A tick off the Bucket List!

Most of us who have an interest in food – whether it's cooking it or just eating it - have a favourite Celebrity Chef. There are so many to choose from these days – some with Michelin stars, some not. For me, top of my list is Glynn Purnell. His restaurant Purnell's, is at 55 Cornwall Street, Birmingham B3 2DH – www.purnellsrestaurant.com.

I think he first came to my notice on the Great British Menu when in Series 3 in 2008 he won the dessert category with Strawberries with tarragon & black pepper honeycomb with burnt English cream suprise.

This week I was fortunate enough to be invited to Purnell's for lunch. Ahead of the game you're provided with menus – here's one example :

Starter

Beetroot mousse with horseradish crumble – salted beetroot

OR

Carpaccio of beef – red wine octopus – home cured beef

salt beef sour cream – sweet & sour onions

Main course

Monkfish masala – Indian red lentils – pickled carrots

cocounut – coriander

OR

Roast Balmoral venison – bordelaise – pomme dauphine – black truffle

Dessert

Pre-dessert

Burnt English custard egg surprise 10/10/10 -

winter “Rhubarb Trifle”

Followed by

Mint choccy chip – mint – aerated chocolate

I think you'll agree that some Celebrity Chefs reputations aren't particularly attractive – unapproachable and may be a little too big for their boots. Absolutely not the case here – what you see is what you get – a really nice guy.

Similarly with a lot of Michelin starred restaurants these days, the chance of you actually seeing the Chef is rare. Imagine the excitement when, watching the screen from the Private Dining Room into the kitchen – there he was – cooking!

I suppose what follows is my review of Purnell's and I hope you're sufficiently hooked to look forward to the next instalment.