A night of truffle-inspired dishes and Barolo wine? I know, sounds terrible doesn’t it?

Well, I took one for the team and went along. 5 courses with wine pairings and a gorgeous atmosphere, the perfect way to spend a Wednesday evening I reckon?

We were welcomed with a gorgeous glass of bubbly – 1701 Franciacorta Brut DOCG, NV, which was a lovely touch as we were drawing into the festive season, and I can never say no to a cold glass of fizz. The staff were warm and welcoming, as always.

Dish 1 – an English muffin filled with homemade pastrami and Wiltshire truffle and crispy black truffle and burnt leek hash brown balls

We were thrown straight in with the truffle theme and it didn’t disappoint. Crisp in texture, full in flavour. Could eat that pastrami by the kilo.

Dish 2 – Trompette mushrooms, slow-cooked Burford Brown egg, Caramelised pumpkin, shredded truffle and cob nut dressing

This was umami on a plate. A gorgeous mix of earthy flavours and textures all complementing each other profusely. The colour of the olive oil was to die for, bright green and good enough to guzzle on its own. A beautiful assortment of sweetness and sharpness. I actually don’t like poached egg (or eggs much at all really) but this dish surpassed all of that, I was stopping myself from licking the plate! (Personally, I think this is the highest compliment to a chef, but apparently it would look weird to do so…)

Dish 3 – Confit halibut, black truffle ravioli, grapefruit and champagne sauce

Our favourite dish of the night. The halibut melted in the mouth. The slaps of grapefruit dressing hit you in between mouthfuls when you least expected it and cut right through the comforting and buttery truffle. The ravioli were perfect plump pockets (try saying that 10 times as fast) bursting with truffle notes. I loved the intimacy of it being a sharing dish, adding a casual element to a very fancy dish.

Dish 4 – Braised beef shin, caramelised onion, white truffle polenta

Beautifully cooked meat, all elements of this dish totally melted in the mouth. It was quite a rich dish and by this point we were getting pretty full (don’t forget we were served a glass of wine with each of these dishes!) but we managed to snarf it all down.

Dessert – Caviar and white truffle soft serve

Right, I’m going to be honest here. If you told me that for dessert I was going to eat fish eggs, truffle and soft serve, I’d be like ‘mate, what the f***?!’ But I have to admit, it bloody worked! The clashing flavours somehow clicked and fused together like the best of friends. Fresh, fancy, fascinating.

Alongside all these gorgeous dishes, we were served an array of delicious vino, all carefully selected by Kent Barker (founder and wine director of Wilding) who talked us through each glass and where it came from, many of them seemed to mean a lot to him or come with a funny story, which added a real personal touch, the passion for wine really shone through.

We had:

• White Vietti Roero Arneis
• Red Prunotto Nizza Bansella
• Red Nervi-Contero Gattinara
• Prunotto single vineyard Barolo
• Moscato D’Asti, Prunotto

This really was a labour of love of chefs Ben and Michael. Michael gave us an intro to each dish, which again added a personal touch to the evening and really made you savour each mouthful as you heard where all the ingredients come from (and how much truffle costs!!)

Gorgeous food and a gorgeous evening, I would definitely recommend keeping an eye on Wilding’s event page to see what’s coming up. They’ve got a cracking night planned for New Year’s, and Chef’s Table and wine events coming up early 2024.

However, you don’t have to go all out to visit Wilding. If you just fancy a casual glass of wine and a small dish/snack, a glass of wine and a dessert, or just a glass of wine – Wilding caters for all! Get yourselves down there.

Wilding
11-12 Little Clarendon St, Oxford OX1 2HP

Bitten were guests of Wilding, all views are our own