Forget those hackneyed quips about whether they serve porridge, if there are files in cakes or the menus are arresting. The Clink, currently rated second out of 76 restaurants in Wilmslow with 897 'Excellent' reviews on Tripadvisor is a seriously good place to eat.
Good because the menu is top-notch with plenty of vegan and vegetarian options: breakfasts of French toast, lots of egg dishes and the full works (English, vegan and veggie); afternoon tea where the sandwich choice includes roasted beetroot and whipped goat's cheese, wild mushroom walnut and shallot pâté on crostini, and sweet treats such as orange ganache-filled dark chocolate sponge with orange buttercream, and toffee and hazelnut shortbread.
Then there are well-thought-out lunch choices (five starters, six mains, five puds) that would grace any upmarket Golden Triangle eaterie: an opening of cured sea trout with beluga lentil and beetroot salad, lemon and dill dressing, for example.
Followed by a main course that could be harissa spiced cauliflower, spinach and almond beignets and golden raisin purée, or pork tenderloin with kohl rabi rosti, celeriac purée and roasted quince. And perhaps a dessert of blackberry fool, caramelised apples and lemon shortbread, or poached pear with chocolate and hazelnut frangipane and dark chocolate cornet?
Good too because at The Clink, the restaurant standing at the entrance to HMP Styal, the women preparing the food and waiting on the guests are working towards their City & Guilds qualifications in food & beverage service, professional cookery, barista skills and food hygiene. They are also serving prisoners.
The Clink HMP Styal is one of four in this charity chain and the only one at a women's prison – the others are at Brixton, High Down in south-west London and Cardiff. The concept originated 12 years ago has a record of achieving stellar results for those who work in its kitchens and dining halls and sees huge success in reversing reoffending rates.
The Cheshire restaurant (rated 11th of the 2,629 county restaurants listed on Tripadvisor) is located in what was the chapel when the land was occupied from 1898 to 1956 by Styal Cottage Homes, housing destitute children from Manchester.
Today it draws visitors from Cheshire and further afield looking for a dining experience with a difference. The drinks menu has cocktails – all non-alcoholic – one of the reasons general manager Jenny Thomas believes evening service has not worked, although the option is open if there is demand.
The elegant dining hall and side room with the original chapel windows and leather upholstery and boardroom tables made by prisoners at the Category A men's prison HMP Frankland in County Durham can be hired for private events, meetings and conferences. Garden produce comes from projects at Downview and High Down prisons in Sutton, on the outskirts of London.
The Clink Charity is also catering for a growing number of prestigious external events thanks to its reputation for excellence, calling on a pool of former prisoners to work the days.
The majority of those who staff the Cheshire restaurant live in the open unit for low-risk prisoners at the closed category women's prison, which has the capacity to hold 486 inmates. Among them are women who have earned their place through good behaviour and those nearing the end of their sentence. The skills and qualifications they gain and their minimum-wage pay packets set them on the path to a new life.
The women, who go through a formal interview process to win their jobs at The Clink, get professional training from hospitality experts and work as valued members of a team, choosing dishes for new menus and engaging with the public, from whom they get rave reviews:
'I had no idea what to expect when we walked through the door but was very impressed. The setting is gorgeous, the food was absolutely delicious; one of the best Sunday lunches I have had in a while. Absolute credit to everyone involved,' says one of the latest.
'We are a group of workmates, not staff and prisoners,' says Jenny. We call the team students and we are assessors and we could not do what we do here without them. We are giving them skills and confidence, giving them their life back and the chance for a new career when they leave.
'It is fantastic to see the change in the women once they have been working here for a while and our diners don't see it as being any different to going to any restaurant – apart from the fact we are dry. People come here because they get good food.'
Marie, who is in her early fifties, is serving a 20-month sentence for fraud and works from Wednesday to Sunday front-of-house: 'The guests who come along to eat and the Clink team we are working with are lovely. It is a relief to have people from the outside to talk to, it boosts your confidence and helps keep you busy and your mind occupied,' she says.
