Best of London 2012

Here is my list of best of London food shops , restaurants and wine establishments for 2012.

Best Restaurant(s) in London : Hedone , Dinner , Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road , Alain Ducasse (Dorchester) and The Ledbury

Best Sourcing and Ingredients : Hedone

Best Argentinian : Zoilo

Best Italian Restaurant (Southern & Sardinian) : L'Anima , 11 Park Walk and Mennula

Best Italian Restaurant (Northern) : Alloro , Zafferano & Locanda Locatelli

Best Pan Italian : Aspleys , River Cafe & Babbo

Best Trattoria : Mele e Pere

Best Casual Indian : Roti Chai

Best Indian (Modern) : Benares and Rasoi

Best Pakistani : Shezan & Saloos

Best Chinese : Hunan and Kai

Best Dim Sum : Pearl Liang , A Wong and Royal China (Baker St)

Best Thai :  Heron

Best Fusion : Apero , Zuma and Moro

Best Japanese : Umu and Sake No Hana

Best Vietnamese : head to Paris or Vietnam

Best Lebanese/Syrian : Ishbilia , Knightsbridge and Meza , Tooting

Best Greek : Mazi

Best Turkish : Mangal Ocakbasi (Stoke Newington)

Best Sushi : Sushi Tetsu , Yashin Sushi

Best French : Hibiscus , Gauthier Soho , Club Gascon , Alain Ducasse (Dorchester)

Best Modern British/European : The Ledbury

Best Spanish : Cambio de Tercio , Fino , Pizarro and Iberica

Best Tapas : Tendido Cedro , Donostia , Barrafina and José

Best English : St John's

Best Fish/Seafood : One - O - One , Knightsbridge

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

Best Service : Galvin's Windows , Goodman Maddox St , Hedone , Fino , Bar Boulud , and Zafferano

Best Sandwich : Fernandez and Wells and Kappacasein

Best Pub : The Ship (Wandsworth) , Hampshire Hog and Black Friar

Best Selection of Beer : Draft House and The Rake

Best Wine Bar : 28-50

Best Brasserie : Bob Bob Ricard

Best Maverick : Giaconda Dining Room , Brunswick House Café and 40 Maltby St

Best French Bistro/Bourgeois Cooking : Bistro Bruno and Koffmann

Best Burger :  Burger and Lobster , Goodman and Elliot's

Best "joint" Burger :  Meat Market , Meat Liquor

Best Chain Burger : Byron

Best Steak : Gillray's and Goodman

Best Steak Restaurant : Gillray's, Hawksmoor , Sophie's and Goodman

Best Grill : The Dorchester Grill

Best Pizza : Franco Manca (Brixton) and Santa Maria

Best Street Food : Mr Falafel ( Shepherds Bush )

Best Value for money Wine List : Bob Bob Ricard

Best Value for Money Restaurants : Koya , Sophie's ,  Burger and Lobster and Mangal Ocakbasi

Best Newcomers in London 2012 : Apero , Mele e Pere and Bubbledogs/Kitchen Table

Best Bakery/Bread : St John's Bakery and Hedone

Best Patisserie and Chocolatier : William Curley

Best Coffee : Prufork Coffee

Best Coffee Roaster : Square Mile

Best Cakes and Brownies : Bea's of Bloomsbury

Best Gelato :  Oddono's and La Gelatiera

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

Best Greengrocer : Andreas Veg Chiswick and Chelsea

Best Cheese Shop : La Fromagerie , Rippon , Neal's Yard and Beillevaire

Best Wine Merchants Retail : Lea and Sandeman, Philglas and Swiggot , Market Row Wines  and Handford

Best Wine Merchants Wholesale : Liberty , Fortyfive 10  and Bibendum

Recipe : The Real Spaghetti alla Carbonara ?

The story of the origin of this dish and its place in cucina Romana is essentially contested. There are several competing theories, but most are anecdotal or food mythology.

First, although often thought of as a typical Roman dish, the name is said to come from a dish made in the Appenine mountains of the Abruzzo by woodcutters who made charcoal for fuel. They would cook the dish over a hardwood charcoal fire and use penne rather than spaghetti because it is easier to toss with the eggs and cheese.

Second, is more obvious , that given the meaning of "alla carbonara", coal worker’s style, that the dish was a dish eaten by coal workers or that the abundant use of coarsely ground black pepper resembles coal flakes.

