There's eating... then there's really eating. As someone who existed on fish fingers, Vesta curries and dining out at Pizza Hut (please don't judge me!) I never appreciated just how good food could be until I visited a Nottingham restaurant called Ben Bowers in the early 1990s.
With its fancy menus and food I'd never eaten before it was a revelation. I remember trying wood pigeon for the first time with a blackberry sauce and feeling very grown up. I was hooked and it opened up a whole new world for me as a dedicated food lover.
Next it was onto French restaurant La Grenouille for frogs legs and snails, and Hotel des Clos, where a young chef called Sat Bains was already working his magic creating an explosion of flavours. The stilton brulée still has me salivating and I wish I could eat it all over again three decades on.
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I asked Nottingham's food lovers which restaurant did it for them, turning them into people who live to eat, not just eating to live. The responses flooded in:
Trattoria Conti
The Italian restaurant was regarded as one of the best in the city, serving top-notch food back in the day. It was located above shops in Wheeler Gate, where Dosa & Chutney is today.
Jacqui Leigh said: "It was such a lovely restaurant and New Year's Eve there was legendary." It also had an impact on Steve Williams who said: "The best steak Diane in town was flambéd at your table. We were treated like treated like royalty when we used to go. Bring it back!"
Restaurant Sat Bains
Wagamama katsu curry aside, Pete Brooksbank was ambivalent about food until his 30s when a foodie friend introduced him to Michelin-starred delights. " He told me about this place called Sat Bains that had a Michelin star, not that I really knew what that was, so I went there in 2011 for an anniversary meal with my now-wife.
"I’d never been exposed to anything like that kind of cooking before and it was revelatory: a tasting menu of stuff I’d never normally order, cooked to a level that had me bewildered in the best possible way. That one night really kick-started my love of food - although I still have nightmares about being presented with the bill."
Ben Bowers
Like myself, it was this restaurant that changed the face of dining for many. Joy Thompson said: "I remember some good nights in Ben Bowers - thought it was so posh" and Lynne Foster said: "Ben Bowers was amazing, I had my 21st birthday meal there, really first class."
Emma MacLeod recalled: "I used to love Ben Bowers. I had my engagement and hen do there," while Alison Brinley recalled: "Used to love Ben Bowers, Saturday night and a steak."
The restaurant had starched linen tablecloths and music from a pianist. It later became 1877. When it closed it stood empty for many years, turning into a dilapidated eyesore. The landmark building, at Canning Circus, has just been refurbished - the ground floor where diners used to sit remains vacant but the upper storeys have been turned into student flats.
La Grenouille
La Grenouille (which translate as 'the Frog') brought authentic French gastronomy to Lenton Boulevard. The charming little restaurant had two floors, plastic tablecloths and magnificent French food in the 80s and 90s.
Rob Edlin-White said: "It was definitely a significant step for me. Many years ago, but I seem to remember great food, an unpretentious but comfortable décor, and nice welcome and table service from a woman who I think was wife of the chef. I think my first visit was in 1983."
Lynne Rogers loved the restaurant. "It was a small place with a very ebullient French man in charge," she said.
La Rock
Yes, we know it's in Derbyshire but it's only just over the border in Sandiacre, so we're going to include it. It's one of the few restaurants that's still around today so if you're a budding foodie, it's well worth a visit.
Featuring in elite restaurant guide Hardens, La Rock showcases distinctive modern British cooking in intimate surroundings over two floors, with treated oak tables, black granite surfaces and antler candelabras. You only need to bite into the fish and chip amuse bouche to get a sense of what pleasures lie ahead.
Hidden away down side street (Bridge Street) the restaurant had built its reputation on word-of-mouth recommendations. It swung it for Tina Sheppard, along with Harts. She said: "It was a the range of foods on offer that I hadn’t eaten before. I tried venison at La Rock for the first time."
Bentons Brasserie
The calibre of dishes served at the brasserie in Hockley got it a mention in Egon Ronay's famous food guide. Seasonal, freshly cooked food was served in Heathcoat Street.
Crab and papaya tian, sesame roasted duck with black pudding rosti and chocolate cheesecake with orange liqueur were a treat for the taste buds. It was the restaurant that still impresses Jane Icke to this day, even though it's long gone.
She said: "It was the first time I’d been to a restaurant like that and it became a firm favourite. I've been a big foodie every since." Sandra Doyle agreed. "We loved Benton’s. Still miss it and talk about it," she said.
