Fine dining in Guernsey

Guernsey, understandably, is somewhat of a hub for offshore banking and many of the major finance houses have offices on the channel island. It’s fair to say most days will find business travellers flying to and from the mainland. The two main airlines are Flybe and Aurigny.com

Islanders boast there’s enough restaurants to dine in a different one every day of the year. Well, I didn’t count them, but here’s a particular highlight:

We visited Guernsey’s only Michelin-starred restaurant, Christophe.

Its large terraces make the most of its position: at the top of Fermain Bay near St Peter Port, with lofty, panoramic sea views.

We had the Gourmand menu, which according with chef/proprietor Christophe Vincent’s seasonal philosophy changes every three months. Each course is paired with a wine – the wine depends on whether you choose the £60 or £85 per-head option.

Our first course of foie gras ballotine with fig compote paired perfectly a sweet aromatic glass of Grand Cru Classe Sauternes. The foie gras and compote actually went better with bread and butter than the accompanying piece of crispy gingerbread, which made a slightly too-sweet combination.

This was followed by an asparagus and morel risotto: creamy rice, rich fragrant stock and intense mushrooms. Again it was complemented the by grassy bouquet of the New Zealand wine Clos Henri Sauvignon Blanc 2007. The rack of lamb was perfectly pink and tasty with a glossy translucent jus, though I wasn’t sure about the drops of mint oil – for me it conjured up aromatherapy rather than dinner.

In French style, cheese was served before dessert. The loaded trolley bore an excellent range of pungently mature Guernsey, French and Spanish choices, served with a wonderfully deep and complex 2006 Kalleske JMK fortified Shiraz from South Australia’s Barossa Valley.

A distinctive palate-cleanser bridged the gap between cheese and pudding: an orange sorbet with olive oil and salt, which somehow evoked a refreshing summer salad.

Yet another unusual and delicious vino was served with pudding: Elysium Black Muscat from California’s Quady Winery accompanied an artfully deconstructed “Rhubarb and Custard”.

christophe-restaurant.co.uk
Fermain bay, St Peter Port, Guernsey

Bin bags, WTM and the Olympics

Last week we rang the council to order some compostable bin bags, which it sells so residents can recycle organic waste. “No problem,” said the lady at the council. “They’ll be delivered within 3-4 weeks.”

If it takes 3-4 weeks for a government body to deliver some bin bags – it’s no surprise that 1,000s of distinguished foreign visitors found themselves stranded at Canning Town in the pouring rain on the first morning of WTM, because the DLR had gone kaput.

The question on all those foreign lips was: “How on earth will they cope with the Olympics?”

Since any challenge – from bin bags to Olympics – to a government department seems met with blithering incompetency, how indeed?

From Dr Beeching’s wholesale destruction of our rail network in the 1960s to John Major’s hopelessly botched Railtrack privatisation, to the current shambles, politicians seem to have a blind spot when it comes to any form of travel in the UK.

So who can we turn to for answers to our problems? What about those in the know – all the travel professionals out there? Please help!