Another story or myth is that food shortages after the liberation of Rome in 1944 were so severe that Allied troops distributed military rations consisting of powdered egg and bacon which the local populace used with water to season the easily stored dried pasta. This GI's invented the dish story is very popular with American tourists in Rome.

There is also a theory that in the province of Ciociaria, in the region of Lazio about halfway between Rome and Benevento, pasta was seasoned in a Neapolitan style with eggs, lard, and pecorino cheese. During the German occupation of Rome during the World War II, many middle class families dispersed from Rome into this region to escape the oppressiveness of the occupation and learned about this dish. After the war, Roman cuisine became very popular throughout Italy and this dish, now transformed into carbonara, became a prime example.

Another story suggests that the famous restaurant in the Campo d’Fiori in Rome, La Carbonara, was named after its speciality. Although the restaurant has been open since the early part of the twentieth century, and does in fact have carbonara on its menu, the restaurant when I spoke to them they denied any such connection .

A highly unlikely story told in Il nuovo cucchiaio d’argento ( The Silver Spoon) is that the dish was originally made with black squid ink and therefore acquired its name as it was as black as coal.

Thanks to Daniel Young and Katie Parla I recently had the pleasure of meeting the great Roman Chef Arcangelo Dandini in London and we discussed this dish , I was pleasantly surprised to find that we used exactly the same ingredients Pasta Secca (Spaghetoni in this case) Guanciale , Pecorino Romano and Egg Yolks. What I did learn were a few tips on technique and that the egg yolks should be fridge cold before use. Arcangelo actually wrote out his recipe for me on a paper napkin see above .

Anyway here is the recipe :

Use the best possible, bronze dye-extruded durum wheat dried pasta; my preference is for Pastificio dei Campi. The guanciale should first be sliced lengthways into 5mm thick slices, either by knife or slicing machine, then cut by knife into 20mm lardons that look like a lean meat sandwich with fat at each end. The pepper should not be ground or milled; briefly roast whole peppercorns in a pan for a couple of minutes then crush medium–fine in a mortar and pestle — this brings out the aroma and oils of the pepper to infuse the dish. Egg yolks from marigold-fed hens are a deep gold in colour and contribute colour to the finished dish — in the UK you could use the Italian imported eggs or Burford Brown eggs from Clarence Court.

For four servings:400g spaghettoni-size long pasta, such as Pastificio dei Campi Vermicelli
80g pecorino Romano (Brunelli if possible), finely grated
100g Lazio-produced artisan guanciale, cut into lardons 5x20mm
3g black peppercorns
 4 fridge-cold free-range egg yolks.

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling, well-salted water for around 7-8 minutes, until al dente. Drain, but keep back some of the pasta water for the sauce.

Meanwhile, fry the guanciale in a frying pan until crisp but not charred; there is no need to use any fat. Retain all the fat and the crisped lardons and let them cool a little.

Beat the egg yolks with one third of the grated pecorino and 1.5Tbs of cooled guanciale fat and juices.
Finish the dish in a large bowl. Tip in the pasta then add the guanciale with the remaining fat, then some pasta water, then beaten eggs, then pepper, then another third of the cheese, mixing in between each stage; by the end there should be a creamy emulsion forming on the sides and bottom of the bowl. The emulsion is created from the mixing of the starch in the pasta water with the cheese, eggs and fat.

Use the remaining cheese to sprinkle on each 100g portion.

Many people are tempted to use cream in this dish but it is totally unnecessary as the cream like emulsion that is created by the yolks, fat, cheese and pasta water is the whole purpose of this dish. In Italy when made properly this dish has the perfect ratio of ingredients and is not too wet or over sauced , each component of the dish is both distinctive and at the same time perfectly blended , the perfect synthesis ! Buon appetito

Sourcing tips
Pasta

The very best :

Pastificio dei Campi , Vermicelli
Pastificio Mascarelli Spaghetti

Great value and often superior quality :
Supermarket own brands are often better than some of the more expensive globally marketed Italian industrial brands and are often half the price – these often change and therefore need to be monitored but recently I tasted Morrisons and Tesco’s top of the range own brands made for them by a top Pasta maker in the Naples area. Both were bronze –dyed extruded and the quality was very impressive.

However it’s really worth getting the best even at £10 or 12 + per kg the very best pasta secca is only going to cost £1 per portion.
.

