Restaurant

May 16, 2012 French

Roux, Parliament Square

This is my second visit to Roux Parliament Square in as many months. Last time we ate here we were dining with chums, and we wanted to come back on our own to try the latest seasonal menu. I also wanted to make a trip up to the fabulous bar, as it had somehow passed me by before!

Upstairs we had a lovely glass of fizz, and some little bar snacks including some excellent gordal olives, some honeyed cashew nuts, and a home-made seed mixture with fennel and pumpkin seeds – it smelt absolutely amazing.

Beef Consommé
with Chervil Gnocchi

We also had our appetisers in the bar – a little pork rillette with mustard, and some lemongrass and cured salmon.

Heading downstairs into the main restaurant, we began with a beef consommé. The broth was packed full of meaty umami flavours, and the chervil gnocchi introduced a punchy anise flavour into the mix.

Gulls Egg, Wye Valley Asparagus, and Morels

I’ve recently developed a passion for gull’s egg having been initiated into their mystery at Alyn Willliam’s restaurant. Gulls eggs are a little like duck eggs – rich and absolutely full of flavour – but in a much neater and more manageable package. They’re absolutely delicious! Here the egg was cooked in a water bath at 62ºC and served with new season asparagus tips, stems, and ribbons, with a risotto, morels, pea tendrils and mushroom foam. Incredibly intense flavours, the egg was beautifully cooked, still luscious and almost curd like – forming an integral part of the sauce.

Torchon of foie gras, orange puree, coca

Hubby went for the foie gras, and said it was very good. He passed me on of those orange segments, and they’re actually dehydrated satsuma segments. Packed full of citrus flavour they compliment the foie gras without making the dish soggy. The brioche is served with a milk brioche.

Sea trout with Jersey royals, asparagus, sea vegetables, with a shellfish jus

Next, sea trout with fabulously crispy skin. Served with white asparagus, compressed cucumber, green asparagus, brown shrimp, razor clam, mussel, samphire, sea kale and roe, the dish is finished with a light and delicate shellfish jus. The fish comes on a bed of crushed new season Jersey royal potatoes. Very clean and light, which lots of complimentary flavours, it’s the perfect spring main course.

Poached loin of monkfish, confit chicken wing, roasted violet artichokes and morels

We also tried the monkfish as we’d been torn between both dishes. This was a little less successful for me, but purely because the fish had been cooked sous vide. There’s a fine balance, particularly with fish, with cooking sous vide – it’s a problem I frequently have at home. Raise the temperature too high and you alter the proteins, keep it slightly cooler and you run the risk that the texture of the flesh seems undercooked (despite it being perfectly safe). As someone who loves ceviche, and sashimi, it wasn’t the notion of the raw texture that put me off, but actually the slightly in-between state. Having said that, the rest of the dish was full of flavour, the morels working well with the artichokes and the chicken.

Wild strawberry, strawberry jelly, champagne granita

The pre-dessert of wild strawberries and champagne granita is a refreshing palate cleanser. The wild strawberry jelly was erring on the side of medicinal, but this is the thing with fresh seasonal produce – what you gain in seasonality can sometimes result in a slight loss in consistency. I would still rather have had this than imported giant strawberries from Spain.

Rhubarb and custard

I think we all know how I feel about this dessert, as I raved about it so much last time. Just as perfect, the soufflé was a delicious combination of textures and flavours. I shall be incredibly disappointed when it goes off the menu, but again Yorkshire rhubarb and blood oranges are seasonal products. I hope to see it again next year.

We finished the menu with little macaron and pâtes de fruits. Again we really enjoyed our meal. The food is well executed, and the flavours generally well balanced. There were more diners in the restaurant this time, and this added to the atmosphere. I really liked the bar too, and have been recommending that to people who just want a drink with a good bar menu – some very interesting options on there, and a very comfortable room. I look forward to my next visit, knowing that the growing season will be in full swing, and that there will be even more on offer.

Roux at Parliament Square
12 Great George Street
London
SW1P 3AD

May 14, 2012 Ben Spalding

dines at Ben Spalding’s Pop-Up…

Ben’s menu for the evening

Appalling photographs I appreciate – but I wanted to put them on the blog to show the inventive talents of Mr @benspalding1. Ben did a one-night-only popup at Ben’s Canteen, and these photographs are from that event.

I’ve been a huge admirer of Ben since I tasted his food at Roganic – I’ve even been the proud owner of Ben’s mince pies for the Mince Pie project. There was never any question that Ben would find his way in the world, and though this meal wasn’t perfect, I’m amazed he was able to produce anything at all from such a ridiculously tiny kitchen. I’d follow Ben anywhere to eat his food, and nothing has changed that opinion!

A box filled with mulberry tea, to smell upon arrival – smelled delicious!

