Steak Frites Tasting Dinner Monday 12 April - Racine

The next youngandfoodish Steak Frites Tasting Dinner will be Monday 12 April in the private dining room of Racine Restaurant in London.

The menu will again feature three steak classics – onglet aux échalottes, filet au poivre, côte de boeuf – prepared by chef Henry Harris with the finest cuts of dry-aged, grass-fed beef selected by Darragh O’Shea of the great London butcher O’Shea’s of Knightsbridge. Each steak will be matched to a red wine selected by Peter Lowe of Berkmann Wine Cellars:

onglet aux échalottes <–> Morgon Domaine Jean Descombes 2008
filet au poivre <–> Antinori Santa Cristina 2008
côte de boeuf with béarnaise <– > Côtes-du-Rhône Saint-Esprit 2007

Steak Frites : Mastering the cuts video 6 .The Finale la Côte de Boeuf

Here is the sixth and final release of the videos, shot by Brian Jones and co-produced by Dino Joannides Dino Joannides and Daniel Young, will form the backdrop of our “why do you love steak frites?” competition on twitter, hopefully inspiring your most poetic, passionate or playful responses. [HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION].

The Rib Eye on the bone or Cowboy Steak as Americans call it and Côte de Boeuf as it's known in France is normally cut for two to share so perfect for lovers and good friends.In fact I know some couples who call it the kiss and make up steak. It is basically a thick rib eye with the bone attached. The bone always enhances a steak and this cut presents beautifully and theatrically when carved, and served at the table either in a restaurant or at home . This is one of the cuts that does benefit from aging at O'Shea's it is aged for 45 - 55 days. A well aged and marbled Côte de Boeuf should not need a sauce and is perfect with good Mustard or Bearnaise as a condiment.

In the final video in the series Henry Harris Chef Patron of Racine Restaurant shows how he cooks a wonderful Irish Black Angus Grass Fed and Barley Finished Côte de Boeuf from O'Shea's of Knightsbridge. This combination of chef and butcher has now attained cult status with the cognoscenti claiming it is the best in the world. Henry Harris prefers to use a thick pan as well plenty of butter but as important is resting the meat.

Steak Frites : Mastering the cuts video 5. Raw Essentials

Here is the fifth of our daily release of the videos, shot by Brian Jones and co-produced by Dino Joannides Dino Joannides and Daniel Young, will form the backdrop of our “why do you love steak frites?” competition on twitter, hopefully inspiring your most poetic, passionate or playful responses. [HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION].

The Onglet is a family favourite it has a massive flavour kick when properly cooked. To some the cut looks unattractive when removed from the carcass, a good knife can quickly transform it into a real beauty. Watching Dermot and Darragh O'Shea preparing it is like poetry in motion. Onglet is two muscles divided by tough connective tissue, which must be removed, and is taken from the diaphragm of the animal. Because of it's location it has a slight gamey, offally flavour not present in any of the other loin cuts. In terms of ageing this cut does not require or benefit much from more than 21 to 28 days.

Fillet is the most tender steak of all, but it is not necessarily the one with the most flavour. It is sought after for its delicate structure and lack of fat but ironically these are the characteristics that can make it rather bland when compared to the other great beef cuts like Onglet, Rib eye and Rump.

Fillet is cut from the inside of the beef loin, it does very little work and is therefore very tender. It can be improve when dry-aged and cut on the bone. We age our Irish and Scottish Black Angus Grass Fed and Barley Finished Fillet for around 21- 28 days but even at 15 days it can produce superb results when cooked and served correctly.

Fillet doesn't benefit from long ageing. If left too long in a vacuum it can develop a metallic taste as the enzymes over work. Too long hanging on the bone and it will dry out, losing some of it's moisture and tenderness .

The Rib Eye on the bone or Cowboy Steak as Americans call it and Côte de Boeuf as it's known in France is normally cut for two to share so perfect for lovers and good friends.In fact I know some couples who call it the kiss and make up steak. It is basically a thick rib eye with the bone attached. The bone always enhances a steak and this cut presents beautifully and theatrically when carved, and served at the table either in a restaurant or at home . This is one of the cuts that does benefit from aging at O'Shea's it is aged for 45 - 55 days. A well aged and marbled Côte de Boeuf should not need a sauce and is perfect with good Mustard or Bearnaise as a condiment.