The Staff Canteen

I wrote a post about Mark Morris's The Staff Canteen the UK's leading networking site for Chefs but also a very interesting case study for content marketers and curators. You can read the post here

About Gary Vaynerchuk

I wrote a post about the phenomenon that is Gary Vaynerchuk on the Lingospot blog , you can read it here

The Best 20 UK Restaurants Outside London 2011

Whole grilled lobster from Newhaven cooked Thermidor style, served with buttered samphire, sea spinach and sauteed squid. The Kitchin , Leith.


Here is the list of of the best restaurants outside London where I live. Generally speaking the quality of sourcing is often higher outside London but service levels can be patchy. The restaurants are not listed in order of preference but I would be happy to travel to all the ones listed for lunch or dinner.


1. The Kitchin. (Tom Kitchin)
2. The Royal Oak ( Dominic Chapman)
3. The Walnut Tree Inn (Shaun Hill)
4. The Fat Duck (Heston Blumenthal)
5. The Waterside Inn (Alain Roux)
6. Martin Wishart
7. The Star Inn (Andrew Pern)
8. Castle Terrace (Dominic Jack)
9. La Bécasse (Will Holland)
10. The Sportsman (Stephen Harris)
11. Nathan Outlaw
12 L'Enclume (Simon Rogan)
13 Restaurant Sat Bains
14 Lanterna Ristorante (Giorgio Alessio)
15 Le Champignon Sauvage (David Everitt-Matthias)
16 Siena Restaurant (Russel Brown)
17 The Elephant (Simon Hulstone)
18 L'Ortolan (Alan Murchison/Nick Chappell)
19 Mr Underhill ( Chris Bradley)
20 The Pipe and Glass (James Mackenzie)

N.B I have not eaten at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons for 3 years hence it's not on the list .

Top 5 Meals in London 2011

Toptable asked me to rate my top 5 meals in London during 2011 it was a tough choice but you can can read my choices here

2011 Best in London

Here is my list of best of London food shops , restaurants and wine establishments for 2011.

Best Italian Restaurant (Southern & Sardinian) : L'Anima , 11 Park Walk

Best Italian Restaurant (Northern) : Alloro , Zafferano & Locanda Locatelli

Best Pan Italian : River Cafe & Babbo

Best Indian : Roti Chai

Best Indian (Modern) : Benares , Rasoi

Best Pakistani : Shezan & Saloos

Best Chinese : Hunan , Kai

Best Dim Sum : Pearl Liang , Alisan and Royal China (Baker St)

Best Thai : Nahm & Heron

Best Fusion : Galoupet

Best Japanese : Umu and Sake No Hana

Best Vietnamese : head to Paris or Vietnam

Best Lebanese/Syrian : Ishbilia , Knightsbridge

Best Greek : none in London are rated.

Best Turkish : Mangal Ocakbasi (Stoke Newington)

Best Sushi : Yashin Sushi

Best French : Hibiscus , Gauthier Soho , Club Gascon , Alain Ducasse (Dorchester)

Best Modern British/European : The Ledbury , Petersham Nurseries , ( all with an Antipodean twist)

Best Spanish : Cambio de Tercio , Pizzaro & Iberica

Best Tapas : Barrafina and José

Best English : St John's

Best Fish/Seafood : One - O - One , Knightsbridge

Best Gastro Pub : Anchor & Hope , Great Queen St

Best Sandwich : Fernandez and Wells , Kappacasein

Best Pub : The Ship (Wandsworth) , Drafthouse (Westbridge)

Best Selection of Beer : Draft House and The Rake

Best Wine Bar : 28-50

Best Brasserie : Bob Bob Ricard

Best French Bistro/Bourgeois Cooking : Racine , Bistro Bruno & Koffmann

Best Burger : Hawksmoor, Goodman and Admiral Codrington

Best "joint" Burger : The Meatwagon , Meat Liquor

Best Chain Burger : Byron

Best Steak : Côte de Boeuf at Racine

Best Steak Restaurant : Hawksmoor and Goodman

Best Grill : The Dorchester Grill

Best Pizza : Franco Manca (Brixton) and Santa Maria

Best Street Food : Mr Falafel

Best Value for money Wine List : Bob Bob Ricard

Best Value for Money Restaurant : Koya & Mangal Ocakbasi

Best Newcomers in London 2011 : Hedone , Koya , Tinello and Roganic

Best Italian Deli : cannot vote on this category as have equity in the best :-)

Best Butcher : cannot vote on this category as have equity in the best :-)