Broad beans warmed in mutton fat,
mackerel cured in seawater, shallots broccoli and honey,
caramelised cauliflower and sea blite,
knackerbrod with creamed “chicken of the woods”,
Devon blue with san marzano jam and wild basil,
fermented mung bean paste seasoned with BBQ sauce

Bread

White crab, pumpkin, lichens, grilled cucumber, cloudberries and smoked yoghurt

Jerusalem artichokes cooked in soil overnight,
spruce, various beetroots and black grape juice

Poussin poached in salted butter, hazelnuts,
onion, and sauce flavoured with roasted pineapple

Whipped whey butter, roasted fern carrots, bran soft and iced lemon thyme

Original beans with lemongrass and ginger,
lingonberry marshmallow,
tonka bean shortbread,
peanut butter fudge,
flapjack

May 5, 2012 2 Michelin Stars

Midsummer House, Cambridge

Midsummer House in Cambridge is the star attraction of Cambridge’s growing food scene. Owned by Chef Patron Daniel Clifford, the restaurant has held two Michelin stars since 2005, and has recently undergone renovation.

I’ve wanted to eat Daniel’s food for some time now, and the Craven meeting at the Newmarket race course nearby provided the perfect opportunity to visit the restaurant. Midsummer House is set in a Victorian villa, perched neatly between a river and an open park. As a result you have to approach it on foot – but this gives you time to take in the restaurant’s lovely setting… Tables are predominantly set in the rear conservatory, and overlook the charming garden, the trees hung with fairy lights. There’s even a Misdummer House Pashley propped up in the garden, adding to the slightly old-world romantic feel of the restaurant.

We began with a tomato and celery sorbet, olives, and cheese gougère made with parmesan, and filled with smooth warm gruyere, by far the best gougère I’ve had in terms of texture. The sorbet was clean, a culinary virgin mary, and very refreshing. We opted for the tasting menu, and for once I’ve remembered to photograph most of it.

Leek and potato, a quails egg and smoked haddock

The quails egg had been just dipped in burnt onion powder and was perfectly soft and luscious. The fish was cooked exactly, and the translucent flakes broke easily into the leek and potato. I’ve had onion ash at Roganic, but this is much more intense and flavoursome, though much grittier in texture.

Rillettes of salmon, pickled vegetables, lemongrass sorbet and wasabi puree

Succulent moist salmon, balanced carefully with the soused vegetables, and the clean refreshing sorbet. The wasabi doesn’t overpower the dish, but adds depth and gentle heat, and the effect of all three accompaniments is to lighten and refresh the palate, and most importantly to allow the salmon to shine. I could eat this all day long. The micro leaves also serve a function, highlighting the spice.

Slow roast quail, salad of fresh pea and wild garlic, sautéed morels, quail jus

Alongside the quail breast, a ballotine of quail leg wrapped in potato offered an extra textural dimension. The quail was perfectly cooked and offset by the rich clean earthiness of the pea and garlic. The morels added a level of unami’ness which counterbalanced the delicate sweetness of the meat.

Cauliflower cooked under pressure with squid and rice crackers

What could possibly elevate cauliflower cheese to a gourmet dish? Include some squid! Of course Daniel’s dish was much prettier than this, but yet again I was so fascinated by the combination that I’d tried it before I remembered to take a picture. The combination of the squid and the cheese hits that umami button head on, and allows the menu to continue to build in depth. Barely visible in the picture is a squid ink sheet of jelly, and diced squid buried deep in the dish. The metallic tang of the squid ink contrasts with the seaweed like greens, and the rich depth of the cheese.

Unsurprisingly I managed to miss the photograph of one dish – well – I was really enjoying the menu by then! But my notes have a dish of slow roast duck, with braised swiss chard, sweet potato and pink grapefruit. I’ve noted that the dish just lifts your palate back up the umami scale after the last two, with the pink grapefruit adding a note of acidity, and cutting through the meatiness of the duck.

Artisanal cheese

The Hubby was offered a variety of cheeses, including some very nice Exmoor Blue, Roquefort, and Manchego.

A pre-dessert of fennel, black olive and lemon came as fennel cream and jelly, with lemon sorbet, shards of black olive tuille, and black olives. The combination of sour and savoury acted as a good palate cleanser after the cheese, but I can imagine it wouldn’t be to everyone’s taste. Personally I loved the combination.

Caramelised apple, cinnamon ice cream

Absolutely lovely dessert – the various combinations of apple an cinnamon made for lovely contrasts. There were crisp mille-feuille like disks, hot apple spheres with cold apple disks, jelly disks on top of smooth mousse, a raisin jus, a cinnamon puree, and cinnamon ice-cream. Tart and light in texture, yet with the sweet cinnamon depth of flavour. The cool and warm contrasts, the smooth and the crisp, were all delicately balanced.

Midsummer House is one of the few restaurants I’ve eaten in where I felt the chef had truly constructed a menu, rather than a random combination of dishes. The meal is structured in depth, and increases in intensity as you progress. The rooms are newly renovated, and the staff were attentive. During the summer guests are able to spend time in the garden, which given its setting, would be charming.

I was lucky enough to not only go into the main kitchen, but into Daniel’s development kitchen too, and the attention to detail is evident everywhere. Delicious food, a beautiful setting, and the added incentive of the stunning architecture of Cambridge on its doorstep.

