentley ( voc / congas )
7th July
Jeremy Sassoon with Iain Dixon ( tenor sax )
14th July
Jeremy Sassoon ( trumpet / keys ) with Orli Nyles ( voc / keys )
21st July
Jeremy Sassoon with Paul Bentley ( voc / congas )
28th July
Matt Wolff ( voc / harmonica ) with Roger Hughes ( keys )
DINNER THEATRE AT SMITHS
The Spring / Summer Season is now over and we're in the middle of booking plays for next season. Dates and details soon - but we're hoping to have a 'new writing' week, a poetry night and a 'Theatre for Christmas' Event. Keep Watching!!
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The next Dinner Theatre event will be our Eleventh !!!
.......details below of our previous shows.......
'THE WAITING LINE'
A Jelly Belly Theatre Production
Written and directed by Anna Baatz
Performed by Lawrence Ghorrra and Lisa Brookes
"When things are going badly, everything speaks to you " A lost young woman and a philosphical hobo find themselves on the same weekly train journey. Both seek meaning. Can they find it in each other or is the outcome already written into history ? 'The Fisher King meets A Brief Encounter in this jocular tale of heartbreak, British Rail and the apocalypse.'
If you missed The Waiting Line, you can see it again at Sandbar in Manchester 9/10/11th July
VISIT http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=72696334466&ref=mf FOR DETAILS
'OTHER PEOPLE'S SHOES'
a self effacing comedy written and performed by Dawn Buchanan...... Directed by Louise Nulty
A Tongue in Cheek Theatre Company Production
Working
with children, waiting in cupboards, covering more time periods in the space of
a week than Dr Who does in an entire series! Hazel brings history to life
– now she’s beginning to wonder what happened to hers.
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'ARCHETYPAL FRENZY'
devised and performed by Olivia Nelson
Finding herself in an embarrassing predicament Karen comes up with a risky plan to save the evening and discovers that there is more to her than meets the eye, in fact a complete cast of inner characters:
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Dinner with a Difference Theatre Company Invite you to:
‘DINE WITH SHAKESPEARE’
A fun and innovative evening of fine food, music ….. and Shakespeare
Songs, sonnets, comedy, drama …. and even a limerick or two !!
Performed by the Company while you dine.
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'PIERREPOINT....THE HANGMAN'S TALE'
Written by Peter Harrison Performed by Cafe Society
Pierrepoint comes to Smiths between the Edinburgh Festival 2008 and the Lowry, Salford Quays in Spring 2009
Cafe Society are rapidly becoming one of the region's most innovative and successful theatre companies.
"There's no need to be glum just because there's been an 'angin". With an appealing frankness and moments of dark humour, Martin Oldfield gives a skilled performance as the uncomfortably likeable Albert Pierrepoint, a soon to be ex-hangman from Lancashire. As the story unfolds, his subtlety and sincerity draw the audience in to a harrowing tale of duty and judgement. Mark Butt provides competent support as the condemned prisoner, presenting a stark reminder of the true horror of the situation, his untimely end becoming all the more distressing in such an intimate venue. Beautifully written, touching and honest, the play manages to be both a grim tale of death and the tender account of one man's life alongside it.
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' MARGARET RUTHERFORD RECALLED'
Written and Performed by Jacqueline Pilton
A glimpse into the fascinating, but often dark, world of one of England's best known actors.
For more information about Jackie - and a link to 'Margaret Rutherford Recalled' click here
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'A CHIP IN THE SUGAR' by Alan Bennet
Performed by David Milne ( click here for information )
and directed by David Salter ( more info on David here )
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'FULLY COMMITTED' by Becky Mode
Performed by Caroline Hickey.... directed by John Cunningham
One reservation clerk, one telephone and 40 VIPs anxious for a table .....
