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Posts Tagged ‘Corrigan’

Ocean’s 11 – Taste & Obsession

Posted in Drink, Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

If you have just searched for Ocean’s 11 and are thinking, how did I stumble across a food blog, I apologise. You see, I’m a bit of a Rat Pack fan and 11 had a pretty significant meeting this weekend. With the torrential downpour we’ve had over the last few days also, ocean seemed a pretty good analogy too. So why is 11 significant? Well it was Taste of London 2011 at Regent’s Park and I just so happened to get another signature for Project Obsession, number 11 in fact.

This was our 7th visit to Taste (we think, it’s a bit of blur now). Only the second time that we’ve experienced such rain but we still had fun wading across the mud pools from stand to stand to gorge ourselves on food and drink. I’ve written about taste before so I won’t go into great detail about it and instead just give a few special mentions and the highlights for us.

Corrigan's Crispy Black Pudding

Corrigan’s had a great menu and was our first stop, crispy black pudding and a ground steak burger with bone marrow. Both amazing flavours and great good hearty food that you expect from Richard Corrigan and his team. We had a great couple of chats the Head Chef, Chris, and look out for something happening in the future as I may have just talked my way into their kitchen. Not for a real job of course, I have definitely realised after my experiences, I am no chef. Next door to Corrigan’s was Bentleys which for me had the star dish, Scallops ceviche. Never had anything like it and I really want more, beautiful scallops with a hint of chilli and fresh sweet fruit.

Next mention goes to Launceston Place. We bumped into Tristan Welch as we were walking round and he seemed to be enjoying the weather. The suckling pig was on again this year and just as good. The chocolate mess for me was the dessert of the day as I don’t really do desserts. Valrhona chocolate mousse, a bit of spice, divine chocolate goodness. I love Tristan’s food because as serious as he is about food, there is a fun feeling about it  as you will see from the photo.

Rhodes 24 provided what my wife described as the best lemon tart ever. I wouldn’t know, she didn’t let me have any. I was on the white tomato soup. It was quite odd drinking a white soup that tasted so rich with tomato and Mr Rhodes again was a real gent and happy to chat away. We stopped by Le Gavroche to have a chat with Michel Roux Jr and this is where 11 comes into play again. The Obsession book that I had been lugging around all day was brought out and Michel was kind enough to sign his page for me. So Project Obsession get’s its first signature for a while and so I plan the next.

Our last food stop was at L’Anima where we were treated like stars. Chris at Corrigan’s had sent us down and Chef Francesco Mazzei was the perfect host. We were treated to their icon dish of wild mushroom fettucine with black summer truffle and an amaretto tiramisu. The fettucine was just pure indulgence, so much truffle, amazing mushrooms, creamy sauce, perfectly seasoned, it is one of those dishes that makes you say “where have you been all my life”. You may be thinking, so why was this not my star dish of the day? It is purely that I don’t think it’s a dish I could eat again and again like I could with Bentley’s scallops. Although I could certainly have it now and again. The tiramisu was light and just right to finish the food off for the night. Along with our glass of prosecco poured by Chef Mazzei himself, oh and Richard Bacon sat next to us, it was a great taste moment. Guess where we’re planning to eat for my birthday this year.

Popcorn Duck from Club Gascon

Now, we got quite  a lot of free food this year, when I say a lot, we actually only paid for about 4 dishes. These chefs are quite a generous lot really. So with plenty of Crowns to spare we headed to The Lovely Bubbly Company for a mini champagne tasting. We tried four champagnes with a glass of our favourite at the end. A great team there who were so friendly and even handed out some old school sweets, popping candy, cola fizz and fizzers.

A quick mention to our friend’s at Sipsmith’s. We have known them since they launched their Gin at taste some years ago and is an essential stop for the best Gin & Tonic at Taste and we have to say, the coolest plastic glasses of the festival too.