Midsummer House
Midsummer Common
Cambridge

CB4 1HA

May 4, 2012 British

Paul Foster’s Tasting Menu at Tuddenham Mill

Having eaten Paul Foster’s GBM Menu the night before, we moved on to his tasting menu.This is a better reflection of both the ethos of the kitchen, and of their technical skill. Ingredients can be foraged from the meadows around the mill and the emphasis is very much on local and seasonal produce. Paul is a very accomplished chef, and here you get a better sense of his vision and his developing style.

Mussel broth, with lemon spots, cucumber, stonecrop, buckthorn, dill and a dash of parsley oil

This is a delightful dish, and begins the evening with the lightest and most delicate of broths, teeming with flavour and scent. Everything is crisp or succulent, and thought through. The lemon puree adds acidity, but by being combined with agar allows you to taste it in droplets, rather than overwhelming the dish. As summer approaches, this is the perfect starter. [For molecular cooks, the lemon dressing is achieved by combing lemon juice and agar in a water bath at 90ºC for 1 hour – I shall blog it once I’ve tried it this weekend]

Now, Hubby and I were gossiping so much about our racing finds at Newmarket, that I managed to completely miss photographs of two courses. This is not unusual if I’m enjoying a menu! One of those dishes is the hake brandade, with a slow cooked hen’s egg, and a scattering of crispy bacon. The egg of course perfectly cooked at 62ºC, with its unctuous yolk breaking over the salty hake.

Asparagus, chickweed and cobnuts

Here seasonal ingredients are the star, with new season asparagus, asparagus purée, raw asparagus, chickweed, and grated cob nut.

The second photograph I missed was an amazing beer dish, with a Adnams beer noisette, a slightly sweet pickled onion, some melt-in-the-mouth oxtail and flaxseed. I may not have taken a photo, but my note book is full of little stars.

Salt baked lamb rump and shoulder, with yoghurt,
wild garlic, celeriac an celery leaf

The lamb is slow cooked and is succulent and fall-apart tender . The salt-baked celeriac is echoed in the celery leaf, which provides a brighter note, accompanying the satisfying sourness of the yoghurt, with the metallic tang of the wild garlic. I’m not terribly keen on lamb, though I will always try it, having once eaten sensational lamb cooked by Albert Roux. Whilst this didn’t have the finesse of Mon. Roux’s dish, it more than made up for it in flavour. I am a firm convert again, and think it’s particularly interesting that it’s the “lesser” cuts Paul uses which have really delivered on flavour in several of his dishes. It’s admirable to see a kitchen steering away from predictable ingredients and combinations.

Egg custard tart, apple, buttermilk, nutmeg

Yes, you probably gather from my photo that I delved straight into the dish before remembering to take a photo – of course it looks prettier than this! As well as the custard, there were crisp batons of green apple, slices of raw apple flavoured with caramelised toffee apple, and buttermilk. Very dense, smooth and creamy, with a distinct savoury edge delivered through the saltiness of the custard. This almost has the savouriness of a cheese course.

Chocolate mousse and soil, sea buckthorn granita, and hazelnut

This dessert has many elements: there’s chocolate soil (made with cocoa, ground almonds, flour, butter and sugar), a chocolate mousse scatter with cocoa nibs, a sea buckthorn granita, powdered hazelnut scattering (made with hazelnut butter mixed with maltose), and a tiny garnish of yarrow. Somehow like the best jaffa cake deconstructed – but better. Where others rely on orange, Paul uses the acidity of the sea buckthorn to contrast to the rich earthiness of the chocolate. One would imagine the whole dish to be slightly too bitter and tart, but the various nut elements ground the dish. There’s also the contrast of textures and temperatures at play, all working harmoniously on the plate.

I enjoyed Paul’s Great British Menu, but on the whole I prefer this one – the dishes are more complete, and worked together better to give sense of direction to the meal. Tuddenham Mill isn’t far from London, has rooms (which deliver room service breakfast!), and staff who are enthusiastic and charming. I understand it’s also possible to go on a foraging walk around the meadow, which would be fantastic fun. Add in a trip to Midsummer House and Alimentum, and you have a culinary weekend you’ll be talking about for a very long time.

Tuddenham Mill
High Street
Tuddenham

Suffolk IP28 6SQ

May 2, 2012 British

Paul Foster’s GBM Menu at Tuddenham Mill

By happy coincidence I found myself booked into Tuddenham Mill whilst Paul Foster, the Mill’s Head Chef, appeared on the Great British Menu. Even better, Paul’s menu was already available to guests, and we were able to try the complete menu before some of the dishes had even aired.

Paul has spent time in some very impressive kitchens before moving to Tuddenham in 2010, and worked at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saison, at the eponymous Sat Bains, and had stages at The French Laundry and L’auberge de lille in Lyon. Here his style is a combination of local and foraged ingredients, and modern techniques. Tuddenham Mill itself is perched on a beautiful stretch of water, and has retained many of the traditional elements of the mill, whilst providing a modern dining experience. On the night we ate this menu Paul wasn’t actually in the kitchen, but he did cook us his tasting menu the following night, which is reviewed here.

