Back in 2010, Sienna, based in the ancient town of Dorchester, won a Michelin star which it still holds meaning that at the time of writing, Sienna is the only Michelin starred restaurant in the county of Dorset. It's a small restaurant, seating around 14 people which means you're guaranteed a very personal touch and as you'd imagine for a restaurant of that size, there's not a brigade of cooks in the kitchen rather, you're guaranteed to find Chef-Patron Russell Brown there cooking your food, and that's a very good thing because Russell can cook very well indeed.
Russell came relatively late in life to professional cooking, switching careers in his late twenties, but cooking is clearly his calling (so better late than never) and when we ate at Sienna, we found a chef who had a strong sense of what he wanted his food to be about and who executed brilliantly on that idea. We loved our meal there which we found fresh and honest, and having heard from so many people that Russell is 'a lovely guy', we were also lucky enough to have opportunity to spend time with him to discover ourselves how true that is.
A seasonal menu today, with a nod to the forthcoming summer (even if rain clouds were gathering outside), we put ourselves in Russell's hands. Some tasty canapes to start, venison on celeriac remoulade, duck liver and foie gras parfait with apple chutney and a piquillo pepper tart made an appetising start to the meal.
Our starter is elegant, offering fresh summer colours and appealing textures, it's a take on Panzanella, the Florentine salad of bread and tomatoes. There's some nice touches here, the focaccia is fried on one side and soaked in the tomato juices on the other, a variety of tomatoes and a variety of tomato preparations are used, there's olive oil emulsion, Balsamic vinegar and mozzarella. It's very very tasty, well constructed and that word again, honest; we think it is a thread that is common to all of Russell's food (from what we saw) and it means the food is the best of its kind, not over reaching and missing, not pretending to be something it's not but rather, declaring very clearly what it is and delivering that well. For a summer start, this dish is just right in terms of flavours and weight and sets you up quite nicely for the next course.
The next course again relies on the light touch of a chef getting the best out of his ingredients: pan fried potato gnocchi, English wild asparagus, 30 month aged Parmesan and a chive butter sauce. It's nicely done, nicely constructed and well balanced, the gnocchi too just right, not too heavy or gummy; the dish is perfect for a May lunchtime.
Russell came relatively late in life to professional cooking, switching careers in his late twenties, but cooking is clearly his calling (so better late than never) and when we ate at Sienna, we found a chef who had a strong sense of what he wanted his food to be about and who executed brilliantly on that idea. We loved our meal there which we found fresh and honest, and having heard from so many people that Russell is 'a lovely guy', we were also lucky enough to have opportunity to spend time with him to discover ourselves how true that is.
A seasonal menu today, with a nod to the forthcoming summer (even if rain clouds were gathering outside), we put ourselves in Russell's hands. Some tasty canapes to start, venison on celeriac remoulade, duck liver and foie gras parfait with apple chutney and a piquillo pepper tart made an appetising start to the meal.
Our starter is elegant, offering fresh summer colours and appealing textures, it's a take on Panzanella, the Florentine salad of bread and tomatoes. There's some nice touches here, the focaccia is fried on one side and soaked in the tomato juices on the other, a variety of tomatoes and a variety of tomato preparations are used, there's olive oil emulsion, Balsamic vinegar and mozzarella. It's very very tasty, well constructed and that word again, honest; we think it is a thread that is common to all of Russell's food (from what we saw) and it means the food is the best of its kind, not over reaching and missing, not pretending to be something it's not but rather, declaring very clearly what it is and delivering that well. For a summer start, this dish is just right in terms of flavours and weight and sets you up quite nicely for the next course.
The next course again relies on the light touch of a chef getting the best out of his ingredients: pan fried potato gnocchi, English wild asparagus, 30 month aged Parmesan and a chive butter sauce. It's nicely done, nicely constructed and well balanced, the gnocchi too just right, not too heavy or gummy; the dish is perfect for a May lunchtime.
Canapes
take on Panzanella
pan fried potato gnocchi, English wild asparagus, 30 month aged Parmesan and a chive butter sauce
Dorchester, easily less than 10 miles from the coast has a plentiful supply of quality seafood and Sienna is the kind of restaurant that's small enough and flexible enough to allow Russell to modify menus to accommodate the best of what's off the boat. In this respect too, in getting to know Russell a little, we've got no doubt that he's always trying to source the best quality ingredients, and you as a diner can rest comfortably on the provenance of what you're eating (for those of a cynical disposition, just know that he really wants to keep his Michelin star and skimping on quality ingredients is a short cut to losing it). Our fish course then is fillet of brill with spring onion mash, crab chilli and garlic. It's the same adjectives again, clean, fresh, balanced. And of course just very nicely cooked. Going back to balance, the chilli in the dish adds the perfect amount of flavour and warmth but never overpowers the fish whose flavours in a dish like this has to and should dominate, to be enhanced by what else is on the plate, not diminished by it. Mission accomplished.
Our final main is West country sirloin with spring vegetables, beef essence, and a shallot and tarragon butter. We love spring lamb but it's nice to have a spring beef dish for a change and it does exhibit the flavours of the season. We also think that as well as good plate construction, thought has also gone into menu construction so the overall menu is well balanced and coherent, pushing the meal forward in a satisfying way taking you the diner exactly to where you need to be in the meal at the right point. We think that some restaurants miss this but it's not lost on Sienna.
Our final main is West country sirloin with spring vegetables, beef essence, and a shallot and tarragon butter. We love spring lamb but it's nice to have a spring beef dish for a change and it does exhibit the flavours of the season. We also think that as well as good plate construction, thought has also gone into menu construction so the overall menu is well balanced and coherent, pushing the meal forward in a satisfying way taking you the diner exactly to where you need to be in the meal at the right point. We think that some restaurants miss this but it's not lost on Sienna.
fillet of brill with spring onion mash, crab chilli and garlic
West country sirloin with spring vegetables, beef essence, and a shallot and tarragon butter
Time and time again we suggest that the dessert course is the poor relation in a multi course menu but here it was simply fantastic: vanilla panna cotta, poached and fresh strawberries, chilled strawberry soup and vanilla shortbread. The panna cotta itself was first class and with the poached and fresh strawberries could have easily been a good dessert as it stands, but the strawberry soup was just divine and I could have lapped it up forever. Neither too sweet or too tart, it was, as Goldilocks might have said, just right and made it a stand out dessert.
vanilla panna cotta, poached and fresh strawberries, chilled strawberry soup and vanilla shortbread
Chef Russell Brown
The food is, as can be seen in the pictures, clean and elegant, delivering full value on the promise. Russell coaxes everything out of the ingredients he has and delivers a great meal by not over complicating things, rather, as we've seen with great chefs throughout the year, applying only a light touch to improve on nature. Sienna is fully deserving of its Michelin star and in a sense, it's a very solid star. We've had many issues with the guide over our various posts but not here, in fact, Sienna is the kind of restaurant we exactly hope to find when the guide awards a star.
We thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Sienna and if we lived in Dorset, we'd probably move in. We'd be fascinated to eat the menu over the year's seasons as Russell responds to what's available. As it is, passing through, we just feel lucky that we stopped there and, on this occasion like Michelin, we recommend that if you're anywhere near Dorchester, you stop there too, you'll have a great meal we're sure.
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We thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Sienna and if we lived in Dorset, we'd probably move in. We'd be fascinated to eat the menu over the year's seasons as Russell responds to what's available. As it is, passing through, we just feel lucky that we stopped there and, on this occasion like Michelin, we recommend that if you're anywhere near Dorchester, you stop there too, you'll have a great meal we're sure.
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