That was Taste done for us really and I have to just mention Kin Knives. No I don’t work for them, not being paid to advertise, I just love visiting their stand and as i’ve been chatting to them on Twitter I had to go and say hello and gaze at the knives (yes I want one and will get one eventually). It was quite funny as we stood there and a lady decided she would test the sharpness of the knives and run her finger along one. Not the wisest thing to do, that’s why they have tomatoes to try them out on. Well done to Papa Kin (sorry I don’t know his name but that’s how his daughter refer to him on Twitter) for his first aid skills.

The menacing clouds over Regents Park

Shock news though as we decided we will probably not go next year. Taste is great and if you’ve never been and love food, you should go. For us, after 7 years, it’s losing a little of it’s allure and if it hadn’t been for L’Anima, Launceston Place, Corrigan’s/Bentleys, Sipsmith’s and Lovely Bubbly, it would have been a fairly flat event for us. Well done guys and we hope to see you all again soon.

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2010 – What a year.

Posted in Drink, Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 29, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Here we are, 2011 is looming and another year almost over. The clichés beckon, “Where does the time go?”, “what happened to the year”, “what have I actually achieved this year?”, “What will next year bring?”. And of course there’s the numerous programmes on TV that will review the year too and oh how I soon get bored with those, especially when they start that in November (sure that was the BBC). So I think with just over two days of the year left I am safe to do my own review. Well I did make a few food related resolutions at the beginning of the year so I should let you know how they went.

My first resolution was to have a lesson from a real Chef, yes I managed that three times. One at Braxted Park Cookery School with the very talented, and may I say funny, Chris Jagger. The next was at Corrigans where we got to cook with head chef Chris and some of the team, with Mr C casting his experienced eye over us. The last was again with Chris Jagger in his own Kitchen to get some real professional experience. All fantastic, all taught me so much and to Chris and Richard and his team I say a heart-felt thanks, you were all truly inspirational.

Second resolution was to make a curry from scratch and I just scraped that in toward the latter end of the year. Using Atul Kochhar’s recipes I made a great meal which I have to say I was fairly impressed with myself. A lovely coconut curry, stuffed aubergine and some spiced fried okra. I have experimented with the left over spices many times since.

The third was to try something I had never eaten before. I have done that a few times this year but the most memorable has to be at Glavin La Chapelle where I had brain and sweetbreads for the first time. I’m not too sure about the brain but the sweetbreads I will eat again and have. Love them. Not sure why I’ve been so scared of them really.

The fourth resolution was to be more adventurous and experimental. Well I think with the uses of spices I have gone for this year and the meal at Galvin La Chapelle I have more than kept that resolution. There have been successes like my first ever venison carpaccio made with my own invented marinade, cooking pehasant for the first time  and disasters which never even made the plate.

It’s been a great year in all, made some more great twitter friends and project Obsession really lifted off with now having 10 of the 54 signatures I need which to complete the book. Considering I only started in August I don’t think that’s too bad. That’ brings me to one fo the most memorable evenings of the year, the Obsession dinner at Hix. A feast by four top chefs which has inspired me to do a four course meal for New Year’s Eve and I also plan a meal suing recipes from the Obsession book in the New Year.

The highs of the year also include several meals at Galvin Café a Vin, a birthday dinner at The Blueprint Cafe, last night at The Boxwood and getting to have a chat twice (yes twice) with the witty charismatic gentleman that is Olly Smith. Oh and let’s not forget the Chefs I have had the pleasure to meet this year, Michel Roux Jr, Richard Corrigan, Mark Hix, Brian Turner, Nigel Haworth, Gary Rhodes, Stuart Gilles, Tristan Welch, Theo Randall, Fergus Henderson, Chris Jagger, Chris Galvn, Jeff Galvin and a glimpse of Michael Caines. A special mention to a few other food related people whic were so friendly that we met on our journeys ; Sara Galvin, Matthew Fort and Tom Parker Bowles.

