Michelin starred restaurant as of the 2022 guide run by Chef Allister Barsby and Alice Bussi
Alice Buss Hide and Fox is a new Michelin starred entry as of 2022 to the UK in the Kentish village of Saltwood, just outside of Hythe on the south coast close to nearby Sandgate and Folkestone. The team have credentials with the head chef Allister Barsby earning his spurs at Gidleigh Park under Michael Caines and the Bath Priory gaining that a Michelin star and other venues of note. Alice Bussi as manager was integral behind the opening of Michelin starred Beach House at Oxwich and is Diploma qualified as Sommelier. The 5 course menu for £75 was very well executed and I was impressed at the skill level, flavours and overall effect. This is a quality venue for the local area and not a wasted journey from London for lunch here at all.
The small restaurant provides space for 20 covers and proved a slick operation on my visit. The menu began with snacks of a seaweed tartlet with smoked cod’s roe, brown shrimp kohlrabi and coriander which had very good judgement of cod’s roe in such a thin tart so with a lovely balance of pickle. The Montgomery cheese gougere was absolutely superb with creamy cheese filling being as it should be and not just an empty, airy choir pastry with feint cheese flavour.
A starter of tuna tartar came with trout roe, puffed rice wasabi, Chantilly cream and yellow fin tuna. This was outstanding with a delightfully heated cream with wasabi and beautiful, saltiness from popping roe – a superbly balanced dish and one of the better ones had in quite a while. I couldn’t but help upgrading for a supplement the duck liver parfait and was so pleased I did. This came with a delightful Madeira gel on top and served with pickled mushrooms and golden raisin purée with golden raisin toast – a silky smooth parfait with great accompaniments and original toast. This was another very good dish.
A raviolo of chicken, egg yolk, truffle, Parmesan came with a chive and butter sauce. This held a lovely sauce although I was less convinced that chicken was the right choice to be in the raviolo and suspected a crustacean would have been better suited. Sea bass with stir fried shiitake mushrooms and kafir lime with a sesame foam was enjoyable albeit it a touch on the tough side.
The next course was Longhorn beef fillet and beef cheek with a superb celeriac purée. The jus to accompany was super and this really was a clean and powerful beef course executed very well and a superb dish. A pre-dessert of Blue Monday apple tarte tatin was good for cleaning the palate and the subsequent chocolate mousse with hazelnut, vanilla and 10 year old balsamic was a refined way to finish, as well as pleasing.
This was a pleasant lunch which was heightened by the charming hospitality of the husband and wife team at the helm. Kent is rapidly becoming a hotspot for Michelin starred dining with my favourite of The Sportsman going strong at Whistable; Daniel Smith gaining stars for both his Fordwich Arms and Bridge Arms, both just outside Canterbury; STARK in Broadstairs being a very unique and lovely offering and now Hide and Fox joining the ranks to making it 5 in the county (sadly the West House in Biddenden lost its star last year in circumstances unclear to me). I have absolutely no problem in recommending Hide and Fox and expect it will continue to thrive.
Food Grade: 80%
My hobby-turned-passion began to evolve during my assignments to London where I was fortunate enough to be able to explore all the Michelin starred restaurants in my spare time and as a result, I gradually built up a catalogue of all these venues.
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