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Guest piece by Tom Smith
I was kindly asked to cover an event while my good friend Lucy was out of the country on another exciting assignment. When I found out that luxury travel company Belmond had invited her to spend Sunday afternoon on a luxury 1930's inspired train (the sister train of the Venice Simplon Orient Express!) puffing through the countryside and that I would be treated to a 5 course lunch by celebrity chef  James Martin… I snapped her hand off to cover it! 
We headed to York train station and were greeted by Samantha at Belmond then taken to the platform to await the Northern Belle train. 
The train arrived looking fantastic with rows and rows of luxury 1930's carriages making my usual commute across the Pennines a little dull in comparison! The red carpet was rolled out of each carriage and we were taken to our seats ready to dine in style. As we chugged out of York station, sipping champagne, we began to see the rolling Yorkshire countryside spread out ahead of us and my appetite started to build. 
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PictureThe first course was cauliflower soup with curried vanilla oil and what a start to the day. Simply delicious- I could have been given the whole pan with a loaf of bread and I would have been happy.
Up next… Fresh Lemon Sole with dressed local crab. The crab really made this dish. I love shellfish and the crab on the sole was moist and light. A nice little course to set me up for the next course.

 

 

 

 

PictureA Sunday lunch in Yorkshire would not be complete without roast beef and Yorkshire pudding! This served on the luxury Northern Belle on a lovely sunny afternoon going through the Yorkshire dales with a lovely glass of red wine…well, do I need to say more? Go on then… the gravy was so rich and meaty that I couldn't mop enough up from my plate and the sirloin was gorgeous and so tender I cut through it like butter. Finally James Martin and his wonderful chefs are certainly from Yorkshire as they made a cracking Yorkshire pudding. My only complaint is that I couldn't have another plate full of a little more of that delicious beef!
 
 
 
 

1434415925.pngDuring the day James Martin came through the carriage several times and chatted to everyone. He even managed to sneak a few Yorkshire puddings in between pictures! He was extremely nice to us all and took us down to the TINY kitchen where our meals had been served from. I couldn't believe how small it was, it was about a quarter of a carriage, if that. I wouldn't have survived cooking in there as there was no room at all to make an ounce of mess! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So if I wasn't satisfied by the previous 4 courses, meeting a celebrity chef, lots of wine, and this stunning luxury train…dessert was waiting for us when we returned to our table. Perfect! Now I know I have already said that maybe one or two of the previous courses were my favourite but now I promise the dessert was my favourite – it was sublime: vanilla and  vodka panna cotta with roasted rhubarb, ginger purée, lemon balm and little warm sugar doughnuts. 

This was so great that it made me forget that I've had 5 courses and I was very tempted to sneak back to the kitchen and steal any spare desserts lying around. However being on my best behaviour, I instead hoped for my girlfriend to be full but… bad news for me – dessert was also her favourite course of the day and there was nothing spare for greedy old me! A great end to a brilliant day.

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After all this, all that was left to do was sit back and relax on the train for the last little part of our journey back to reality.

To summarise: beautiful food on a superb luxury train, taking me and my tastebuds on a wonderful and luxurious journey. Many thanks to Lucy (let's hope your out of the country more often!), Belmond, and last but not least James Martin and his two talented chefs! 

http://www.belmond.com

http://www.belmond.com/northern-belle-train/

 

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