The lows, I sort of thought not to mention these but it wouldn’t be a really review if I didn’t. There is the arthritis in my hand that started this year which kept me out of the kitchen for two months and feeling very down. The other is having the Flu twice. One of those ruining a meal at Gidleigh Park, to the point that I could only manage four out of seven courses. The second bout of flu almost caused me to miss an evening at Corrigans too.

I have got over this though, hand recovered and doing well, cooking a lot to make up for the missed time. The Gidleigh Park experience still gnaws at me though, I am really really annoyed at that, especially when I then found out Michael Caines was in the Kitchen. Anyway, life goes on and with Project Obsession going on, I think there will be enough experiences to make up for it.

I would like to thanks a few people for tips, advice and help but I know I will miss someone out. So to everyone who has answered my queries, questions, talked to me on twitter, commented on my blog and messaged me or replied to posts on Facebook, I thank you all. You are a great bunch of people and friends. So at midnight on the 31st December 2010 I will raise my glass to you and wish you a very happy and prosperous New Year. Look out 2011, here we come.

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Project Obsession

Posted in Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 15, 2010 | 8 Comments »

I will start by apologising to my Facebook and twitter friends for going on about my little project and also I’m saying sorry in advance for what is still to come. At last though I will explain what this is all about. When I was at Corrigan’s for a cookery masterclass a couple of month’s ago I saw a book. That book is called Obsession, by Chef Nigel Haworth. Nigel was the man you won the main course dish on great British Menu one year with a great Lancashire hot-pot. I say great but of course I never tasted it. I do know someone who did though, Richard Corrigan. We asked Richard about it at the taste festival that year and he’s an honest man when it comes to food, so when he told me he thought it was really good, I believed him.

Back to the book. It is a celebration of the 10 year anniversary of the Obsession food festival held at Northcote. I had never heard of this before, but i tell you something, I really want to go (please Nigel). So I bought the book not as a fan of the festival, it was for inspiration. The list of chefs, 54 of them, is quite astounding. Some of my favourite chefs are in there, Richard Corrigan, Michel Roux Jr, Atul Kochhar and Chris & Jeff Galvin. Chefs that have inspired me from afar via their television appearances such as Glynn Purnell, Heston Blumenthal, Michael Caines and Mark Hix.

My project, as such, is to have every chef sign the book. Okay so a cookbook should be used for the recipes and I will, but this is a chance to meet some great chefs and to sample their food. As far as possible I will try to dine at their establishments. This becomes a little difficult when you  see that one of the recipes comes from Matthew Fort (my favourite judge on Great British Menu). It is hard to think who is the pinnacle, who is the chef I will be most thrilled to meet. Pierre Koffman, Raymond Blanc, Theo Randall, Nigel himself? You may be getting an idea of the calibre of chef in this book now. I like the fact there are chefs I didn’t know that I knew. Okay to explain that last sentence. I have been wanting to go to St John restaurant in Smithfield. One of the chefs in the book is Fergus Henderson. So I knew of his food without realising who the chef actually was. I am a foodie but I have never claimed to know everything about food or the chefs. I just like eating it. Oh and @SJRestaurant  is great to follow on Twitter.

The project will be a great journey and lesson. On here, I will tell you about the adventures, about the dishes I try to emulate and of course about the food I experience. The journey has in fact started. I picked up the book from Bentley’s in the end after the lovely Valerie Morrison at Corrigan’s arranged for richard to sign his page for me. I have eaten at Bentley’s often and with the masterclass at Corrigan’s and meeting Richard a few times, I didn’t feel quite so guilty about getting the booked started this way.

I was lucky enough to have started to visit Cafe a Vin in Spitalfields and on reading the book, I saw that Chris & Jeff Glavin were in the book. I dropped the book off there just over a week ago for them to sign and picked it up on my visit to Galvin La Chapelle on Friday. If you want to know about the meal there, please read my previous post. So three down, 51 to go. Some of these will be a real challenge, especially the overseas chefs.