Pork neck carpaccio, pork skin scratchings,
croquette of pig’s head, ribwort plantain purée, and budding chickweed

The pork neck carpaccio is delicious, as are the croquette, full of rich yet almost delicate flavour. By contrast the fine shaving of turnip was over-soused, and overwhelmed the radish, green apple and asparagus, which were raw. I have no problem with raw ingredients, actually I rather like them, but the contrast did mean that there wasn’t as much cohesion to the dish as I might have expected, and distracted us from the pork. The ribwort plantain (which is sautéed with shallots and chicken stock) is lovely, but might have achieved a little more umami intensity.

Ray noodles, with chicken skin, foraged sea vegetables
including stonecrop and sea aster, pea mousse and lemon gel

Next, by far the dish I was anticipating most – the barely cooked common ray, with chicken skin, foraged sea vegetables, pea mousse and lemon gel. The ray is brined, and then barely poached in a water bath for 10 minutes at 48ºC. The threads of flesh are then pulled from the fish like noodles, and plated in a brown butter and soy dressing. I absolutely love this dish, couldn’t fault it. The ray is succulent, delicate and delicious. The foraged elements work perfectly with the dish and are piquant, individual, but not overpowering. The pea mousse is sweet, but also slightly earthy, and the chicken skin provides the umami element. I’ve had fish with chicken several times before, but here it’s up to you to combine the chicken in the quantity you want – and this for me makes the difference… It doesn’t overpower the dish, it sits alongside it comfortably. The lemon purée is mixed with a little agar then piped around the plate – it provides a clean hit of citrus, with a good mouthfeel. This is one dish I will definitely make at home.

Goosnargh duck breast and hearts, broccoli,
hazelnuts, and pink fir potatoes with douglas pine

The skin of the duck is blow-torched, before putting it in the water bath for 40 minutes at 60ºC. The resulting breast is moist and delicious. The hearts are very tender, and not too gamey, and they’re served with a broccoli purée, and broccoli in a smoked garlic dressing. The combination of the nuts with the purée is delicious. The potatoes are vac packed with the douglas fir infused flavouring, and they do take-on the flavour successfully, but I think the dish is just as good without them.

Whipped sea buckthorn, with Italian meringue,
puffed rice, damson purée, ground ivy, and ginger syrup

Whipped sea buckthorn, with Italian meringue, puffed rice, and ginger syrup. The sea buckthorn juice is mixed with sugar and agar, then heated, before eggs are beaten into it. The curd is then set and whipped. The flavour of the buckthorn is delicious – sweet and sour, almost like physalis, but more rounded out. The blowtorched meringue adds a caramel flavour, and the puffed rice adds further texture. I enjoyed the flavour of the sea buckthorn – the dish is sweet and sour, silky and crunchy, light but full of ‘mouth feel’.

Overall I thought the least consistent dish in the menu was the starter, but purely because of the interaction of the ingredients. The standout dish for me is of course the ray – it’s a fantastic technique and brings out the best in the ingredients – I hope it remains on Paul’s tasting menu for some time to come. The tasting menu is though I think a better reflection of Paul’s skills, and you can read about that here.

Tuddenham Mill
High Street
Tuddenham

Suffolk IP28 6SQ

May 2, 2012 Peruvian

Ceviche, Soho

Some months ago I attended the pisco fuelled launch of Martin Morales’ Ceviche. I’d been following Martin’s progress for months on twitter, and as a ceviche addict was particularly looking forward to getting my hands on some great raw fish. That night we found ourselves at the far end of the room and very little food made it to our table – as the waiting staff piled trays high with succulent beef, and raw fish, greedy hands grabbed at dishes as soon as they entered the room. They did manage to get great glasses of pisco to us, and bottles of beer, and we quickly divided up any morsels which did survive long enough to reach us. These morsels merely whetted my appetite, and it took some weeks before I was able to get a booking to try Ceviche for myself.

Making our way into the bright and cheerful room, @clareangela, @obotheclown and I were full of anticipation. We looked at the menu – it all looked so good! We decided to grab a number of dishes to share, so that we could try as much as possible.

My companions began with Cancha, crunchy Peruvian salted corn kernels, which they said tasted nothing like our popcorn kernels, despite looking like that. They thought they were very flavoursome.

Don Ceviche is a seabass ceviche in ají amarillo chilli, tiger’s milk, ají limo chilli, and red onions. Ají is the chilli element of the ceviche, and the tigers milk is the resulting citrus liquor, which includes lime juice. The dish is topped with crunchy sweet potato. The sea bass was meaty and fresh, and perfectly acidic. You will need to order more than one portion if there are a few of you though, as you won’t want to share.

In the background of that picture is also Sakura Maru – not strictly Peruvian but more of a Japanese influenced ceviche of sliced salmon in Nikkei tiger’s milk, made with satsumas, mirin, soy sauce and ají limo chilli. Again refreshing and moreish.

Causa Santa Rosa came as a beetroot salad, with Peruvian potatoes, coriander, with an olive sauce – smooth, clean, creamy, tangy – with crunchy deep fried sweet potatoes on top. Surprisingly addictive – given how creamy it looks – it’s a very refreshing salad. I don’t think the others liked this as much as me, but I found it a very good foil for the acidity of the ceviche.