In the video below Henry Harris Chef Patron of Racine and Darragh O'Shea of O'Shea's Knightsbridge discuss the raw essentials of Onglet , Fillet and Côte de Boeuf.

Steak Frites : Mastering the cuts video 4. Béarnaise

Here is the fourth of our daily release of the videos, shot by Brian Jones and co-produced by Dino Joannides Dino Joannides and Daniel Young, will form the backdrop of our “why do you love steak frites?” competition on twitter, hopefully inspiring your most poetic, passionate or playful responses. [HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION].

With a côte de bœuf especially if you have invested in a really top class well aged piece of meat from a premium Butcher you don't really need much more than a top quality Dijon Mustard or proper homemade Béarnaise. I also love them both equally so tend to alternate between the two with each forkful of succulent steak which of course means I tend to go for big steaks !

In this video Henry Harris Chef Patron of Racine Restaurant shows how to make the perfect Béarnaise and how to avoid the mistakes so many home cooks make which cause both anxiety and stress. Henry's Béarnaise is not that difficult to make and well worth the trouble it is so much better the bought in stuff so often found in some restaurants or even the best versions one finds in supermarkets or delis.

Steak Frites : Mastering the cuts video 3. Filet au poivre

This is the third of our daily release of the videos, shot by Brian Jones and co-produced by Dino Joannides Dino Joannides and Daniel Young, will form the backdrop of our “why do you love steak frites?” competition on twitter, hopefully inspiring your most poetic, passionate or playful responses. [HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION].

Fillet is the most tender steak of all, but not necessarily the one with the most flavour. It is sought after for its delicate structure and lack of fat but ironically these are the characteristics that can make it rather bland when compared to the other great beef cuts like Onglet, Ribeye and Rump.

Fillet is cut from the inside of the beef loin, it does very little work and is therefore very tender. It can be improve when dry-aged and cut on the bone. O'Shea's of Knightsbridge age their Irish and Scottish Black Angus Grass Fed and Barley Finished Fillet for around 21- 28 days but even at 15 days it can produce superb results when cooked and served correctly.

Fillet doesn't benefit from long ageing. If left too long in a vacuum it can develop a metallic taste as the enzymes over work. Too long hanging on the bone and it will dry out, losing some of it's moisture and tenderness .

Unfortunately like with the other cuts you need to be very careful when selecting your beef as quality varies hugely so my advice is find a good Butcher ask about the provenance of the meat , the breed , what it's fed on , husbandry and so on. If the Butcher says things like Scotch, English or Argentinian and not much more you are probably in the wrong place.

Great Chefs like Henry Harris of Racine Restaurant as well as home cooks will always prepare a sauce with this delicate cut and, in the video below you can see him cook Fillet au Poivre a dish he learned to cook under the tutelage of the great Simon Hopkinson in the seminal mid 1980's restaurant Hilaire , just around the corner in Old Brompton road. That kitchen brigade then moved on to open Bibendum with Terrance Conran. The combination of veal stock , butter , black pepper , brandy and top class Fillet steak produces a wonderful steak dis that also goes very well with pommes frites. The first time I remember having this dish was when I was a child in Paris at a restaurant called Pharamond in Les Halles and it was served with pommes souffles. However I can confirm that the combination of O'Shea's of Knightsbridge Fillet and Henry Harris's cooking produced simply the best one I have ever had.

Steak Frites : Mastering the cuts, video 2: the shalls & shallots of onglet

Here is the second of our daily release of the videos, shot by Brian Jones and co-produced by Dino Joannides Dino Joannides and Daniel Young, will form the backdrop of our “why do you love steak frites?” competition on twitter, hopefully inspiring your most poetic, passionate or playful responses. [HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION].

The Onglet is also one of our family favourites it has a massive flavour kick when properly cooked. To some the cut looks unattractive when removed from the carcass, a good knife can quickly transform it into a real beauty. Watching Dermot O'Shea preparing it is like poetry in motion. Onglet is two muscles divided by tough connective tissue, which must be removed, and is taken from the diaphragm of the animal. Because of it's location it has a slight gamey, offally flavour not present in any of the other loin cuts.

As Henry Harris says this is one of the classic Bistro steaks of France. It is beautiful cooked on a searing hot griddle and then rested until warm through, but it must be rare. Onglet is very fibrous and therefore must be cut across the grain. By doing this, you shorten the fibres and make them softer on the palate. Americans call it Hanger and we call it Thick Skirt.