I will be sharing the adventure here on the blog, on my Facebook page and on twitter. Please follow and share as I may need some help along the way. So I ask, very politely and kindly, if anyone knows these chefs, can arrange for me to meet them, cook with them, dine with them, get my book signed, please get in touch. I am one man, with hopefully a very understanding wife, as Nigel Haworth’s Obsession becomes my Obsession.

I must finish by saying thank you to Nigel, who emailed me last week with his best wishes. I look forward to the Northcote visit. When that will be along this journey, I don’t yet know.

Links to follow the journey:

Twitter https://twitter.com/Simonlovesfood

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=832270284 (feel free to add me as a friend) or join my group http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=196217326852

The book Nigel Haworth’s Obsession I know can be found at Corrigan’s of Mayfair, Galvin La Chapelle and I assume at Northcote. If not in your local book store, they should be able to order it in.

If anyone thinks this is worthy of a TV series, please contact me, I am a star in the making (cheesy grin).

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Taste Of London 2010

Posted in Beer, Drink, Food, Wine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 4, 2010 | 1 Comment »

The seventh year of Taste sees our fifth visit. A couple of years ago I became quite disillusioned by Taste as it seemed d to have become a bit stale and lacking some of the usual flair you expect. Last year improved with the introduction of the Icon dish which was great to see continued this year. Although they seem to be getting even more pricey, it is a true show of what these chefs can do.

Tristan Welsch of Launceston Place

So 5th visit, I thought I must try something new but couldn’t help mix in some old favourites. First call of the day had to be Bentley’s as I was lucky enough to cook with Richard Corrigan the week before. I asked for Brendon, who Richard said to, and he was more than happy to show me out the back and see what goes on behind the scenes. Seeing some of the real heroes of the day. It was even smaller out the back than I thought and then the sight of crate upon crate of Oysters for just one day was amazing. When we emerged back to the front, there was a plate of the ever fresh Maldon oysters for me and a couple of corks to get a free glass of English sparkling wine at the Nyetimber stand.

The next stop had to be Launceston Place and Tristan Welsch was there carving up the suckling pig and posed nicely for some pictures. I actually went for the Goose Egg & Chips which was my first goose egg. It was pretty phenomenal, an amazing flavour from the eggs. Who needs ketchup when you have goose egg. The Old Spot suckling pig, so well cooked too, with lot’s of black truffle on top was another taste sensation which my wife wolfed down without me getting even a taster so I only have her word that it was good.

I stopped by Gaucho for a quick piece of steak as we made our way to Nyetimber to sample the wine. Sorry Gaucho, it was very sinewy and I expected better have eaten at one of your restaurants. On the plus side, it was flavoured really well and the humitas chimchurri was stunning. So to Nyetimber for the free wine,  a crisp sparkling English wine which was most enjoyable as we continued our walk round in the sun where i spied Fullers. My wife was happy, she finished my wine while I had a beer. Fuller’s I do salute you guys, always a great beer wherever I try it.

Mennula's Carpaccio of Yellow Fin Tuna

In an attempt to stay true to my word and try food from restaurants I have never experienced before, Mennula, Trinity and sake No Hana were on the agenda. First from Mennula, where we had  a great chat about the food and their sales pitch to us which really turned out to be the food. We both chose a dish there with my wife trying the maccheroni and me going for the Carpaccio of line caught yellow fin tuna. Both dishes were great and the tuna was just so well marinated with great sweet and sour onions. And so on to Sake No Hana where I was already yearning for the pan fried quail. I do love quail and this was no disappointment, tender, succulent and a bit of a kick. Another place now added to the list of where to go. Shortly followed by Trinity which is where we both tried a dish and for me this was their Icon dish of Pig’s Trotters with what has to be the most amazing crackling ever. I mean, it was just amazing, crispy, well seasoned, a bit of meat still underneath. Even now my mouth waters like Homer Simpson just thinking about it. For me, it was the dish of the day.