I am doing NVQs in barista skills and food and beverage service; I am hoping to get a job in some kind of hospitality when I am released.'
The Clink welcomes children and dogs and despite there being no evening service at present, there are events including a Christmas concert at 6.30 pm on Saturday, November 26, when Chester Male Voice Choir will perform and guests enjoy a meal prepared, cooked and served by the prisoners in training.
Diners will be treated to songs from the choir and a non-alcoholic cocktail followed by a four-course festive dinner. Tickets, which have to be booked in advance, cost £60 per person with proceeds from the evening, including a raffle, going towards funding more training projects for serving prisoners.
In addition, bookings are now being taken for the festive lunch menu (£33.50 for three courses, £26.50 for two) with a choice of four starters, four main courses (side dishes an extra £5.25) and five desserts.
The review
The problem with having a perfectionist photographer as your dining companion is that when the food comes she wants to spend at least five minutes moving the plate a millimetre to the right, or standing on a chair to get the right angle, or rearranging the cutlery. While you're sitting there looking longingly at your wild mushroom tartar with tarragon cream and truffle tuile (vg ,£6.95) or your venison and oyster pie, pomme purée, artichoke crisps, sautéed kale (£19.50) and then (even though by this time you're full to bursting, the orange and cardamon sponge with orange curd and oat milk ice cream (vg, £7.50) that is crying out to be eaten.
The food at The Clink isn't cheap but it makes you very cheerful. It's prettily presented and full of flavours. The students are involved in helping devise new dishes and deciding which should go on the menu. Sunday lunch is a particular with staff and guests.
My wild mushroom tartar was a new experience and absolutely delicious – raw fungi never tasted so good – and the venison pie, which was leaping out of the window on the day of our visit, was the perfect autumn lunch pick.
Puds are gourmet standard. Kirsty, once she had put her camera down and began to taste as well as visualise her choices, was in raptures over her goat's cheese and walnut croquette (v, £7.95), and her vegetarian main of autumn squash gnocchi with buttered spinach, parmesan and sage crisps (£15).
She put the shutter on our fabulous luncheon with a generous portion of Cornish Yarg cheese with malted fruit loaf, a little pot of runny honey and thyme (£8.50), which I looked at with envy despite being past full to bursting, and which I tried at home that weekend, and will continue to try at home at weekends.
We drank £7.25 cocktails: blood orange spritz (refreshing blood orange with hints of passionfruit), and autumn crumble (spiced berry with vanilla flavours reminiscent of a custard crumble) selected from a list with so many delicious choices you forget about any desire for an alcoholic tipple. What a great place for a get-together in dry November, or dry January, or as a relief from December decadence.
On the day Cheshire Life was invited to The Clink, the other guests included a table of four couples who had travelled from St Helens on Merseyside. Lynn Kerfoot who organised the day trip said: 'We wanted to come somewhere different from the norm and the food has been excellent. I am very keen on the ethos behind The Clink.'
Bill McQueen and Michael Thorley from Wilmslow are regulars and often take along friends visiting from out of the area. 'We like to support the ladies here and the food is always excellent,' said Bill. Michael, a former chairman of the women's health board at Styal said: 'The restaurant teaches skills, interaction and socialisation and really deserves support from people in the area.'
Come on Cheshire, book a table at The Clink. It would be a crime not to...
Opening hours
Wednesday – Saturday
Breakfast: 8.30am – 10.30am
Lunch: 12pm – 2pm
Friday & Saturday
Afternoon tea: 1– 2pm
Sunday
Breakfast: 9am – 10am
Lunch: 12pm – 3pm
The Clink Restaurant
HMP Styal
Styal Road, Wilmslow
SK9 4HR
01625 553 146
theclinkcharity.org/restaurants/styal