Next, the meatier dishes – first rump steak marinated in ají panda chilli, anticucho sauce with grilled potato slices – tender, spicy and meaty, the beef disappeared as quickly as it arrived. It was a funny lunch, all having quite different food upbringings, we kept comparing dishes to things we’d eaten as children. Obo, reminisced about the beef of his childhood. We also had Arroz con Mariscos – seafood rice with pisco, ají amarillo chilli, rocoto chilli and red peppers.
When we moved onto Lomo Saltado (wok cooked slices of beef fillet, red onions, tomatoes, ají amarillo chilli, chips and salt ado sauce) Clare tried to educate me into the Northern thing about chips and gravy. As someone who hates gravy at the best of times, and certainly doesn’t want it on my chips, it was a bit of a moot point for me. The vegetables and the beef were yummy, but I can’t see myself taking up meaty soaked chips any time soon. Clare, however, had a small look of bliss on her face.

We finished with a lúcuma ice-cream – mainly because I insisted they try it. I’d had it that mad pisco-fuelled night, and just remember being blown away by the similarity of ice cream made with fresh lúcuma fruit pulp to our own butterscotch pudding flavour. Completely impossible to describe, the similarities between lúcuma fruit and butterscotch is amazing – I kept trying to convince our waitress that we had something similar but I don’t think she believed me.Ceviche is a great place to go for some casual fresh food with chums. There’s a pisco bar at the front serving tapas style dishes – so whether I’m looking for a quick plate of clean food for myself, or a relaxed environment to share dishes – Ceviche is going on my regular list.

Ceviche,
17 Frith St
London W1D 4RG

May 1, 2012 1 Michelin Star

Alimentum, Cambridge

Based in Cambridge, Alimentum joins the small but growing band of fine dining restaurants in the city. Mark Poynton, the Chef Patron, came from Cambridge’s Michelin starred Midsummer House, before moving to Alimentum as Head Chef in 2008, and becoming the Chef Patron in 2010.

Mark has developed a very steady and loyal local following, as well as an increasing number of visitors keen to try his developing style. I was lucky enough to find myself in Newmarket for the races, and Alimentum went straight onto my list of restaurants to visit. The promise of such culinary riches also tempted along the very talented Paul Winch-Furniss, and it’s his marvellous pictures you see here. We arrive separately, both windswept, but are quickly ushered into the warmth inside. There’s a lobby bar, all very plush and smart, and giving way to the restaurant. By using the same scarlet colour palette, the two spaces are neatly combined, but are also quite distinct – two ends of the same spectrum, and very polished.

In this smart bar we chat, while little treats are put onto highly polished mirrored tables – salt and vinegar popcorn, distinctly vinegary and definitely more pleasant than it sounds, paired with smoked paprika and hummus macaron – the smoked paprika induces that memory of prawn cocktail flavoured crisps, but the hummus grounds it, giving it a more satisfying flavour.

At the table we decide to have a tasting menu, and begin with a pea mousse with cottage cheese, lemon and ham – this is light, vibrant, with the acidity of the cheese balancing the creaminess of the pea mousse. The whole dish is topped with crispy Joselito gran reserva (one of the finest jamón ibérico de bellota).

This is followed by new season asparagus with a hen’s egg: there’s asparagus puree, raw green asparagus, barbecued white asparagus and a confit egg (in rapeseed oil at 62º for those of you who like these details, the same temperature as a water-bath egg, but here more delicate, silky and flavoured by its rapeseed bath). There is also a slice of truffle brioche, a pickled morel, a goats curd ice-cream and grated truffle to top the dish. I have eaten at least two other variations of this dish in recent months, but here the morel and the goats cheese take it in a different direction, adding depth and contrast to the overall composition.

Next sole, with a toast puree and a pickled fennel puree, silky leeks, pickled grapes, semi-dried pickled grapes, and soused fennel topped with a yeast foam. The yeast foam is piquant and lifts the dish, whilst the fennel and grapes add a sweet sharpness to the soft and delicate fish – a perfectly modern elevation of a classical sole Veronique.

This is followed by a crab meat and scallop mousse, encased in a translucent cylinder of pink-grapefruit jelly, with shards of charred spring onion, prink grapefruit, a stack of crabmeat in marie-rose sauce, and a cube of pressed chicken wing. The combination of fish with umami rich chicken is becoming increasingly popular, but here the pink grapefruit with its strong acidity cuts through the dish – I felt it somewhat overwhelmed the delicate mousse – but it’s an interesting combination.

Then pressed duck, together with a stip of succulent barbecued duck breast, beetroot quinoa, turnip and orange puree, little turnips dressed with turnip leaf, a beetroot gravy and roasted beetroot, both red and yellow. Here the menu steps up a notch, with increased flavour and intensity. Though I wouldn’t have described the duck as particularly hitting that umami button, it did certainly fully round out the meal, and the delicacy of the turnip, and the sweetness of the beetroot weren’t drowned out by the savouriness of the meat – a good combination – with the quinoa adding texture and earthiness. (And yes, Mr Poynton is another chef with an enamel grill in his kitchen, though not a certain egg on this occasion.)

