The covers have been firmly placed over the barbecues, the leaves on the trees have begun turning a golden hue and the central heating is waiting patiently to be switched on again.
Yes, it’s time to start eating grown-up food once more and where better to turn after a summer’s excess of burgers and buns than the highly rated French bistro, The Dyeworks in Kirkburton.
Run by Francophile Adrian Quarmby and his wife Nicola with front-of-house help from their sparkly daughter Lauren, they are well-known to local food lovers, having spent most of their professional lives running the Kaye Arms at Grange Moor.
And who better to take with me than my brother-in-law, Mindir, who has a passion for French onion soup.
In addition, he is someone with whom I have enjoyed many a delicious French meal from Parisian eateries to La Tupina in Bordeaux, at one time rated as one of the top 10 restaurants in the world and where former French President Jacques Chirac famously took British Prime Minister John Major.
Although this restaurant is famed for its culinary talent we found ourselves initially the only diners when we arrived on a Thursday evening at 7.30pm.
But we were given a warm welcome and for our pre-prandials as Lauren had never heard of a Bloody Mary I was persuaded to try a Cream Gin while Mindir settled for a very modest half of Peroni.
As befits a bistro the menu is not extensive but there’s more than enough to choose from, though as luck would have it, the French onion soup was not on it.
For starters the menu offered lamb and vegetable broth, Dyeworks fish and shellfish soup, a salad of king scallops, pancetta and mushrooms as well as my eventual choice wild mushroom and truffle oil risotto, which was delicious and as good as any I have ever tasted.
For mains I was tempted by the ribeye or fillet steak and the confit duck leg ‘Lyonnaise’, boudin noir, toulouse sausage, sauté potatoes and green bean salad but plumped finally for my old favourite, grilled seabass fillet.
Mindir was delighted with his tasty rabbit dish and knowing Nicola is extremely knowledgeable about wine asked for “a nice bottle of red” which was duly provided – Gigondas.
As Mindir does not have a sweet tooth I was the only taker for the dessert menu and opted for the tart which proved to be the perfect end to a perfect evening.
Especially as with coffee liqueur cognacs in hand we savoured the minimalist surroundings of this exceptional restaurant, given a glowing review in the food bible, Hardens.Mindir said: “Having booked the restaurant for a Thursday evening we arrived to a warm welcome from the owners. Unfortunately this particular evening was quiet.
“We sat at the bar and enjoyed a couple of drinks chatting to the owners who were very friendly and keen to discuss French food and drink.
“They assured us that the atmosphere is much better usually and that we had arrived on one of those few occasions when there was only one other couple.
“Throughout the evening we were well looked after.
“The place was clean and unpretentious and the service was excellent.
“To start with I had a Mediterranean Sea food soup bouillabaisse which was nice and hot with crusty bread, an excellent rabbit dish for mains and the Royale liqueur coffee to finish with was excellent and one of the best I have had in Huddersfield, if not the best.”
I think too, that it is probably the kind of place that improves with acquaintance.
It’s a bit of a drive from Edgerton but in the future I can see myself sat there at breakfast time eating kippers, scrambled eggs and all other sorts of delicacies.
22A North Road, Kirkburton, Huddersfield, HD8 ORH
Phone: 01484 602891
Website: www.thedyeworks.co.uk
Opening hours: Wednesday to Saturday 9.30am to 3pm and 6pm to 11pm. Breakfast: 9.30am to 11.30am; lunch: noon to 2pm; dinner 6pm to 8.30/9pm. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday closed.
Children: Welcome
Disabled access: Yes.
The bill: £113.95
Would you go back? Yes
