The Olive Tree, Lichfield

Being a new-ish migrant to Staffordshire, and based in the north of the county, I’ve only recently started to scratch the surface of what Lichfield, an hour’s drive away, has to offer.

The city, which I think feels more like a thriving market town (that’s a compliment by the way), appears to have an excellent and growing food scene.

I’d recently eaten exceptional food at Liam Dillon’s The Boat Inn and Ryan Wilson’s Larder, both relatively new restaurants. So it seemed sensible that the next Lichfield venue to explore would be The Olive Tree, recently under new ownership.

THE OLIVE TREE: A NEW START

From what I (as an outsider) gather, The Olive Tree was previously a Mediterranean-style restaurant. However, after being bought by mother and son partnership Yvonne and Matt Smith, it reopened in January 2019 aiming to be a casual, fine dining restaurant offering seasonal British food.

Scrolling through the older images on a certain user review website, it’s pretty obvious that, despite retaining the old name, the food now being produced at The Olive Tree is very different to that of its old incarnation.

SNACK & BREAD

First off, when myself and partner ID arrived one recent Saturday night, we were pleased to get that regular fine dining treat: the snack ‘complements of the chef’. In this case, mustard popcorn.

I’m a fan of savoury popcorn; butter, smoked paprika and Parmesan the current homemade favourite. I was a little surprised at how sweet the still-warm and runny coating on this popcorn was, but I do like sweet mustard dressings so found it grew on me.

Next came a couple of homemade bread rolls. They had a dusting of fine salt and were partnered with a quenelle of unsalted, soft butter sprinkled with coarse salt. I do like my bread and my butter quite salty, so was glad of the additions.

This was no fancy sourdough bread, but very well made brown bread with good flavour and texture.

Things were looking promising.

The menu at The Olive Tree is relatively short, but none the worse for that, with six choices of starter and main course. Each course had two fish and two meat options plus two that were either vegetarian or vegan. A number were gluten-free or had a gluten-free variation available.

STARTERS

COD CHEEK

For my starter, I chose the cod cheek with cauliflower, wild garlic and straw fries (£6).

I don’t eat seafood that often when I dine out in my, landlocked, part of the world. We’ve such good local produce in Staffordshire and around that it seems a missed opportunity to have something brought in. But I do love seafood and make an exception when there’s something I really fancy. And, after seeing this dish on The Olive Tree’s social media, I really, really fancied it.

As it turned out, the pretty plate tasted even better than I’d hoped.

The two nuggets of sweet, firm cod cheek were delicious. Thankfully, they weren’t overpowered by the seasonal and quite subtle wild garlic. This came in the form of a perfectly smooth puree as well as a light foam.

The cauliflower was also done two ways: another puree and some little florets, nicely pickled.

I loved the light vinegaryness the florets gave the dish. Together with the crispy, salty fried potato strands on top, it evoked a rather good plate of fish and chips with salt and vinegar. Excellent.

SMOKED SHORT RIB

I was so glad ID chose the smoked short rib with potato puree, onion and yeast (£6) for his starter. That’s because I wanted to try it, but the call of the cod cheek was just too strong.

But, judging from bits I snaffled from his plate, I’d have been very happy indeed if I had plumped for this imaginative and tasty ensemble.

The tender-as-anything beef had a good level of smokiness. Bold enough that you didn’t feel short-changed, but not so strong that it swamped everything else.

There was also tasty onion puree, cupped in charred layers of onion, a puddle of vivid green sauce (also wild garlic?) between the two.

The cheese-like tang of yeast is becoming a regular feature on fine dining menus. And a good thing it is too, bringing that intensely savoury umami flavour the West has finally learnt the importance of from the East. Here it was scattered on and around the smooth potato puree.

As with my starter, you couldn’t fault this dish. Only marvel at just how good it was.

MAIN COURSES

PORK DUO

I nearly didn’t order the pork duo: belly and tenderloin served with smoked parsnip, apple doughnut and muscovado (£16).

It was the parsnip that almost put the kibosh on it. I’m that not keen on this half bitter, half sweet root vegetable. But the prospect of pork (especially that rich belly), along with doughnut, won the day.

Strange as pork and doughnut might seem, I’ve actually had it before. At The Three Horseshoes, just outside Leek, my pork tenderloin came with a sensational malted doughnut filled with soft shreds of pork cheek. At The Olive Tree, the centre of the doughnut held not-too-sweet-not-too-tart apple puree.