Best Bakery : St John's Bread

Best Patisserie & Chocolatier : William Curley

Best Coffee : Prufork Coffee

Best Coffee Roaster : Square Mile

Best Cakes and Brownies : Bea's of Bloomsbury

Best Gelato : Cocorino , Oddono's and La Gelatiera

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

Best Cheese Shop : La Fromagerie , Rippon , Neal's Yard and Beillevaire

Best Wine Merchants Retail : Lea and Sandeman, Philglas and Swiggot and Handford

Best Wine Merchants Wholesale : Liberty , Fortyfive 10 , Eurowines and Bibendum

Best Fruit & Veg : Andreas Georghiou (Turnham Green Terrace)

Bruno Loubet Dinner chez les Critical Couple

Another remarkable dinner hosted by the Critical Couple , this was the sixth one and the first by a French Chef you can real all about it here

Ben Spalding dinner chez les Critical Couple

Ben Spalding created a spectacular feast for all the guests at the 5th Critical Couple Dinner . Read all about it here and watch out for this 24 year old talent as he is clearly a rare talent

Brett Graham dinner chez les Critical Couple

Brett Graham produced fireworks at a dinner described by Bruce Palling of the Wall Street Journam as the best meal he has ever eaten in a private residence . Read about it here

Alyn Williams Dinner chez les Critical Couple

Another superb evening at the Critical Couple you can read all about it here

The Best Sunday Lunch Ever ? . Dine with Dos Hermanos at Goodman London June 26th 2011

Had an amazing Sunday Lunch yesterday . World class produce brilliantly executed by a really professional kitchen brigade led by John Cadieux and served by a superb FOH team marshalled by David Strauss. You can read all about it here

Johnnie Mountain Dinner chez les Critical Couple

Another stunning dinner, you can read all about it here

11 Park Walk , London

I was intrigued when I heard that Roberto Pisano (Edera) and his business partner John De Stefano ( Chairman of The London Fine Dinning Group where reopening the former site of Aubergine, a restaurant that in it's lifetime produced superb French inspired cuisine under both Gordon Ramsay and then William Drabble . Furthermore John De Stefano decided to name it 11 Park Walk the very name of the pre Aubergine restaurant.

John De Stefano a very successful property developer and owner of London Fine Dining Group already has the excellent Alloro and Zafferano in his portfolio. Roberto Pisano co owns 11 Park Walk as well Edera with John De Stefano and recently became General Manager of London Fine Dining Group.

Pisano was practically born in a restaurant in his native Sardinia and his experience spans both the kitchen and front of house. In London you may have come across this consumate professional at Edera, but he has in the past charmed customers at both San Lorenzo and the excellent Teca.

Edera's Giancarlo Usai also from Sardinia has now become Executive Chef of both Edera and 11 Park Walk and the kitchen hit the ground running producing pan Italian delights.

Roberto Pisano like me shares an addiction to the finest quality Bottarga as well as Truffles and I'm happy to say both feature strongly on the on and off menu dishes at 11 Park Walk.

On my various visits to 11 Park Walk I have had outstanding Bottarga centric dishes like Carpaccio di bottarga di muggine con carciofi e pomodorini (Mullet roe carpaccio with fresh artichokes and cherry tomatoes) , Malloreddusu con carciofi e bottarga (Malloreddusu with fresh artichokes and bottarga) and what is the finest Spaghetti a la bottarga that I have had outside Sardinia, the concentrated taste of finest Cabras bottarga blended with spaghetti that has been cooked in fish stock, coated in a foamy emulsion created in the pan where the dish is finished is simply phenomenal.




Other highlights include perfectly executed Branzino al sale (whole Baked Sea bass for two baked in salt) served table side. Truffles not only feature in a number of pasta dishes but also in deserts including the perverse but wonderful Zabaglione topped with Black Truffles.






Cleverly the owners are making 11 Park Walk all day dinning so for me it will become my pre or post match restaurant of choice for home games at Stamford Bridge.

11 Park Walk is not just a great addition to this part of Chelsea but will surely become a destination restaurant for those seeking fine Italian cuisine.

The BIG D

A Very Special Dinner Party

It's only mid January and I have probably already been to the dinner party of the year.

The food was cooked by Jason Atherton and wines included Petrus , Latour and Vega Sicilia to name but a few . Fellow guests where all passionate about food , wine or both.