Pre-dessert is a passionfruit curd and granita, with a coffee tuille and coffee ice-cream, and a saffron meringue. This was a perfect dish – the light but intense acidity of the passionfruit cuts through the rich and rounded depth of the coffee elements, and the metallic saffron tips the scale in a different direction, so that it’s not simply a contrast between the other two flavours. Texturally it’s a perfect contrast between cold, smooth, zingy, and crisp too.

The second dessert is a dark chocolate pavé, with a breadcrumb, maldon salt and olive oil crust, caramelised puff pastry at the base stuffed with popping candy, together with a pear sorbet and pear puree on cocoa nibs. The chocolate mousse was intense and smooth, and the textural elements cut through the density. Little cubes of pear scattered the plate and the pear sorbet refresh the palate in-between.

The petit four were a cassia bark jelly, a coconut and lime truffle, and a ‘seared’ marshmallow. I must admit that I didn’t try any of those, but given that Paul promptly finished them off for me, I’m assuming they were pretty good. I did look though, and the jellies were perfect cubes, the chocolate glossy with its brush of pink lustre, and the marshmallows suitably squidgy.

The service at Alimentum is professional and well-informed, and the proficient sommelier will guide you through the menu with appropriate pairings. It’s a good-looking room, and I’m sure the intense scarlet silk elements look very rich in the evening, though they brought warmth during the lunch service too. Mark’s cooking is accomplished and experimental, and thought has been put into the menu. The dishes change frequently with the season, with the chef always striving to achieve new heights – I think we can expect greater things from Mr Poynton in the future. If you’re coming to Cambridge, Alimentum must be on your list of places to try. Indeed given that Cambridge is a scant 45 minutes from London by train, I’d argue it’s worth popping up for lunch, and for a wander around the ravishing architecture of the old town just a few minutes away.

Alimentum
152-154 Hills Road,
Cambridge
CB2 8PB

April 18, 2012 1 Michelin Star

Alyn WIliams, Mayfair

Alyn has quickly become one of my favourite chefs, but sometimes there isn’t sufficient opportunity to record each dish in great depth – in this instance we had hot-footed our way from the Gaucho Polo Tournament at the O2, and arrived at the Westbury after 10pm, with guests in tow. Alyn had very kindly put together a number of dishes for us, and they were so delicious that I want to record them here, if only visually. For the full Alyn Williams experience you need to head to the Westbury Hotel for yourself, for what I still think is one of the best-valued menus in town at just £55.

Langoustine, grapefruit curd, sea beets, served on hay…

Mackerel, with squid ink craquelure, piquillo red pepper and ricotta

Gull’s egg, with ransom leaf, nettle compote, braised snails, and veal tail cooked in buttermilk

Asparagus, wild hops, salmon and beer

Oxtail, beef, pureed beetroot, mustard foam, ransoms, croutons

Mash

Cheesecake, passion fruit granita, honeycomb

Lemon posset, caramel, caramel malteser and plum jelly

Blush cider sorbet, rhubarb jelly, sorbet, gold leaf

Rhubarb Muffins

Black olive, and pistachio

Alyn Williams at the Westbury
37 Conduit Street
The Westbury Mayfair Hotel
London W1S 2YF

April 4, 2012 Restaurant

Roux at Parliament Square

We all know the Roux family – you’d have to be living in a culinary vacuum not to have heard of Le Gavroche and the Waterside Inn – but how often do you hear people talking about Roux at Parliament Square? Unlike Le Gavroche, which I find far too twee, in terms of decor, Parliament Square has a clean, modern interior, and the food is a balance of fine French cooking and modern molecular techniques. The Head Chef, Toby Stuart, has worked in some great kitchens, including Cliveden, Orrery, The Square, Richard Neat (in Cannes), and Galvin at Windows. Toby is joined by Steve Groves, the winner of Masterchef: The Professionals in 2009. I’d originally booked a table for two, but at the last minute we were joined by Kristen and Alan who live in New York and are very keen diners themselves.

To begin there’s a celebration of spring: a tomato jelly, with goats cheese mousse and a green tomato vinaigrette. This amuse it both clean, but also has the right mouth-feel to pique your interest.

Tomato jelly, with goats cheese
mousse and a green tomato vinaigrette

Kristen and I discussed the menu – when we think of Roux, we think about the way they handle seasonal ingredients. So, whilst it may seem strange to follow the previous dish with one quite like it, for me it was an obvious choice. So, a minestrone of new season vegetables: a bed of parmesan custard hides at the bottom of the dish, with French beans, broad beans, courgette, asparagus, canellini beans, peas, pea shoots, courgettes, baby Jersey royal potatoes and freshly made pasta. The vegetables are dressed in pesto, topped with two perfectly cooked quail’s eggs and delicate pea tendrils – at the last moment the vegetable consommé is poured at the table. The broth is very refreshing and clean, and the custard kicks in with a richer, fuller intensity. The joy of the quail’s eggs is that you can create your own dressing in the bowl – delightful.