The Onglet is often called the Butcher's Cut as it was thought that the butcher would keep it for himself and his family and maybe that's we like to call it Steak O'Shea.

The second video in our series shows Henry Harris" Chef Patron of Racine cooking Onglet aux échalottes or à la Bordelaise.

Steak Frites : Mastering the cuts, video 1. Frites

To enhance and celebrate our shared appreciation for an unsurpassed pairing of meat and potatoes, youngandfoodish launches steak frites – mastering the cuts, a series of 6 web videos featuring Racine Chef Patron Henry Harris, with meat by Darragh O’Shea of O’Shea’s of Knightsbridge.

The daily release of the videos, shot by Brian Jones a co-production between Daniel Young and Dino Joannides, will form the backdrop of our “why do you love steak frites?” competition on twitter, hopefully inspiring your most poetic, passionate or playful responses. [HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION].

The winner, along with his or her guest, will be invited to the premiere of the youngandfoodish 3-steak tasting dinners at Racine on Monday, 22nd March. Henry Harris will prepare three cuts of O’Shea beef in the styles best suited to each: onglet aux échalottes, filet au poivre, côte de boeuf with béarnaise sauce. The meat will be matched to three bistro-style reds selected by Peter Lowe of Berkmann Wine Cellars.

Of course there is no steak frites without potatoes. Not just any potatoes, but floury potatoes like Desiree, Maris Piper that score 5 on the waxy / floury scale cut in the ideal shape for holding and dipping. As Harris explains in the first video, you never need to use a fork with frites:

Zafferano, London

I was lucky enough to eat many times at Zafferano between 1995 and 1998 when Giorgio Locatelli was Head Chef. It was here that I have eaten some of the best Italian food in the UK along with Giorgio's eponymous Locanda Locatelli , L'Anima and Franco Taruschio's The Walnut Tree Inn.

After Giorgio’s departure, his number two, Andrew Needham, took over the reins and I continued to be delighted by my meals between 1999 onwards however I must confess that until last Thursday I had not eaten there for a couple of years. Needham has an excellent background starting as a teenager at the Savoy prior to working at Paris’ Le Pre Catalan followed by a stint at Giorgio’s uncle’s La Cinzianella on the borders of Lombardy and Piedmont.

I am pleased to report that my meal was up to the usual high standard and despite having limited time as my companion had to return to Saudi Arabia I had two lovely courses ( no vino )

My Pappardelle allo zafferano con guanciale di maiale (Homemade saffron pappardelle with pig cheeks) was outstanding . The quality of the pigs cheeks was apparent unlike some very poor ones I recently had at Dean Street Townhouse.

The Tonno alla griglia con rucola e pomodorini siciliani (Char grilled tuna with rocket and Sicilian cherry tomatoes) was a simple well executed dish where the basic ingredients stood out from the Tuna itself to the choice of tomatoes and rocket.

We finished with excellent esspreso and a mini pistacio ice cream cone on the casa !

Service was both totally professional and charming.

I intend to return here soon and try some of the other dishes especially those that feature veal and see if Needham's reputation for meticulous procurement applies to everything that appears on the menu.

Bibendum , London

In 1987 Terence Conran resumed his role as a restaurateur when, in partnership with publisher Paul Hamlyn and chef Simon Hopkinson, he opened Bibendum in the Michelin building in Chelsea. Hopkinson had been the Chef at the seminal Hilaire on Old Brompton road along with Matthew & Henry Harris who also moved to Bibendum.

Today Matthew Harris is Head Chef whilst his brother Henry is Chef Patron at Racine after stints at amongst other places Harvey Nichols Fifth Floor and the Soho House Group. Others that have passed through the kitchens of Bibendum include Bruce Poole , Jeremy Lee’s and Philip Howard.

Simon Hopkinson helped establish the style of cooking based on classic French Bourgeois cooking with a smattering of influences from Italy , Spain and the UK. Matthew Harris has continued the tradition since Simon Hopkinson stopped cooking.

Even after 22 years Bibendum housed in the part modern, part Art Deco Michelin building remains one of the most beautiful restaurant rooms in the country. In fact the whole building including the Conran Shop , Bibendum Oyster Bar and offices was really a case study for a brilliant design and branding.

