A very welcome return, by George

John Clements is a chef working and living for the last ten years in Bridport after being born in London and living in Devon, New York and Arizona.

FOOD REVIEW:

The George Hotel, Briport

Full disclosure… I have fond memories of The George Hotel in Bridport. Fish finger sandwiches on a Saturday lunchtime after shopping at the market, an unscheduled juicy steak and a glass of Malbec on a Thursday evening when we just couldn’t be bothered to cook that night and the ghost of Keith Floyd too…I believe he borrowed the open kitchen here for a piece in his first TV series, Floyd on Fish, back in 1985.

Bucky Doo and Bridport have missed The George over the last few years as it sat empty and asleep. I have missed The George too and I have to confess to being predisposed to liking it.

First step, booking: Called to book a table on a Tuesday night. Was informed that they are currently only doing evening meals on Friday and Saturday but this will be expanded later this year.

Oh well, booked for Tuesday lunch.

Interior lighting is brighter than The George used to be. Fresh flowers on the dining tables. Menu is compact but there’s something there for everyone. We chose focaccia as a starter, which came with butter and oil with balsamic, which was good but no crunchy crust.

The portions here are generous. Other starters included soup, warm beetroot salad, pheasant salad and fennel seed cured salmon.

For mains we chose The George Burger served in a brioche bun with French fries and the pan fried chicken breast risotto. Both were cooked perfectly. We could have chosen tempura of haddock, Dorset braised beef, roasted celeriac or pasta of the day. Too full for pudding but plenty of choices there too. Front of house service from Rosie was exceptional.

It’s good that The George is back and in safe hands. I think Keith would approve.

The Beaminster Festival has a proud tradition of supporting many young stars from the BBC Young Musician competition including Alison Balsom, Nicola Benedetti, Martin James Bartlett, Jess Gillam and Sheku Kanneh-Mason.

Few who saw the final of the BBC Young Musician 2022 could fail to have been moved and highly impressed by the performance of Ethan Loch playing the piano. Having won the Keyboard Category, Ethan went on to secure a place in the Grand Final where he performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 2 with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Mark Wigglesworth. Ethan was born in 2004 and diagnosed completely blind since birth. As a toddler, he would explore the piano for hours imitating his first inspiration: Rowlf, the piano-playing dog from the Muppet Show and his other inspiration, the DVD Horowitz in Vienna, was played relentlessly. His formal piano lessons began at age four with his mother, and he now studies with Fali Pavri at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Ethan was the focus of a BBC radio documentary Batman and Ethan which explored the freedom a blind child can

BLIND BRILLIANCE: Pianist Ethan Loch and, inset below, violinist Braimah KannehMason