Beaminster: MasterChef judge judges a MasterChef champion (From Bridport and Lyme Regis News)

Beaminster: MasterChef judge judges a MasterChef champion

10:14am Thursday 19th November 2009

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MasterChef winner Mat Follas out-cooked leading rivals to win further national acclaim for his new Beaminster restaurant.

Critics from the respected food magazine Olive awarded The Wild Garlic near-perfect marks in the latest edition.

Their overall score of 56 out of 60 beat catering names such as Richard Corrigan, whose Mayfair restaurant, in London, got 48 points, and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Canteen in Axminster, which was given 44.

By chance one of the two Olive critics in the Pro vs Punter column was Gregg Wallace, a judge on the BBC’s MasterChef competition.

But the former greengrocer turned cookery writer kept Mat in the dark about his undercover mission to Beaminster.

In his verdict given in the December issue he wrote: “The Wild Garlic is buzzy and busy, a fun place serving good, honest food.

“The wine list is full of real bargains, too. The food, although well prepared, could be a little smarter. If this was MasterChef I’d say Mat needs to work on his presentation.”

The second critic, the punter, was Dorset foodie Jane Colston, who gave the Beaminster restaurant top marks for food, atmosphere and service.

Mat, who only took up professional cooking when he opened the restaurant six months ago, said he was overwhelmed by the praise.

He said: “I really had no idea that Gregg was down to do a review, I thought he was visiting just to see how one of the former MasterChef guys were getting along.

“He really never let on. But what can you say? It’s very flattering to get such high scores that you beat some incredible restaurants.

“The great thing is we took a gamble and went for the food I believed in, which is good honest local rustic food. It sounds like a bit of a cliché but it just happens to be the truth.

“And we really didn’t want to go down the full-on silver service route, we wanted good service but we wanted it in a relaxed atmosphere and think people enjoy that more.”

The Olive review comes just weeks after The Guardian’s restaurant critic Matthew Norman awarded the restaurant 9.5 out of 10.

Gregg Wallace’s wild garlic meal Starter Brill and mackerel ceviche with accompanying salad of wild herbs.

Main Sika venison with a rowan and blackberry sauce and smoked mash potato.

Pudding Four sticky sweet puddings. The bill for four people including a bottle of Champagne and three bottles of wine and four brandies and service came to £295.

Overall mark: 26/30

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