Minestrone of new season vegetables,
with parmesan custard, and a soft poached quails eggs

We follow this with a squid consommé, with mackerel, brown shrimp and toast. The consommé itself immediately hits that umami button, but follows through with a liquorice intensity, with a salty kick from the samphire and sea astor.

Squid consommé, with mackerel,
brown shrimp and toast

For my main I chose the Altlantic brill with a ‘baked potato’ crust, a ragu of chanterelles, white onions, brown shrimp and a shellfish jus gras. Under the fish sits braised lettuce, with roasted salsify, and salsify crisps. The sweetness of the salsify crisps offset the rich crust, as does the lettuce under the fish. The shellfish jus gras was split with shellfish oil and parsley cress. The brill was perfectly cooked, I love it because its such a meaty fish, and here the flavours are gutsy enough to match the dense texture.

Altlantic brill with a baked crust, a ragout of chanterelles,
white onions, brown shrimp and a shellfish jus gras

As I said before, when we think about Roux, Kristen and I think about the way they handle new seasonal produce, so she went for the caramelised onion polenta with spring vegetables and homemade ricotta cheese. That day the dish had a carrot puree, but I understand it varies according to what’s good on the day. Dusted and toasted polenta is plated with seasonal vegetables, the ricotta (made in-house with rennet and cow’s milk – I must see that in action!), and is topped with crispy fried spring onions, edible flowers, and frozen garlic leaf butter, which melts over the dish.

Caramelised onion polenta with spring
vegetables and homemade ricotta cheese

As a pre-dessert there was an amazing coconut panna cotta, with a passionfruit jelly, and a lime granita. So refreshing, such zingy flavours, we all loved it. Kristen and I want to make this ourselves, so we asked Steve about the jelly, and they do set it directly into the glass on top of the panna cotta. It’s a great pre-dessert because as you can see from the photo, the custard to granita ratio is so slight, so it’s completely refreshing.

Coconut panna cotta,
passionfruit jelly, and lime granita

Next, for me the reason I was here – the soufflé – rhubarb and crumble! We all know I’m a soufflé obsessive, but wow, really, goes straight into my top 3, with the MPW raspberry, and Pierre Koffman pistachio soufflés. Perfectly cooked of course, but that’s not it – the flavour was amazing. The Yorkshire rhubarb and blood orange compote provided acidity, the custard ice-cream smooth cold and creamy, and the scattering of oat flakes gave an additional textural dimension. My chum Alan is completely addicted to the Gordon Ramsay tarte-tatin, and always orders a whole one to himself – it’s been his favourite dessert for years. He had this soufflé and immediately declared it his new favourite – he loved it so much that a few days later in a 2 starred restaurant he actually turned to Kristen and asked if they could skip dessert and head over to Parliament Square for a soufflé.

Rhubarb and crumble souffle

If soufflés are not your thing, perhaps chocolate is? On a bed of chocolate soil, we have a chocolate cremosa, sea salt and caramelised peanut parfait, coriander and Kaffir lime. The dish is lightly dressed with a banana espuma. Kristen loved this dish, and it is apparently one of Toby’s signature dishes…. Tempting, but that soufflé is exceptional.

Chocolate cremosa, sea salt and
caramelised peanut parfait, coriander and Kaffir lime

I’ve read some very strange reviews of RPS, but all I can tell you is that I’ll be going regularly. The ingredients shine through, and are treated with respect – this is very grown-up cooking. One chef I spoke to said that he didn’t really understand why people want to eat what he considered boring, un-innovative food… Well. Enormous skill goes into turning out food of this quality night after night – the flavours are clean and make the absolute best of the produce – all the food I ate was delicious, the service was friendly but very professional, and I look forward to my next visit.

Roux at Parliament Square
12 Great George Street
London
SW1P 3AD

March 9, 2012 British

Alan Murchison at Terravina, New Forest

I’m fortunate to live part of the week in the New Forest, with its outstanding produce, gorgeous landscape and free roaming pigs, ponies and cattle. There’s an increasingly significant food and wine scene developing here, with a notable number of fine hotels and food festivals.

One of the most interesting is the boutique wine hotel Hotel TerraVina established by Gerard and Nina Basset. Gerard co-founded the Hotel du Vin chain, has an enviable international reputation as a sommelier, and has represented the UK on several occasions, winning the Best Sommelier in the World award in 2010. Gerard is also a Master Sommelier, a Master of Wine, and was awarded an OBE in 2011 for services to the hospitality industry. His wife Nina is equally talented and became an AA hotel inspector at the tender age of just 21. They worked and met at Chewton Glen, another New Forest stalwart, and the opening of Hotel TerraVina saw their welcome return to the Forest.

When I heard that Alan Murchison, the michelin starred executive chef of L’Ortolan and the 10in8 Group was doing a pop-up at TerraVina, I knew I had to be at that dinner! Alan, Gerard and Nina are old friends, and between them they devised a menu which would showcase the talents and skills of both establishments.

We began with a glass of champagne, always a civilised way to start and evening and then Game Consommé: a good parsley tortellini filled with rabbit (I think), celeriac cream, a game consommé, and to my chums delight, little spheres of near liquid sherry.