I was lucky enough to be taken to Bibendum by my parents in it's early days and fondly remember the best Roast Bresse Chicken, Crème Brulée and Bread and Butter Pudding that I have ever had in the UK . I always felt that Bibendum was the only restaurant that Terrance Conran was involved with where the brilliant design was matched with food that had great flavour and was based on wonderful ingredients. Over the years I have seen Simon Hopkinson eating in a number of restaurants ranging from La Tupina in Bordeaux to Giaconda Dinning Room in London. It is clear from these glimpses and, his brilliant writing that this superb cook also really loves eating.

I went back last week on a Friday lunchtime to see how the place is doing after hearing some disturbing reports about the quality of the food and also because it had been over 3 years since my last visit.

Sadly based on this meal the reports were largely true . My starter of peppers stuffed with tuna was very average and I would guess that it had spent a bit too long in the fridge post preparation whilst my haddock and chips was really very poor. The latter was a dish I have eaten many times but the soft and over flowery batter around an almost tasteless piece of haddock was compounded by what I can only describe as pommes allumettes not actually bad but in my opinion totally inappropriate in terms of thickness. My companion asked me to taste his rump of beef and it was really was a shock as the meat was clearly under hung and I suspect that it was not sourced from one of our few top butchers but rather standard Smithfield sourced catering butchers product. This is not what I expected from a restaurant with such a great pedigree and tradition.

On the positive side the Crème Brulée was as good as ever and one of the wines we drank was an outstanding Castello del Terriccio Tassinaia 2004. Service can only be described as excellent.

My sad conclusion is that this restaurant may need to improve it's procurement pretty quickly as I cannot believe that 4 tables at Lunchtime on Friday bodes well.

Terroirs, London

I finally had my third meal at Terroirs and really wish I had been more often since it opened especially when I think about how many poor meals and unimaginative wine lists I have been subjected to over the past six months.

On my most recent visit last week I started with the Cantabrian Anchovies , Shallots & Unsalted Butter , this is great starter that gets your taste buds racing for what is to come. To follow I enjoyed a really delicious Cassoulet finishing off with some cheese, Fourme d’Ambert, Rocamadour, Soumaintrain and Saint Nectaire . My only quibble was the Toulouse sausage in the Cassoulet was not good enough and maybe not even a genuine Toulouse however the other meats were perfect.



My companion had a Selection of Charcuterie that included Duck Rillettes ,Saucisson “Noir de Bigorre” and Pork & Pistachio Terrine. He then had a fabulous roast Quail dish and also finished off with cheese.



We drank a glass of Champagne Philipponnat Royale Réserve Brut followed by a superb Trinchero Barbera d'Asti 2003 ending with a glass of 2007 Moscato d’Asti, Vigna Vecchia, Ca’ da Gal.



This was my first meal in the downstairs section of Terroirs and it was as good as the other meals I have enjoyed upstairs . For me Terroirs ticks all the boxes, a very good well chosen wine list with simple well selected , procured and executed dishes complimented by very high levels of service.

Terroirs has a simple Philosophy: Great food and great wine sourced with an eager eye for provenance and as long as they continue to deliver they will have my regular custom.

Dean Street Townhouse, London

I thought I was going to get away without having to review Dean Street Townhouse because having eaten here twice before I was confident that the required third meal could be avoided.

The reason for my third meal was a lunch with Helen the author of the brilliant World Foodie Guide . We were limited to Soho for the venue and somehow we settled on Dean Street Townhouse.

The Dean Street Townhouse has on the whole received very positive reviews but closer reading of the reviews may lead you to conclude that the food is no great shakes.

Well let me be very clear about the food , it is really awful in a nutshell poor quality ingredients more often than not very badly executed.The restaurant dinning room is really quite delightful and "clubby" but the kitchen seems to be unable to produce food that even matches those of Soho , Electric , Shoreditch , High Road and Babbington Houses !

My advice is go for some Oysters and a grilled Dover sole any dishes requiring a skilled cook/chef and good procurement are likely to disappoint.

For my most recent meal I started with twice baked haddock Souffle - it was not what I would call a souffle but I can confirm it had haddock in it followed by Pork cheeks with parsnip mash, glazed carrots and cider . The pork was of very poor quality and the sauce seemed to have been thickened with copious amounts of corn starch.

Other dishes I have tried chicken pie , salt beef , steak and roast chicken all average at best but frankly piss poor.

One wonders if there is any incentive for the Soho House Group to improve the food when reviews have largely been positive , the room is lovely, service is excellent and the place is fully booked with a good smattering of minor and major celebrities ?

