Rafters
Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Alistair Myers and Tom Lawson used the lockdowns to do some constructive refurbing at Rafters. There is now an open kitchen to add to the visual allure, and the room has been fitted with new solid oak tables, made locally. The whole operation radiates enthusiasm: 'it is very rare to find this level of service, combined with personability, in a restaurant,' mused one diner, as the waiter wrote out the recipe for the miso Martini, before vacuum-packing some of the coffee beans. In between, the kitchen essays a fine-dining spin on classic home-style dishes, truffling up cauliflower cheese into something aromatically beguiling, transforming an Indian-spiced serving of Cornish cod with chip-shop scraps and caviar. Elsewhere, dishes are about the intelligent matching of centre to peripheries: beetroot, blood orange and buttermilk with Loch Duart salmon; parsnip, blackcurrant and kale with Scottish venison. Indulgences of another era are evoked in the refined takes on rum-and-raisin ice cream, or Yorkshire rhubarb enriched with white chocolate, ginger and sorrel. A spectacular wine list is arranged by style, depending on whether you want some body but without mouth-drying tannins, or would actually quite like your socks knocking off. The small-glass options that accompany the tasting menu are well worth the extra investment for both gastronomic fit and imagination.
Dining Information:
Deposit required
220 Oakbrook Road, Nether Green, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S11 7ED
0114 230 4819