The wraparound corner building is now Suhan Chinese Restaurant. Julian Benton, who owned Bentons, is still in the hospitality industry and is currently a director of the Red Lion in Thurgarton.
The Waterfall
This popular haunt was tucked away down Hurts Yard. The restaurant was opened in 1977 by John Caplin, whose daughter Judy Naake went on to become the queen of self-tanning after bringing St Tropez to the UK.
A miniature waterfall formed part of the decor and there were even fish swimming around. While Nina Dawn can't remember what she ate that night, it not only cemented her love of food. She said: "I remember going there for a date, did they have a trickling waterfall feature in there? I'm afraid I can’t remember what I ate but I enjoyed the evening so much I married him. We now love Kushi-ya and Little Bricks."
Katie Atherley said: "The Waterfall in its day was one of the restaurants to go. I celebrated my 21st there."
Berni Inn
This picture says it all, the staples and customer favourites at every Berni Inn across Nottingham. Deborah Labbate recalls the Old Cricket Players Inn, which used to be in Barker Gate. She said: "We used to go on a Saturday lunch time every couple of weeks when dad finished work. Prawn cocktail and steak followed by Black Forest gateau and a floater coffee."
Similarly it was a Berni that turned Marcus Darwent into a serious foodie, so much so, he started the Nottingham Food Blog to document his adventures. He said: "The first place that excited me about food was the old Chateau on Wilford Lane. Perhaps not fancy for an adult but it was when I was a kid, prawn cocktails, mixed grills and black forest gateau, oh my!"
Alchemilla
The Michelin-starred restaurant in Derby Road changed the course of eating out for vegan Michelle Targett, wowing her with exciting and adventurous plant-based dishes. Michelle, who blogs as glam_vegan, said: "Vegan dining hasn’t always been reflected in Nottingham’s fine dining and Michelin restaurants.
"Alchemilla changed the Nottingham landscape by putting plants as the star of the show and creating a taster menu that blew me away, course by course, showing how creative and delicious plant based food can be. I am now on a mission to find the best vegan fine dining options across Nottingham and the rest of the UK."
Annie's Burger Shack
It's not just fine dining creations that blow people away. The massive choice of burgers at Annie's proved an eye-opener for Jeremy Putman when he visited the restaurant she had just opened in Broadway in 2014.
Burgers called Elvis with peanut butter and jelly and Sloppy Joe with chilli were on the menu. It prompted Jeremy to start his blog, Jeremy's Food Tour.
He said: "This was the Nottingham restaurant that made me realise that I really loved food. It was the first time I’d visited somewhere where the options for a burger went beyond a variety of cheeses, bacon and lettuce.
"The vast menu, iconic burger names and interesting burger toppings added a sense of theatre to experience of dining out. It was also one of the first times that I felt there was something different and not just the same old items you see on a menu at countless venues."
Food for Thought
This was the restaurant that sticks in the memory of Kate Waterton. She said it hit the Good Food Guide within a year of opening in the 1970s. Located in Arkwright Street, near Trent Bridge, its freshly cooked food attracted diners every single day.
"There were three first courses, three mains, a couple of puddings or Stilton cheese," recalled Kate.
Other life-defining food moments were remembered here:
Sapna, restaurant at Savoy Hotel where we always went for my mum and dads wedding anniversary, and Tudor Steak Bar at The Commodore - Paul Bancroft
The Victoria Club when it first opened and the White Post Farm at Farnsfield many years ago - Glyn Morgan
Trattoria Antonio on Trent Bridge! Loved working there and got a real passion going for me - Craig Coker
Koh I Nor, Indian restaurant, different and delicious - Angela Smith
I would say Downes that was opposite Brownes in Hockley with Ian Pascoe as chef. He now runs the Bulls Head at Wilson and still producing great food - George Goward
Loved Ben Bowers, the Flying Horse and Grange Farm at Toton - Heather Hincks
Hong Kong in Arkwright Street - Pat Wakeling
Reno's on Alfreton Road was the best Italian in its day - Chris Telecaster
Definitely Punchinellos on Forman Street - Lorraine Horrocks
Staropolska, Polish restaurant in one of the arcades off Bridlesmith Gate in the 80s - Karen Fry
Anyone remember the Rhinegold, now Herbert Kilpin? Still worth going - Nicholas Max
Vienna in the current Alchemist building, it was short-lived but so good - Claire Sneddon
La Vecchio Romangna on Derby Road, food was fantastic - Gale Woolley
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