Glynn Purnell’s eponymous restaurant, located in one of Birmingham city centre’s finest conservation areas, offers a masterclass in culinary precision and technical ability.
Affectionately known as the ‘Yummy Brummie’, Purnell trained with top chefs including Gordon Ramsay, Gary Rhodes and Claude Bosi. Having won Birmingham’s first ever Michelin Star as head chef of the now-closed Jessica’s in Edgbaston, he went on to open his own place on Cornwall Street in July 2007.
The restaurant, which occupies a Victorian redbrick and terracotta corner building, has its own bar and lounge area for diners only, where a pre-dinner cocktail or after dinner coffee or digestif can be enjoyed in comfortable surroundings.
Purnell’s bold and innovative cooking provides the ultimate gourmet adventures and has brought him critical acclaim and numerous awards, including a Michelin Star that he has held for more than a decade. His ethos is to create food that ‘should be like a rollercoaster when you’re eating it’, with flamboyant presentation that matches the chic and somewhat garish dining room interiors.
Working with head chef Luke Butcher, previously of Tom Kerridge’s The Hand and Flowers in Marlow, the menu blends British gastronomy with influences from France and the Far East. Menu options include the cheekily-named ‘Brummie tapas’, which reflect Purnell’s vision of cooking and includes escabeche of beetroot with horseradish and wasabi; St. Austell mussel chowder with confit potato, smoked eel and green onion; and Ramsbury Estate venison with butternut squash, toasted pumpkin seeds and black pepper dauphine.