Trinity's Pigs Trotter Icon DishThis only leaves one dish, Rhodes 24 Icon dish, Jaffa Cake Pudding. This was for my wife more than me but we both had a try. I’m not really a pudding person but this was just like, well a Jaffa cake but multiplied by several thousand. An intense orange with dark  chocolate, light sponge. We had a chat with Gary Rhodes while we were there who then signed a clean dish for Michala and he had a few words about Top Table. In fact we could hardly stop him when he got started. Gary said the service provided is great and always friendly but on most importantly it’s the access given to the public to find and discover these amazing restaurants. We couldn’t agree more.

We stopped by  Le Gavroche too to speak with Michel Roux Jr (legend and such a gent), where I had a cheeky little chicken terrine with pickled mushrooms. I’ve tried making these mushrooms in the past and believe me, Michel Roux Jr is good for a reason. If you get the book, go make them, great with a meal, barbecue, ploughman’s.  We then thought it was time for more wine so a trip to McGuigan’s was in order for a few tasters to turn into a glass as the only rain of the session fell. Well when it’s raining and you can’t move, wine is a good companion.

Sake No Hana's Pan Fied Quail

Overall best menu for us was Launceston Place so we counted our crowns, realising we didn’t quite have enoughfor the strawberries and champagne from there but hey, they let us have two anyway. This is the thing with Taste, it pays to ask, be cheeky, just talk and take an interest, you never know what you may get. And so with another wander round and perusal of the many suppliers we headed home laden with full bags and full stomachs.  And as I write this I raise my glass to Taste and TopTable and hear my stomach rumble in readiness for the next one.

This is the full verson of my post as written for Toptable which can be seen on their blog at http://bit.ly/9Ppq48 or go to www.blog.toptable.com

For restuarant bookings please visit www.toptable.com

For more info on Taste of London visit www.tastefestivals/london

Follow @toptable and @TasteofLondon on twitter.

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Corrigan’s Masterclass

Posted in Drink, Food, Wine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on June 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

This is like the continued adventures of Simon in the professional kitchen. If you have read my blog before, you may know I went to a cookery lesson in Essex earlier in the year. At the time I had also booked a Masterclass at Corrigan’s of Mayfair. Some of you may have noticed I have two major Chef heroes, Michel Roux Jr and Richard Corrigan so deciding on this masterclass was a no brainer. I thought reasonably priced too considering you get to meet the great man himself. I twittered/tweeted for many weeks and certainly in the days running up to it and will apologise now to my friends on Twitter, I am sorry if it got annoying, I was just a little bit (a lot) excited.

The day was for me with my wife choosing to take advantage of us being in London to go shopping. We stayed at the Cumberland at Marble Arch the night before to avoid any train difficulties on the Saturday morning. I was excited (sorry have I said that?) even on the Friday night, starting to feel nervous which I kept telling myself was silly. Afterall I was paying for this, it wasn’t like I was actually cooking as part of the staff. I think it dawned on me though how much I admire Mr C and love his style of cooking.  So to relax we stayed in the hotel and ate at Rhodes W1 Brasserie which was delightful, one of the best pork chops, actually the only Pork T-bone, I have ever had. A little drinking was done, okay a lottle. A bottle of champagne between us to celebrate the birth earlier that morning of our new Nephew, Connor, and a bottle of wine with the meal. (yes we had had a drink during the day also).

So I wake, very early, stomach in knots as the day has arrived. I’m like a schoolboy, I can’t sleep, it’s 5 a.m. please let me sleep. Needless to say I am ready very early for my short walk down Park Lane to Upper Grosvenor Street. The day starts at 10am and I left the hotel at 9. Yes like it would take an hour. I get there about quarter past, hover around and then take a walk round the block. Nice area, I may buy a house in Mayfair (when that lottery wine comes in). Eventually I decide 20 minutes isn’t too early and guess what, I was first to arrive. What I didn’t expect though is as I walked through the door, was to see Richard leant on the bar having a coffee. “Hello” he smiles with a knowing look, I’m sure he realised I was very excited and I think my face may have given away the fact I was slightly in awe. We had a brief chat, I sat at the bar with some very nice coffee and Richard disappeared to get ready.