I suspect Dean Street Townhouse Dinning Room has already achieved in a few months what Brasserie Lipp in Paris founded in 1880 has , a beautiful chic restaurant , great atmosphere serving dire food whilst still remaining popular .

101 Pimlico Road , London

101 Pimlico Road occupies the site of one of Chelsea's famous Italian restaurants, La Fontana and most recently Vivezza. La Fontana established in the 60's attracted a slighter older segment of the Chelsea set and was famous for it's seasonal truffle menus. It was therefore no surprise to spot one of London's Truffle purveyors, Alfredo pop in and have a chat with Keith Goddard the Head Chef at 101. In fact I actually smelt him before I saw him as, his leather "man bag" was full of Tuber's.

I first met Keith Goddard during his stint at O'Shea's Knightsbridge where he spent a year learning about top class meat from an 8th generation butcher and his father. When you consider how much poor quality meat is served in London restaurants of all types one can only hope other aspiring and even established chefs consider investing time and effort understanding key elements of their supply chain. It was actually at O'Shea's of all places that Keith produced simply the best Chocolate Brownie I have ever had.

Keith is still in his late twenties,and a graduate of The French Culinary Institute in New York. He has since developed his skills in a couple of start up restaurants in NYC then at Oliver Peyton's The Wallace and with Tom Aikens eponymous restaurant in Chelsea.

Will Guess who now owns and runs Rowley's in Jermyn Street (after taking over from his father) is the main investor and with Keith running the kitchen we have one of London's youngest teams to launch a new restaurant.

My original plan was to visit 101 with one of Keith's mentors but for various reasons this was not possible. The restaurant is still less than 3 months old and after some teething problems front of house the operation seems well set to support the beautifully executed food.

On my most recent visit with my wife for lunch we both had a really light and subtle confit of salmon served with a truffled egg.

My main of Battered Cod with truffle chips , spinach and lemon beurre blanc was a revelation. My wife adored her lobster and octopus salad made with the freshest leaves and herbs I have tasted for some time , in fact she was positively reluctant to let me taste.

Both deserts ; Crème Brulée with cinnamon shortbread and Chocolate Tart with peanut butter ice cream sprinkled with Maldon Salt were exemplary.

We drank a decent Pouilly Fume "Des Coques" 2007 .

My only quibble in fact is the wine list that though well chosen is rather limited in numbers and choice of wines but I'm assured this is a work in progress and a more extensive wine list is being developed.

101 Pimlico road is a welcome addition to both the area and the London restaurant scene .

Franco Manca , Chiswick , London

I have sung the praises of the original Franco Manca in Brixton here and also covered the link between Eco , Franco and Franco Manca here


The new Franco Manca in Chiswick's soft opening was on Saturday December 12 , 2009, 14 days after the amazing oven built by the same Neapolitan artisans used in the Brixton branch was fired up.

The menu and formula here is the same simple 6 pizzas but there are some additions on the wines and beers . An organic Czech Lager and a range of Piedmontese wines from an Organic Wine cooperative.

Today I had another beautiful light sourdough Pizza with tomato , mozzarella and home cured Gloucester Old Spot Ham cooked in 38 seconds in the amazing 500c real wood fired oven !

There are 80 covers in the former Eco site , lovely brown granite tables , charming waiting staff and a wonderful mural from Enzo Apicella who did the same for some of the early Pizza Express restaurants in the 1960's.

By early next year Chiswick and Brixton will be baking 15,000 + Pizzas a month which is good news for lovers of the real thing !

Best of 2009 in London

Here is my list of best food shops , restaurants and wine establishments for 2009 and you can compare with 2008 here 2007 here and 2006 here

Best Italian Restaurant : L'Anima

Best Indian : Bombay Palace

Best Indian (Modern) : Benares

Best Pakistani : New Tayyabs & Saloos

Best Chinese : Hunan

Best Thai : Nahm

Best Japanese : Umu

Best Vietnamese : Mien Tay , Hackney and Battersea

Best Lebanese/Syrian : Ishbilia

Best Sushi : Sushi - Hiro

Best French : The Square , Hibiscus and Le Gavroche

Best Spanish : Cambio de Tercio

Best Tapas : Fino ; Barfina

Best English : St John's

Best Fish/Seafood : J Sheekey

Best Gastro Pub : Anchor & Hope , Great Queen St & Harwood Arms

Best Selection of Beer : Draft House and The Rake

Best Wine Bar : Vinoteca

Best Brasserie : Le Cafe Anglais

Best Bistro/Bourgeois Cooking : Racine , Knightsbridge

Best Burger : Hawksmoor

Best Steak : Cote de Boeuf at Racine

Best Steak Restaurant : Hawksmoor ,& Goodmans

Best mid range Burger : Byron Burger

Best Pizza : Franco Manca

Best Value for money Wine List : Andrew Edmunds

Best Value for Money Restaurant : Giaconda Dinning Room

Best Italian Deli : Speck

Most over rated : The Wolseley , River Cafe and Sketch

Best Butcher : Oshea's Knightbridge

Best Bakery : St John's Bread , Franco Manca & K&S Bakery (German breads only)

