Rousillion, London

I returned to Roussillion last week after an absence of several years , having first enjoyed the always perfectly executed cuisine of Alexis Gauthier and his team in the late 1990's .

For some reason I always leave thinking I really should eat here more often as this restaurant really does have everything I normally expect to find in a fine restaurant. The food and service are very good and there is an excellent serious wine list in what remains a very understated restaurant hidden away half way down a side street on the Belgravia/Pimlico border.

On this occasion I was asked to choose a restaurant by an epicurean Greek technology entrepreneur where the food was good and we could actually talk at ease without intrusive service or noisy patrons . We had to eat fairly early as Tony K had to catch a flight to Cologne early the next day.

Saying that I ran into to a friend of mine who is amongst other things a member of the Chelsea FC medical team and we of course discussed the Serbian Horse Placenta wonder treatment.

Everything at Roussillion is as the French sometimes say is "correct" from the excellent homemade bread , the two (salted & unsalted) butters to the actual pace the staff move around the main room. Michael Lear runs the front of house with elegance and good humour and Roberto Della Pietra is one of the UK's top Sommelier's.

Alexis Gauthier who worked in amongst other places Chanteclerc at Hotel Negresco, Nice and Alain Ducasse’s Louis XV temple of gastronomy in Monte Carlo continues to produce beautifully executed dishes that wherever possible use locally sourced ingredients.

The amuse bouche included Chickpea Beignets with Mustard; and Canapés of Smoked Eel & Beetroot Purée which I have had before and a new one on me delicious pigeon heart pictured below.

I am afraid that the Black Truffle Risotto is really too good to resist and I didn't it was a perfectly balanced and executed combination of truffle , rice , butter and parmigiano .

My Veal and Morel main course was again perfectly cooked and presented but I found the Isle of Wight Veal lacked flavour maybe I should pluck up courage and introduce Alexis to my butcher who not only has the best beef and pork I can get my hands on in the UK but superb Irish Rose Veal. We drank a Montagny 1er Cru,Château de la Saule 2007 that worked well with all our courses. Tony had :

SCALLOPS & PEAR ROASTED LARDED SCALLOPS, LIGHT CAULIFLOWER CREAM, CRISPY & CRUNCHY PEAR, JUS DE ROTI

BLACK OLD SPOT PIG & BRAMLEY APPLE BRAISED BELLY RUBBED WITH INDONESIAN PEPPER, ROASTED MIGNON, GLOBE ARTICHOKE,FOIE GRAS & GRILLED APPLE


After a pre desert of clafoutis of pear and choclolat we both ended our fine meal with a circular version of Ducasse's Louis XV - hazelnut praline, over thin biscuit base, sandwiched between chocolate ganache and covered in dark chocolate sauce , finished with with gold leaf.

I think I need to come here more often or at least as often as I go to Hunan around the corner !




Amuse Bouche. PIGEON HEART , CONFIT TOMATO , CARAMALISED BABY ONION AND CRISPY LARDON



Entrée. BLACK TRUFFLE RISOTTO



Plat Principal. VEAL & MORELS THIN & SOFT CUT OF CALVES SHANK, BATTERED SWEETBREAD, CREAMED MORELS & CABBAGE,
BACON & LIVER PARCELS




Desert. LOUIS XV

Working on Best of 2009

Seems like only yesterday that I was publishing my annual Best of list the last twelve months have really flown by.
You can see my 2008 list here
This year I plan to have more categories including Best Spanish , Vietnamese , Thai , Best Cafe , Best Bistro/Bourgeois Cooking and best Pizza.
Please let me know what you think ? I plan to release my list in the next few weeks.

Eco , London : The Forgotten Gem

There is a very strong connection between the best pizzas in London and the owners of Eco in Clapham the Wassif family. In fact the owners of Eco today were owners of the site of the original Franco's Pizzeria in Brixton Market (in it's time the best) that they later opened as Eco Brixton after Franco moved to North London to set up Casale Franco. These days the site is Franco Manca widely accepted as the best authentic Neapolitan pizza base in London. The Wassif's are working with Giuseppe Mascoli to launch Franco Manca in Chiswick which is due to open in December 2009. In fact the artisan ovens are being hand built at this moment on site in Chiswick always between 90 and 130cm wide and no more than 35cm high on the inside.These dimensions will determine the oven's heat and humidity and mean just like in Brixton pizzas will cook in 40 seconds at 500 C + .

Sami Wassif a genial Egyptian businessman and epicurean has also invested in a number of high profile restaurants including Hakassan and worked on a number of Alan Yau projects not to mention with great talents like Francesco Mazzei who has now established the best Italian Restaurant in the UK , L'Anima .


Some 17 years ago when Franco went "missing" I remember hearing about the link with Eco and trying the Pizzas in the newly opened Clapham High Street restaurant . What struck me at the time was how light and digestable the base was as well as the quality of the toppings.

I recently returned to Eco and found it almost unchanged apart from a slightly bigger space and more extensive menu that includes salads and grilled meats and vegetables.

The pizza I had with ham , egg, red and green chilis was as I remember all those years ago. The restaurant was packed to the rafters with regulars and neophytes enjoying the great food and atmosphere overseen by probably the best front of house team I have come across in a Pizzeria !

Restaurants come and go on Clapham and many other High Streets in the UK and when one has been around for as long as Eco it usually means the food and atmosphere must be damned good !

Melanzana , The boys are back

Lucio and Jimmy are back on the square with a new partner Paolo.

They had previously been across the road now a Dry Cleaners with a small deli cafe but now have created a Deli , Cafe and Tratoria that serves simple mainly southern Italian cuccina casalinga .

Even though Melanzana opened yesterday I was able to enjoy an excellent plate of pasta a la Norma (Rigatoni with aubergine , tomato and garlic sauce with Sicilian Ricotta).

The daily changing menu is available to eat in or take away.

The deli counter has a wide range of salumi , hams and cheeses and there is excellent bread and small selection of vegetables.

It's also great to be able to get a decent espresso as the other places on Battersea Square have coffee which frankly is as bad as their food.

Melanzana is a much needed addition to the Battersea Square area that is open for breakfast through to dinner .