Cornish Crab Cocktail & Melba Toast

The other 14 guests arrived and we chatted, drank more coffee (like I needed the caffeine) and some lovely biscuits. The anticipation was killing me, itching to get in the kitchen. I was thinking, is this what it’s like when someone gets a back stage pass to see their favourite band. Richard calls everyone’s attention and introduces us to Chris McGowan, Head Chef and Partner. The two Irishmen talk about the menu we will be cooking and even hearing them just talk through it you can hear the passion in their voices about the food. The usual health and safety notices go through, “knives are sharp, don’t cut your fingers”. Good advice. And with that we are led to the kitchen.

We all stand there, very quiet and I wonder if everyone is as nervous about me. We’re split into three groups of five and spend time on each course. Our group started on the starters. I expertly peeled an avocado, well the basics have to be done and I sometimes forget that it’s not all cheffy, things need peeling. The one thing I can’t get over though is that the kitchen is actually quite small but the sizes of pots, ovens etc are huge. There is also a major lack of gadgets in the Corrigan’s kitchen. This is definitely somewhere  the ingredients do the talking. No cooking something in a bag for fours hours and Richard was keen to point out. Back to the starter, we are sweating down fennel, deglazing the pan with Pernod ready to add to the avocado for a very light mayonnaise to go with some crab. Ah yes crab, where is it? Richard asked that too to be told it hadn’t turned up. In fact the crab was so late, Richard popped out to Bentley’s to get some from there. The benefit of having your own fish restaurant nearby.

I had a go at making some Melba toast. Now I had no idea how to make it but now I do and how I managed to cut that bread I will never know. My hands were shaking as I attempted the first one. Still shaking on the second but then I got the knack so my family may find it on the menu for our next big meal.

Reggie Johnson's Duck, Endive & Orange

Time to move on, we go to mains next, duck laid out in front of us, several ducks actually to be roasted. Also some duck that’s been slowly braised which we have to flake and of course try, and try again, well we must make sure it’s okay. I had a huge tray of duck in front of me and could quite happily have taken it to a dark corner and devoured the lot. Why a dark corner I’m not sure, suddenly that sounds a bit creepy. We are talking meat with Chris while we do this and getting tips like always cooking on the bone to keep the heat and flavour, then remove the bone just before serving. To prove the point, Chris gets a duck breast quickly cooks it and let’s us try. Nothing like a freshly cooked piece of duck breast, just with salt & pepper. Simple food tasting so good. Then the quick crispy chicken skin he made which was like a roast dinner flavoured crisp when he was finished.

Okay onto the pastry section. Our last section which in a way is sad as we know when we’re finished there it’s all over in the kitchen. This was a bit more fun and larking about as we, well I was a bit rubbish. We helped make part of the souffle as the other two groups had done their part. We also had a go at making bread rolls for their dinner service. I don’t think they will be serving them and at some point my rolls will be nothing more than breadcrumbs in another dish. There were two guys round the corner making the same rolls. In the time we took to do 3 each, so only 15 rolls, the guys had produced 8 trays (about 30 on a tray). It is just one of those moments when you applaud someone even though it’s just a bread roll. I should mention here though that all the bread at Corrigan’s is made on site. Oh and if you haven’t had it, you must try their soda bread whether it be at Corrigan’s or Bentleys. Actually you can get it at Hix too, they realise they couldn’t do better.

