One of the biggest challenges of my job as a food journalist is in convincing people – farmers, cheesemakers, even chefs – that what they do interests me. Often, I’ve asked people questions about their trade – Why that milk? Why that breed? Why that cooking method? – only to have them frown at me and reply, “Why do you want to know?” And it’s not because they’re being cagey. They really don’t understand my interest; they really don’t see how what they do day in and day out could be intriguing to anyone else.
Ed Delling-Williams is not one of those people.
I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing the young British chef formerly at the helm of such illustrious Parisian tables as Au Passage and Le Grand Bain on numerous occasions: about the dearth of phenomenal French bistros, about the absence of white tablecloths on Parisian tables, and more. And each time, he’s wowed me with his ability to have his finger on the pulse of what’s interesting, boring, changing, and perennial on the French culinary landscape. So when he left Paris during lockdown, suffice it to say, I was intrigued, and this weekend, I had the opportunity to pay him a visit in his new chez lui.
Suffice it to say… Chef Delling-Williams has left Paris for paradise.
The chef’s newest venture – and adventure – is a sustainable gastropub on the Norman coast. The former vicarage that has become his Presbytère serves up his slightly contemporary twists on French classics done right, all made with local produce and products, many of which comes from his nine-hectare property just a few minutes away. And after a soft opening this past week, it seems abundantly clear that this was the right move for the chef.
The menu for the opening week featured a handful of choices, and I let the chef be my guide in selecting what I’d try. Mussels were paired with seasonal white asparagus and a buttery squid ink sauce that lent just the right amount of richness to what, by all other accounts, was a fresh, light seafood salad.
I’m usually the first to shirk the category of white fish in cream sauce – often inexplicably the most expensive and least interesting item on any French menu. But at the coaxing of Chef Delling-Williams, I was rewarded with perfectly cooked skate wing boasting a wonderfully crispy exterior and a flaky, tender interior. The mound of sea vegetables on top were hand-picked by the chef in the nearby estuary. Seasoned generously with lemon, they added a lovely balance to the finished dish.
By the time dessert came, I was blissfully full, but I forced myself to try one last thing: a pile of fresh strawberries paired with raw Norman cream, elderflower, and meringue. That the latter was slightly undercooked and therefore stuck assiduously to the molars was more than made up for by the freshness of the products and the floral, aromatic quality of the dessert. Suffice it to say, if I hadn’t been sitting in the bar (and thus within sommelière Melisande Malle’s eyeline), I might have picked up the plate and licked it clean.
Seriously… it doesn’t get fresher than this.
The chef has projects in the works to reap even more of the benefits of the local terroir here, and I for one am excited for their arrival. In the meantime, one thing is for certain: This is a table well worth a train ride.
The Presbytère – 16 rue de la Sienne, Heugueville-sur-Sienne 50200