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" A MOUTHFUL OF SNOW " written and performed by Julie Calvert
a moving, sometimes dark - but often very funny - one woman show, telling the story of Kate, a retired actress, now terminally ill, looking back on her life and looking forward to getting back to 'Planet Normal'
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For more information about Julie and her work ........ click here
AND........................
'WHAT THE DICKENS' by Dawn Buchanan
Performed by Tongue in Cheek Theatre Company
The two nights were a huge success - both sold out and with a waiting list of people we couldn't get in.
We're talking to more actors right now and planning more Dinner Theatre evenings this year. Tables will be limited so, if you'd like us to keep you up to date with details of these nights, email us via the clickable email link at the bottom of this page and we'll send you information about them as soon as we have it.
For more information about Tongue in Cheek ....... click here
TRAVELS WITH A TASTING MAT........Dave Hebden
As lots of you know, Dave went on a couple of wine tasting trips last year - the first to Chile in January and the next to Chablis. He was asked by our wine merchant ( Portland Wine, who had invited him on the trips ) to write reports on these trips for their newsletter and it occurred to us that you might be interested in hearing how he got on. WARNING.....those of a nervous disposition might want to 'scroll on by' when you come to the bit about his 'typical French meal' in Chablis !!
CHILE
When a busy restaurant owner is invited to Chile by Miguel Torres, there’s only one thing he can do........pack and go ! So, before I knew it, I was on a sleepless 18 hour flight with nothing but airline food. Luckily, things perked up in Santiago, but in Don Augusto restaurant in the vibrant Fish Market ( see picture ) we discovered a problem - none of us spoke Spanish and few Chileans spoke English. So we agreed to eat whatever the waiter suggested - vast mussels topped with parmesan, strange worm-like things ( tiny baby eels ? ) in hot garlicky oil and finally a vast spider crab skilfully taken to pieces in front of us by a bored waiter ( see picture ) and served with nutty brown butter sauce....spectacular ....and a Miguel Torres Sauvignon Blanc 2003, still drinking wonderfully well. In Pucon’s luxurious Hotel del Lago one lunchtime option modestly called itself “mixed grill”. Fine pinkly cooked steak, wonderful flavoursome sausage, pureed sweetcorn and some strange plaited intestinal thing – unidentifiable but delicious ! Later, sweetcorn appeared again, mixed into crème caramel . Sounds hideous but trust me, these Chileans know what they’re doing.
It wasn’t just a week of
eating. We visited three spectacular vineyards. The most impressive was
Miguel Torres’ latest venture, the Empedrado vineyard carved out of a
scarily steep hillside ( see picture ).
It’s a project for the future - the vines are still too young to produce grapes for wine. On the way back
our bus pulled up at a roadside restaurant. In England it would be a
Little Chef but here we were served the best steaks ever: huge
chunks of rump, fillet, sirloin and ribsteak; perfectly cooked;
perfectly tender and gloriously tasty. All this
and a tasting of Miguel Torres’ wines. Little
Chef indeed!
Our meal at the restaurant at
Miguel Torres’ Winery in Curico showed that the attention they paid to
cooking the food mirrored the total commitment Miguel Torres have to
winemaking. Hidden amongst the vines, the restaurant is super cool,
chefs producing fine, delicate food with a
suggested Miguel Torres wine for each dish.
So, if a wine producer invites you to Chile, take my advice…go!
The waiter and the Spider Crab Vineyard slopes Veg Market in Santiago
CHABLIS
Ominously the trip started with a white knuckle car ride through France involving speeding fines, angry French motorists, a “minor” accident and a burnt out clutch which left the residents of the quaint town of Chablis staring in disbelief and the car’s occupants in need of a drink. Luckily the next task was to taste twelve different Chablis wines all produced by William Fevre in 2005: starting with Petit Chablis; five different premier cru wines and then the Grand crus. Each wine was excellent but most memorable was the Chablis Les Preuses - full bodied and refined.
