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@Home By The Lowry Hotel Preview

One of the few great things about lockdown and beyond has been getting hold of some of your favourite local and national restaurant/Chef's wares to cook at home. It's been a total Godsend which filled the life-changing hospitality void that we've all been stuck in since March. We truly hope that places keep at home kits going though, even when the supposed 'new normal' is once again replaced with, well, normal. 

So speaking of home kits, we were invited to sample one of the few different home food kits from Manchester's iconic 5 star hotel; The Lowry Hotel. Chef Dave Ashton is one of the city's finest, so having sampled his wares many times in the River Restaurant, we were super excited to recreate things at home with the aptly titled @Home by The Lowry Hotel meal kit.

However, there was a hurdle in taking on this write up, in that we weren't going to be at home at all. Instead, we were due to drive 350 miles down to Cornwall on the day that said cooking boxes are released. Usually, the boxes are ready for collection from 3pm on a Friday. 

Anyway, we gratefully worked out a collection before embarking on the 7 hour drive. The nature of our trip also meant that we couldn't be reliant on the usual pot-luck of seeing which kitchen accessories and crockery were in the cottage which we were bound for. So, a few Cheffy tools and some photogenic crockery were also packed to accompany us down to the southern coastline.

Out of the Lowry branded and superbly packed box first came Organic Sourdough with Chicken Fat Butter. Along with most of the population, we've made and devoured a ton of sourdough since March, when yeast became as difficult to source as plutonium. This bread was a superbly chewy and crusty version, presented as two sizeable slabs with enough butter and chicken skin salt to coat both with gusto.  A great way to settle in and whet the appetite. We went off piste and warmed ours before smothering it too. 

Next up was the delicately presented Lowry Gin Cured Salmon and Cucumber, garnished with Tonic Gel, Sea Herbs and some uber-trendy herb oil. We loved the freshness of this plate, with the compressed cucumber teaming up with those fatty cubes of salmon especially well.  Even my husband's shovel like hands had no problem putting this together and making it look reasonably pretty on the plate. 

Main course was a proper plate of comfort on a cold evening. Frankie Bird’s Chicken Breast with Bacon Jam, Girolle Mushroom, Broad Beans and English Peas was a breeze to whip up. 

The chicken was pre cooked in a water bath, so just needed some reheating and gentle pan-colouring on the skin. The vibrant pea puree was bagged up so just needed putting into a pan of warm water, then the other bits were just flicked through the warmed sauce. The rich chicken sauce was outstanding, clearly bone based, tied everything together, and finishing that pre-cooked chicken will make you feel like a pro. We were gutted to not have left any bread to mop up the sauce with!

By this point, being thoroughly impressed with our cooking and plating skills, We considered giving Chef Dave a call to ask if he had any weekend jobs going to be honest, but then being suckers for cheese we got side-tracked by the next course, luckily for Dave! 

Lancashire Blue Cheese, with Gingerbread and Rhubarb Chutney was a great following cheese course. Generally we love anything gingery in flavour, and the bread had buckets. Classic flavour combos, and more super generous portioning.

Eating 5 courses is a skill which we've soundly lost since Covid struck, but on we powered with the finale. We were tempted to eat it on the sofa by the log fire; which I won't post a photo of since I know you don’t care about some food writer's holiday snaps. 

Lime Cheesecake and (aptly) Roast Pineapple, with Malibu and Chilli Caramel Sauce was for pudding. There was enough acidity from the Lime gel to refresh your taste buds, with loads of richness and flavour from the cheesecake filling and that all important textural biscuit base. The sauce was also another winner, and rounded off a great way to close the meal.

So, the first meal eaten outside our own home since mid-March was a hit, and it's also an absolute steal too at just £60 for a couple of 5 course dinners, including a bottle of red or white wine! The kit is generally a doddle to put together, and any budding cook will love the experience of doing it themselves, with minimal risk of messing things up due to Chef Dave's expert instructions. 

Wear a pinny, sharpen your knives, and you're guaranteed to feel like a champion behind the stove whilst preparing a bit of 5 star luxury in your own home, or even in a random Cornish cottage.