This was another highly attractive plate of food. The two thick discs of pork tenderloin were nicely browned on the outside and lightly pink within. Gone are the days when British pork has to be cooked well done, thank goodness. Tenderloin expertly cooked like this is beautifully tender. I was tempted to add a little salt to the meat but, once I started eating it with the rest of the goodies on the plate, I was glad I didn’t. The seasoning was just right.

I think belly is by far the best cut of pork, so I was very happy with the hearty slab I was served. As you’d hope, the exterior had a perfect level of caramelization. Inside was all softness from the meat’s inherent fattiness.

I was a little disconcerted, given my mixed feelings about parsnip, at the arrival of it not just smoked, but also a substantial schmear of puree. However, I didn’t find them overpowering and actually enjoyed both parsnip elements. I thought the level of smokiness, as with the short rib, was on point. One piece of the smoked parsnip was a little crunchy for my taste, but not to the extent that I wasn’t going to eat it.

The dabs of muscovado and apple sauce dotted about the plate (the latter also inside the fluffy doughnut), when paired with the parsnip, could have been a sweet step too far. But I found the whole dish extremely harmonious. There was an excellent balance of flavours, with savouriness rightly dominant.

LAMB

The cannon of lamb in ID’s main course (£18) was cooked just as faultlessly as my pork tenderloin. Well coloured on the outside, moist and pink within.

Besides the cannon, there was wonderfully crispy lamb breast topped with onions, purple potato puree, pea gnocchi (nicely crusted on the outside), pea puree, lettuce and slices of stem ginger.

The purple potato puree looked striking against the green pea puree and the pink lamb, so I can see why it was tempting to use them. But they’re never the most potatoey of potatoes, wherever I’ve had them. Maybe a little bit of style over substance here?

Still, we can forgive The Olive Tree that, and the ginger which wasn’t really needed, when there was so much else to enjoy on the plate.

DESSERTS

CHOUX CRAQUELIN

Obviously I know what choux pastry is, and choux buns. But craquelin I hadn’t heard of. I knew that the network of fine lines that develops on old paintings is called craquelure, so putting two and two together I sort of worked out that Choux Craquelin would be a pastry with a crackly exterior. The Olive Tree menu said it came with hazelnut praline and milk ice cream (£6). Yes please.

The crackly pastry sphere was pretty sizeable, but lovely and light. Inside, it was stuffed to the gills with whipped cream.

The milk ice cream was delicious, especially spooned into the mouth with some of the crumbly, sugary hazelnut bits and chocolate soil.

Also on the long platter was a quenelle of what I think was chocolate ganache . This was perfectly smooth and good, but I’d have been just as happy without it.

CHOCOLATE TART

True to his chocolate-loving form, ID went for chocolate tart (£5.50) with milk chocolate sorbet, caramelized white chocolate and honeycomb.

Although he thought the pastry base of the tart a little undercooked, he loved the dark chocolate filling. The honeycomb was a tad thick, but tasty.

I joined him in raving about the rich ice cream. Not being the world’s biggest chocolate dessert lover, I thought this was the highlight of the plate.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILL & GREAT VALUE

Taking on and aiming to transform an existing business is no easy task. And when that business is a long-running restaurant with a clientele that may have been eating there for years, it’s very brave indeed.

As a first time visitor, with no preconceptions, I thoroughly enjoyed the food at The Olive Tree. It’s clear there’s great knowledge and skill in the kitchen. The amount of work that had gone into all the dishes was obviously substantial. The couple of quibbles I’ve mentioned aside, I really don’t think there’s anything to complain about but lots that makes me want to return.

On the negative side, we had a couple of plates that had a crazy paving look with fine cracks all over. Cutlery could be better quality and consistent across the courses too. Perhaps they’re a hangover from the old business and will be changed in time. I hope so, because if the aim is to create a fine dining establishment, casual or not, a little more attention needs to be given to that sort of thing.  Yes, they’re superficial things. But what might be acceptable somewhere piling it high and selling it cheap, won’t cut it if you’re pitching to the fine dining crowd.

Talking of selling it cheap, our food bill came in at less than £29 per person. From a customer point of view, that’s excellent value for this high standard of cooking. I do hope they’re not underpricing though, and that they can be sustainable at this price point.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I hope The Olive Tree is successful in completing its transformation into a casual fine dining restaurant. The kitchen clearly has the skills to so.

I’d love to see them highlighting that the old Olive Tree is no more by changing the name of the restaurant. How about Smith’s, named after the new owners? This sounds classy, simple and more suited to its excellent offering of British seasonal food.

Highly Recommended.

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