Best Patisserie : William Curley

Best Cakes and Brownies : Bea's of Bloomsbury

Best Fishmonger : The Chelsea Fishmonger (Rex Goldsmith), Chelsea Green

Best Cheese Shop : La Fromagerie

Best Wine Merchants : Berry Brothers & Rudd , Bibendum Wines

Best Fruit & Veg : Andreas Georghiou , Turnham Green Terrace

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 .

Madsen , London

Madsen has now been open for a year at the South Kensington station end of Old Brompton road, not too far from where the seminal Hilaire restaurant opened it's doors many moons ago and less than 500 meters from another Danish restaurant Lundum's that closed about 3 years ago.

Charlote Kruse Madsen a graduate École Hotelière de Lausanne in Switzerland who trained at Ida Davidsen’s in Copenhagen, s founded the contract catering company Madsen Food in 2006, with the aim of bringing the Scandinavian food experience to London and a year ago Madsen Restaurant opened it's doors serving modern Danish food.

Once you enter the restaurant you you are transported to a typical modern Scandinavian environment of simple clean lines light woods and friendly and efficient staff. It reminded me of visiting the offices of Scandinavian Broadcaster SBC in Hounslow, where as soon as you enter you could be in Oslo , Stockholm or Copenhagen !

Lunch features Smushi , a smaller version of the traditional Danish open sandwich called ”Smørrebrød”. They are beautifully decorated on either dark rye or white sour dough bread with healthy fish, meat and vegetarian options. Warm dishes that include daily specials are avaialbe as well and range from Frikadelle , Danish meatballs with red cabbage and new potatoes to Braised pork shank on a bed of caramelised cabbage, pearl onion and mustard to Pan-fried, breaded filet of Irish plaice served with broccoli tossed in oyster remoulade. There are plenty of vegetarian options and gluten free bread is available on request.

Last night my companions and I had a wonderful dinner that kicked of with shots of Akvavit followed by the excellent value set dinner.





Salad of baked pumpkin and salted seeds with little gem lettuce and honey vinaigrette and extra hot smoked Scottish salmon. This was a delightful simple perfectly balanced and well executed starter.




The main course was the daily special of Frikadeller” -Danish Pork Meatballs with red cabbage , gravy and mashed potatoes. The meatballs were light and perfectly cooked servers with al dente red cabbage , thick gravy and excellent mashed potatoes in a side bowl. We drank a Gavi ‘La Zerba’ 2007 which complimented all our food.



We finished with a truly delicious "Rødgrød med fløde” the famous Danish red berry pudding served cold with cream .

I look forward to returning soon to work through the rest of the menu !

Leong's Legends : A one trick pony ?

I have been to Leong’s Legends about six times now and have tried most things on the menu.

The restaurant claims to be Taiwanese but has many standard Cantonese dishes that one would encounter in most of the Cantonese centric establishments in London’s China Town or other comers of the world where Cantonese communities are well established be it Hong Kong or of course Taiwan.

My conclusion on this restaurant is that the vast majority of dishes are average to poor but there are a few really outstanding ones.

Other dishes that are good to above average include Taiwan Mini Kebab with pork though sometimes it is far too fatty, grilled minced pork buns (not a patch on Hunan’s) a spicy beef noodle soup (again the brisket can be too fatty for my taste) and the pork belly stew.

The Xiao Long Bao (pictured above) are certainly the best I have had in London and only second to some I had in a restaurant in Liverpool called The Orient over 15 years ago (in terms of UK). Both restaurants achieved the perfect balance of dumpling texture broth and pork filling. Of course neither reach the levels that I have been lucky enough to sample in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei but they get close !

Leong’s Xiao Long Bao are in fact so good that I will continue to frequent this establishment even if it’s only for a late breakfast at noon when it opens it’s doors.