By the end of the tasting the stink of wrecked engines had given way to the wonderful scent of wisteria and it was time for our evening meal ! It was described by our host as a true Frenchman’s meal and consisted of pig’s trotter followed by Andouilletes, a local sausage made from stomach and anal canal!
The next day brought a new hire car and a trip to Beaune to sample the wines of Bouchard Pere & Fils, a long established Burgundy producer. Recent investment from the Henriot Champagne house has enabled Bouchard to produce wines of amazing quality. We had a tour of the expensive new wine making facility at Savigny Les Beaune, including a tasting of various cask samples from 2005, a very good vintage. Surprisingly, we tasted red wines before tasting white wines, the theory being that the acidity of the whites would prevent you properly tasting the reds.
Bouchard Pere et Fils own an area of 130 hectares of vineyard, the vast majority being Premier Cru or Grand Cru status making them one of the elite of Burgundy wine producers. They produce a wide array of wines ranging from Beaujolais to top notch Grand Cru wines and attention to detail was evident at every stage of the wine making process. We were given a tour of the cellars at the beautiful Chateau de Beaune housing a collection of over five million bottles of wine. Most of these bottles are being aged before sale - the rest are a private collection dating back to the middle of the 19th century.
All too soon it was time for us to return to the 21st century but we brought back with us a lasting memory of the wonderful scents and tastes of Burgundy.
Chateau de Beaune The vineyards at Chambertin
( very exclusive and expensive vines - but completely open to the road beyond ! )
ARTWORK ON DISPLAY AT SMITHS
( All artwork is for sale and all money taken go directly to the artists )
Batiques by Helen Keightley
Paintings by Colin Johnson
Embroidered paintings by Joan Cordwell
AND FINALLY - THE THINGS THEY SAY ABOUT
US........
2008 review from Manchester Confidential
Salford’s always been short of good places in which to eat out: a list of likely venues would struggle to fill two thirds of a postage stamp. Yet for the past 20 or so years initially with Bistro221 at Monton and now Smiths restaurant in Eccles, Dave Hebdon and his colleagues Chris and Dale, have managed to bring a little magic to the twin city.Smiths lies close to Eccles Station, within a former WH Smiths shop, hence the name, and is a lovely 110 cover contemporary restaurant. There is a very attractive fixed price menu offering three courses for £15.75 with two courses offered from the same menu for £11.50 before 6.45pm. There is also an extensive chalk specials board offering, on our visit, such delights as black pudding and goats cheese served on a bed of mixed lettuce leaves (£5.95) and potted crayfish and prawns flavoured with spring onion and fresh chili (£5.95). We decided to stick with the fixed price menu though. My starter was the cream of fish and seafood soup that Dave has been crafting from a secret recipe for years now. It was exquisite in its clash of the piquant and the savoury: one of the finest soups of its kind that I've tasted. Over the table a crab and pasta salad was bland in contrast despite the lightly curried mayonnaise that accompanied it. Our puddings revealed better that anything else the care that sets Smiths apart in the west of the city. My raspberry and Earl Grey jelly served with crème fraiche and summer fruit compote was gently refreshing. Over the table a warm Eccles cake - a case of 'when in Rome' - served with chilled butterscotch cream was delicious. Service here was friendly and unfussy with the staff mingling and not stifling and over attentive. The absence of any ubiquitous restaurant music was very welcome. Eating here you get the feeling that the owners have hit on a formula that works. Smiths is definitely worth a visit: it's won awards for it's family friendliness in the past and also has regular and very popular live jazz nights on Tuesdays from 7.45. The wine, on a small butomprehensive list, is sourced from the excellent Portland wine merchants in Hale. We had an awesome 16% proof Mitchells of Australia red blend of Grenache / Mouvedre / Shiraz 2002 vintage. Nicely tamed into quiet mellowness by age it went well with all our courses. PHIL HAMER. MANCHESTER CONFIDENTIAL
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a
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Email us at
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