Textures of Duck, Cherry and Mango: even the simplest looking dishes at this level are actually several days worth of work. First the duck breast is hot smoked with star anise and orange; the foie gras is marinated in port, cognac and maderia; and the duck confit is seperately marinated in thyme, cloves, bay leaves and garlic before they’re cooked. The resulting dishes are then layered in alternate strips brushed with melted foie gras, inside a parma ham lined mould. The terrine is rested in the fridge for 24 hours before being served with cherry, mango and lambs lettuce… The terrine managed to retain each of the three textures and flavours of the duck, but melded together perfectly. With a disk of brioche served in it’s own stand to keep it crisp, the cherry sauce and cherries were tart and offset the richness of the duck. The mango was a fine sliver of mango jelly, adding symmetry to the dish. Pinot Noir, from the Land’s Edge Vineyard was jammy and rich, and not overwhelmed by tannin.

Goats’ Cheese, Salted Crumble, Celery, Apple and Walnut: Alan’s goats cheese is made by the lovely Sarah Hampton at Brock Hall Farm in Shropshire. Made with the milk from her pure Saanen goats, the perfect cylinder of curd was gently sour, but slightly savoury, and very creamy. It was coated in a salted crumb which intensified the savouriness of the cheese. It was served with a tiny variation on a Wardolf salad, with crisp apple, slivers of celery and walnuts, with tiny cubes of grape jelly and coriander cress. There was also a drizzle of the most intense truffle honey I’ve ever tasted, overpowering on its own, but good with the curd. Gros Manseng, from Domaine des Cassagnoles was green, flinty with grapefruit notes.

Red Wine Poached Halibut, Tempura Oyster and Surf Clams: the halibut was perfectly cooked, the red wine poaching only covering the outer layer of the fish, it broke away into huge, fat, perfectly white flakes. There was a rich and savoury shallot and onion puree, intensified with with madeira and brown gravy, with a roast onion rose, and umami-rich shards of braised oxtail. The whole dish had very good savoury mouthfeel, but the umaminess didn’t overwhelm the halibut. I didn’t have the oyster I’m afraid, I do like oysters, but they really don’t like me. It’s a shame as there was an oyster panna cotta made with mascapone and cream that I’d have love to have tried, and saw being prepared in the kitchen. Pinot Gris, from Te Whare Ra was good, with some weight and just a hint of tannin, it stood up to the depth of the dish, and the lightness of the fish.

Smoked Sirloin, Bone Marrow, Kale, Garlic Cream: the smoked sirloin was prepared in a Big Green Egg which Alan had brought with him. The flavour was complex, but delicate, and served with a rich jus, iron rich curly kale, a bone marrow croquette and a rich garlic cream. There were fine slices of barely raw cauliflower, and a rich cauliflower cheese too, and tiny jelly cubes of consommé, I think. The garlic cream was incredibly flavoured, but very moreish and held its own against the other flavours on the dish. All in all a very strong combination of powerful and rich flavours which managed to support rather than compete with each other – a delicate balance but one achieved here. Château Lassegue, a Saint Emilion Grand Cru, was warm, rich, and complemented the rich savoury flavours of the dish.

Coconut and Mango: was a variation of the El Bulli reversed poached egg (which is cooked in a sodium alginate bath). I’ve had a couple of versions of this dish, but actually I prefer this one. Instead of the entire egg being cooked in the bath, only the mango yolk was, and the coconut element was actually a coconut espuma. It tasted of desiccated coconut (though I think made with coconut cream), and had an incredibly nostalgic flavour, it reminded me of the Spanish Gold sweet shredded tobacco we used to eat as children. The yolk poured onto the espuma and my chum was highly amused, she thought it was great fun. Botrytis Riesling, from the Kayena Vineyard was sweet, light and clean, with notes of melon and lychee – it cut through the intense sweetness of the mango.

Chocolate truffle with peanut butter and ice-cream: A cube of chocolate mousse with a swathe of peanut butter cream, which more intensely of peanuts than I would have imagined. It was served with a mascapone ice-cream, it was delicious, smooth, sour, creamy, it perfectly offset the richness of the peanut and the chocolate.

Chocolate, Lime Sorbet and African Amber Tea: the chocolate fondant was was served with a sorbet, shredded lime, a white chocolate sauce and tiny jelly cubes that I though tasted of Thai basil, but could just have easily have been the Amber tea. It was refreshing, with a densely chocolate hit only achieved by a 70%+ cocoa chocolate. Dolce Mataro, from Alella was rich, sweet, intense, and reminded me of some of the Sardinian dessert offerings. My chum found it far too sweet and strong, but you needed something this big to stand up to the bite of the chocolate.

Overall the menu was carefully devised and built up the intensity of the flavours. There was a good combination of very traditional and modern techniques, and given the restrictions of working in an unknown kitchen, the team managed to deliver a very varied and delicious meal. The wine pairings devised by the equally fabulous Hotel TerraVina team ratcheted up the enjoyment levels, and it was an excellent opportunity to have dinner devised by a michelin starred chef, and the worlds best sommelier.