Ugly Butterfly, St Ives

‘There’s no such thing as an Ugly Butterfly, in the same way as there’s no such thing as food waste. We are so lucky to have one of the most beautiful views of the Cornish coast. You are overlooking the ocean, watching the dolphins and seals. It’s a place where all of your problems just disappear. The sound of the ocean and the simplicity of our perfectly-cooked local food makes you forget you’re even in the UK.’ the Ugly Butterfly

The Ugly Butterfly’s zero waste policy fits in with the moderneccentrics ethos perfectly, so we couldn’t have been happier that our trip to St Ives followed on from our 15th anniversary last week. Joined by our dear friends Kevan and Willem, our visit on Saturday truly was a night to remember.

‘Our menu is hyper local – created predominantly with produce from within the Cornish borders. It’s extremely seasonal and focused on nature. Our food has foundations from our Frog restaurant in Covent Garden, with that added touch of Cornish sunshine. We utilise trims and offcuts from the ingredients used in the restaurant to create our bar snacks and cocktails.’

After a home made cracker and a glass of Adam’s own label English Sparking Brut, we started with snacks, made with leftovers and offcuts from the main dishes – St. Ewe egg with vintage cheddar and mushroom, baby pea tartlet, chicken doughnut, fennel and crab, and spiced lamb. All were unsurprising gorgeous!

The next courses were Soup – smoked almond, mushroom, pine, an amazing homage to roast chicken called Cornish golden grains and chicken butter, followed by Crab, apple, basil. The wine pairings were wonderfully surprising and complemented the food perfectly. One could overuse the phrase ‘taste sensation’ but…

The next courses were All about the sturgeon, an extra course but absolutely stunning, Scallop, carrot, citrus, and Tregullus lamb, asparagus, black garlic. Again, the wine pairings were sensational. Dusk was falling and we started to see the wonderful reflections of guests in the floor-to-ceiling windows rather than the coastal views.

The palette cleanser All the Cornish lemon was next, followed by For those who love cheese (Eastwood, millet cake, truffle honey) and a heavenly desert, Sheep’s yoghurt, rhubarb, sorrel. Funnily enough we were the last diners in the restaurant, so we retired to the bar for coffee and petit fours. Our meal had been wondrous – a celebration of fifteen years together, sharing such stunning food and wines with our much-loved dear friends, how could it have been a better evening?