I cannot really add much to this post from our wonderful hosts The Critical Couple

You can read about the Dinner Party food and wine here

What to match with the world's best Bordeaux-style reds

I was asked to contribute to one of my favourite Food and Wine sites on the subject of matching food with top Bordeaux style reds. You can read it here and the wonderful matching Food and Wine with Fiona Beckett can be found here

Current Favourite Food Suppliers

The Chelsea Fishmonger
10 Cale Street,
Chelsea,
London, SW3 3QU.
Tel: 020 7589 9432


Mortimer and Bennet
Delicatesen & Fine Foods
33 Turnham Green Terrace
London
W4 1RG
Tel : 020 8995 4145

Andreas Veg
35 Turnham Green Terrace
London
W4 1RG
Tel : 020 8995 0140

O'Shea's of Knightsbridge
Butchers
11 Montpelier St.
Knightsbridge
London
SW7 1EX
Telephone : 0207 581 7771

Beillevaire

7 Montpellier Street.
Knightsbridge
London SW7 1EX
Telephone



The Ham and Cheese Company

Bea's of Bloomsbury

Food in the City

Poilane

Rhodes Bakery

Peter's Yard

Valvona & Crolla

Has Bean Coffee

Square Mile Coffee Roaster

Rare Tea Company

Best in London 2010

Here is my list of best of London food shops , restaurants and wine establishments for 2010 and you can compare with 2009 ,2008 here 2007 here and 2006 here


Best Italian Restaurant (Southern) : L'Anima , Mennula

Best Italian Restaurant (Northern) : Alloro , Zafferano & Locanda Locatelli

Best Pan Italian : River Cafe

Best Indian : The Painted Heron

Best Indian (Modern) : Benares , Rasoi

Best Pakistani : Shezan & Saloos

Best Chinese : Hunan , Kai

Best Dim Sum : Pearl Liang and Royal China (Baker St)

Best Thai : Nahm

Best Japanese : Umu and Sake No Hana

Best Vietnamese : Mien Tay , Battersea

Best Lebanese/Syrian : Ishbilia , Knightsbridge

Best Greek : none in London are rated.

Best Turkish : Mangal Ocakbasi (Stoke Newington)

Best Sushi : Sushi - Hiro (Ealing)

Best French : Hibiscus , Gauthier Soho , Club Gascon , Alain Ducasse (Dorchester)

Best Modern British/European : The Ledbury , Petersham Nurseries , Pied a Terre ( with an Antipodean twist)

Best Spanish : Cambio de Tercio

Best Tapas : Barrafina , Barrica

Best English : St John's

Best Fish/Seafood : One - O - One , Knightsbridge

Best Gastro Pub : Anchor & Hope , Great Queen St

Best Sandwich : Fernandez and Wells , Kappacasein

Best Pub : The Ship (Wandsworth) , Drafthouse (Westbridge)

Best Selection of Beer : Draft House and The Rake

Best Wine Bar : 28-50

Best Brasserie : Le Cafe Anglais & Bob Bob Ricard

Best French Bistro/Bourgeois Cooking : Chabrot Bistro D'Amis , Racine , Bistro Bruno

Best Burger : Hawksmoor , Goodman , Byron Big D (limited edition special)

Best Mid Range Burger : Byron

Best joint Burger : The Meatwagon ,Grazing (Tower Hill)

Best Steak : Côte de Boeuf at Racine

Best Steak Restaurant : Hawksmoor , Goodman , The Rib Room

Best Grill : The Rib Room & The Dorchester Grill

Best Pizza : Franco Manca

Best Street Food : Mr Falafel and The Meatwagon

Best Value for money Wine List : Bob Bob Ricard

Best Value for Money Restaurant : Polpo & Mangal Ocakbasi

Best Newcomers in London 2010 : 101 Pimlico Road , The Dock Kitchen ,Texture and Goodman (City)

Best Italian Deli : none in London are rated.

Best Butcher : Oshea's of Knightbridge

Best Bakery : St John's Bread , Franco Manca , Poilane

Best Patisserie & Chocolatier : William Curley

Best Cakes and Brownies : Bea's of Bloomsbury

Best Gelato : Cocorino

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

Best Cheese Shop : La Fromagerie , Rippon and Beillevaire

Best Wine Merchants : Berry Brothers & Rudd , Bibendum Wines

Best Fruit & Veg : Andreas Georghiou (Turnham Green Terrace)

Sleigh Ride - The Ronettes

Merry Xmas to all and here is the best Xmas Song of all time !