All through the day we have been cooking with the chefs from each section with Richard keeping an eye on proceedings and offering advice and answering questions. It wasn’t what I was expecting but then, do i really know what I expected? No I guess I didn’t. That is the cooking over really, we have helped prep, getting things ready not to leave the experts to finish off. We exit the kitchen proudly in our Corrigan’s aprons where most of us have partners or friends joining us for lunch. Champagne is already flowing and it continues to do so as the restaurant is closed. After a lot of champagne we are shown to the private dining area where the wine starts flowing just as freely. We sit to enjoy the food that we may or may not have prepared. I am sure that Melba toast was mine though.

Corrigan's very well stocked bar

The food is just phenomenal and to see that some of it was actually quite simple, it does make you want to go and try, experiment and my passion for cooking increased hugely. Ever since that day, just over two weeks ago I have hardly stopped thinking food. I’ve already made a version of the mayonnaise and I am waiting for the right time try the duck. This wasn’t as much a lesson, it was an inspiration. If just some of the knowledge that Richard, Chris and the team passed on has sunk in, I know my own cooking will have improved greatly. As we leave we are handed a goodie bag with cook book, soda bread and petit fours. Of course we get to keep the apron too.  Thanks guys, a great morning, great lunch and yes we will be visiting again.

 

 

The Menu

Cornish Crab Cocktail

& Melba Toast

Wine – 2008 Cheverny, Domaine de Veilloux (Biodynamic) – Loire

~~~

Reggie Johnson’s Duck,

Endive & Orange

Wine – 2006 Toro, Vetus – Toro

~~~

Rhubarb Souffle

& Ginger Ice Cream

Wine 2006 Gaillac “Grain de Folie Douce”,

Domaine Causse Marines (Biodynamic) – South West France

 

Masterclass costs £250 per person with lunch guest for additional £90.

For more details visit www.corrigansmayfair.com

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London in 3 visits

Posted in Food, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on June 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away……… cue the dramatic music. Okay so it actually started in Essex where a courageous couple headed off t the far distant place of London. Anyone wondering what I’m going on about yet? I shall explain.

We booked tickets to see Star Wars In Concert and the day finally arrived on the 3rd April. We headed off to the O2 through the manic bank holiday train cancellations and engineering works. (Transport for London? What transport?). This was my wife’s idea surprisingly and I was like a child all day, filled with excitement.

We had no idea where we would be eating at this point and having heard there were many venues at the O2 we just headed there to see what there was. We got as far as Gaucho which is near the main entrance. I love steak and the force called out to me, the Dark side of the force I feel as I looked at the black exterior and décor. Given the occasion I really did expect Lord Vader to appear at any moment.

Plenty of tables free for lunch and given that mainly it was families at the O2 I wasn’t surprised many headed for the cheaper options. We walk to the lift, opposite their wine room. Do we have to go upstairs? I’ll just wait here I think. Unfortunately my wife over ruled me and we head upstairs, shown to our cow hide seats. Not a place for vegetarians. Our waiter is cheery and polite, explains Gaucho to us and shows us the meat board. So much steak, looks so good and I could have just taken the lot, put it on the grill and that would have done me.

My wife was on water as she wasn’t feeling too well so I have a beer and order a starter just for me. Crab cocktail with potato. It was fresh, light and a kick of Tabasco. I’m not a fan of hot spicy food so love it when I get something to spicy for me that I can’t stop eating because it tastes so good. My wife orders a pork steak, more like half a pig really. I go for a plain rump steak, 300gr with a mushroom sauce on the side. We get fries, cheesy roast potatoes and a salad to go with it. Perfectly grilled to medium rare, a steak that must have been more than 2 inches think in places. It tasted so good and I think it is one the best mushroom sauces I have ever had, creamy, thick and well mushroomy. After my main there wasn’t “mushroom” left for dessert. (Groan).

I went for a Malbec with my steak and boy did it go down well. We both had a citrus tart for dessert which was a little too sweet for me but still very zingy and full of flavour. I ordered a dessert wine which battled against the dessert but only because it was cheaper than the one they had matched to it. I should have listened and paid the extra few pounds.

Definitely will be visiting a Gaucho restaurant again and I know there is one in Swallow Street, off Piccadilly so it won’t be long before I do. It is a meat lover’s dream.

A few days later, the following Tuesday we were back in London as we had the day off.  As on our last two visits to London we had not been able to visit one of our favourites bars, we popped along to Selfridges to the champagne bar. We got there and as we approached the stairs, I kept thinking it’s had a make over. We then saw the new sign “Hix” and I suddenly remembered reading about it. Now I’m not a great fan of Mark Hix, well let me correct that, I haven’t been a fan in the past but probably because I’ve never sat down and looked at one of his menus.

We sat at the bar, our retro glasses filled with champagne (nice touch with the glasses Mark). I look through the bar snack menu and see a few things to go for. We went for a selection of snacks, pork crackling with belly pork, quails egg shooters and root vegetable crisps. The crackling is amazing, crisp like crunchiness with a sweet apple sauce. My wife liked it so much, we were given a second helping on the house. Although I was half thinking the bar man was flirting with my wife as he also got her to drink some extra champagne so he could just finish the bottle.

The quails egg shooters are interesting, an acquired taste. They are warmed, so basically are raw, with some crunchy bacon on top. I down the first shooter, and was unsure about it, the experience being a  little alien to me. However, I always want to try new things so I try a second one after a sip of the bubbly stuff. I take the second egg and this time it goes down easier and I get the taste of the yolk. The last time go down very easily. My wife didn’t try them and four was pretty hard going. I decided to have an oyster as well, yes just the one as I can hardly resist it when I see oysters on a menu these days.

Then the crisps, which you can’t say much about other than they were quite sweet, very tasty and overall very good. We had fun trying to figure out some of the vegetables. Now that doesn’t mean you couldn’t tell what they were, I think once you deep fry most things, the flavour changes and if your palate is trained enough, you may not recognise all the flavours. It was just a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. The staff were excellent and our bar man on the day was jovial, polite and very funny. My wife loved him. We are plannign a retun visit the the restaurant to try the main menu and I have a feeling I may be visiting at least one other Hix restaurant.

It was then off shopping as we were fully energised and we did shop a lot. The problem is, my wife has a thing about just picking things up and not trying for sizes. So as you may guess, we get home and find that two of the tops she bought, do not fit properly. Jumping at this I say “Don’t worry, we’ll pop back in on Saturday” already thinking of the many places to lunch.

So come Saturday, one week after the Star Wars visit, we find ourselves in London for the thrid time. We are walking up Piccadilly and I keep repeating “Bentleys” and my wife soon gives in, well it wasn’t much of a problem to get her to agree. It’s warm so we sit outside, watching the world go by and I realise that I may be a while choosing. I have an oyster, yes another one and had just the one as I wanted the Sea Snails for starters. They were delicious, so good and so fresh. Michala went for the white asparagus with blood orange. The asparagus I thought was quite distinctive from the asparagus we would normally have, a little more bitter which is where the oranges worked so well.

We both had the same main course, pollock with coconut, carrot and I think orange. Right you will all be glad to know here that I have now bought a notepad for when I go out as I keep forgetting the exact details of dishes.  Suffice to say though, the pollock dish was great. Something I had never tried before and will definitely have again. I have to say though, the star of Bentley’s is the soda bread. I first tried soda bread in Dublin on holiday a few years back and try it everywhere I see it. Mr Corrigan’s soda bread is by far the best I have ever had. Maybe he’ll give me the secret at the masterclass.

And so we finish, we go home. One week, three visits to London and amazing food, great drink and the best company I could wish for. I hope you don’t all get bored of my constant trips to London and I will try to find some different places to go rather than my usual haunts.

As always when I think of these days and finish these great meals, I raise a glass to the chefs, the food and drink producers, and my foodie friends. And on this occasion I say “May the Force be With You”. I now return to adulthood for a short while.

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