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Mouthing Off
We wanted a cerebral element in The London Restaurant festival and Professor Simon Schama’s inaugural lecture which took place yesterday morning at Kings Place provided that and more.
His talk entitled Mouthing off : Eating and Utterance, which he delivered self- confessedly jet-lagged but fizzing with energy, insight and humour took the brains of the audience on a whirlwind tour of the language of food. There was a much appreciated flattering assumption on the behalf of Professor Schama of a parity of reading and experience.
Several people said to me afterwards that it was so exhilarating to find the opposite of dumbing down. “My mind has been stirred with a big wooden spoon. I’m off home to find and read the books of M.F.K. Fisher”, said a friend of mine as she left.
John Nugent of Green and Fortune, the caterers at Kings Place, laid on a terrific brunch with fruit kebabs and muesli for the health conscious and bacon butties for the rest of us before the talk. And many in the audience went afterwards for lunch to the Rotunda Restaurant on the ground floor overlooking Battlebridge Basin, which was taking part in the Festival’s Big Roast celebration. Having their own farm in Northamptonshire supplying the beef and lamb, they are perfectly poised to produce a great traditional Sunday lunch.
The Big Roast
The biggest Sunday Roast ever witnessed in London took place at Leadenhall yesterday with 800 people sitting down to beef, partridge, venison, pork and lamb cooked by a roll call of top London chefs.
Photo gallery:
Supersonic Masonique Supper Club
The Bistrotheque team – Pablo Flack and David Waddington - produced another astounding ‘pop-up’ restaurant specially for the London Restaurant Festival. Supersonic Masonique was created at the Masonic Temple in the Andaz Hotel and the three evening were sold out in 45 minutes and was deemed an unmitigated success. Thanks for all your support guys.
Photo gallery:
Chefs Win Starter For Ten
A team of top London chefs just pipped a team of critics to victory on Saturday night at the inaugural Starter For Ten quiz – part of the London Restaurant Festival.
Questions were set by distinguished critic, and London Restaurant Festival chair Fay Maschler, with legendary quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne in charge of proceedings.
Thomasina Miers from Wahaca, Richard Corrigan, Rowley Leigh from Le Cafe Anglais and Jeremy Lee from the Blueprint Cafe were on the chef team against Giles Coren, Toby Young, Matthew Norman and Tracey MacLeod were the critics. Simon Parkes of the Food Programme of Radio Four was the voiceover man.
There were drinks beforehand – kindly donated by our sponsors Field, Morris & Verdin – and the quiz had picture rounds, music rounds, proper buzzers and the whole works. It was all very professional and the questions were deliciously tricky.
Well done to the chefs and good effort from the critics – better luck next year.
Gourmet Odyssey Is Soaraway Success
The idea for the Gourmet Odyssey was hatched a few years ago when Fay organised a Gourmet Gallop for winners of an Evening Standard competition. We took ten people to four different restaurants and they had a course in each. It was a triumph.
The Gourmet Odyssey is the same notion but on a far larger scale using London Routemaster buses with four itineraries involving Scott’s, Corrigan’s, Wild Honey, Arbutus, Quo Vadis, Hakasan, Maze, Sake No Hana and Hibiscus.
Almost 300 people bought a ticket and arrived at The Metropolitan Hotel on Park Lane for a glass of Mumm champagne who were our sponsors. Guests, in a high state of excitement and anticipation, received smart little tags as if for race day and these denoted their itinerary by colour.
My wife and I were on Park Lane 1 and headed off to Theo Randall at the Intercontinental. Theo had hotfooted it back from appearing on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen where he was busy talking about the Gourmet Odyssey (thanks Theo).
Chef Randall worked the tables and talked through the remarkably fresh Devon crab he served for our starter before signing guest’s menus.
Then it was onto the bus and off to Corrigan’s when the great man was offering a choice of a divine venison ‘Wellington’ or sole. After being introduced by Fay, who joined us for lunch, he chatted to all the guests, signed menus and had his photo taken.
Everyone deemed the food exquisite and with a spring in our steps after generous refreshments we boarded the bus once more and headed to Scott’s where we were welcomed by Tim Hughes, affable executive chef of Caprice Holdings, one of our festival patrons and owners of some of London’s greatest restaurants.
Scott’s was buzzing and they served us a tasting plate that included apple pie and a chocolate parcel that oozed the richest flow of chocolate sauce when burst. And we got a pud wine.
On the bus back to the Met the atmosphere was fantastic and everyone couldn’t have been happier about their day out which after all the work involved was hugely rewarding.
An enormous thank you to all the restaurants who took part, all of those who supported us by purchasing a ticket, The Met hotel and also Katie Mann from the London Restaurant Festival who managed the event and helped it run so smoothly.
We already have some plans for next year and some new itineraries for different parts of the capital.
Our photographer captured the Pall Mall Gourmet Odyssey, click the pictures below for the image gallery:
Gordon Ramsay Hits The Heights
To the London Eye on Friday evening where Gordon Ramsay took his turn cooking for ten guests who had bid to eat in our extraordinary capsule restaurant.
The great man was on cracking form and came to meet the guests who included singer James Blunt. He then headed off to the little kitchen we have created in the ticket hall and produced a wonderful dinner. The first course was a ravioli of lobster followed by the fillet of Angus beef, cheese and then a Granny Smith apple trifle. Wines were kindly provided by Fields Morris & Verdin and involved magnums of Jacquesson Cuvee 732, Mountford chardonnay 2005 and a Bodega Pintia 2004.
The successful bidder had paid £23,000 for the one-off opportunity with money going to Starlight, the charity that grants wishes to seriously and terminally ill children. Fay and I would like to thank Gordon for taking the time to support Starlight and the London Restaurant Festival.
Corrigan Eyes Up The Ultimate Dinner
Extraordinary scenes last night down at the London Eye where flamboyant Richard Corrigan was the first chef to ever cook and serve a three course, sit-down dinner for ten in a London Eye Restaurant Capsule.
The lucky diners had bid for the opportunity to take part with a portion of the money raised going to charity.
Once the Eye had closed to the public one capsule was magically transformed into a mini restaurant with a beautifully laid table for ten specially constructed for the evening with white linen tablecloth. Chef Corrigan and his team we ensconced in the ticket office which had been converted into a pop-up kitchen.
On being shown the table the ten guests, nattering and laughing with excitment and anticipation, sat down at their table and the exceptionally relaxed and professional team from Corrigan’s served the first course of langoustine with cumin. Then the flying diners were off and the wheel began its first langorous rotation. It was an extraordinary sight as all but the restaurant capsule were dark while the guests’ bubble shone. After 30 minutes they returned. The views, they said, on the clearest of autumnal evenings were sublime as was the starter and the wine.
Chef Corrigan returned and served the most delicious pithivier of teal and grouse – a plump, gamey pillow that arrived piping hot despite the trials of having akitchen a few hundred metres away and having to go ‘through security’ with each course. Pudding and cheese were served for the third and final rotation.
This morning I received a message from the gentleman who successfully bid for the evening. He praised the fantastic professionalism of all involved and said it was one of the most magical evenings he had ever experienced with his family in London.
He’s asked to reserve one for next year.
I must add my praise to our team from the London Restaurant Festival and also those from the London Eye for pulling off a remarkable evening.
It’s only the first of seven consecutive nights however – this evening it’s Gordon Ramsay.
I’m just off to Covent Garden where Anotonio Carluccio, Jason Atherton from Maze, Sam and Eddie Hart of Quo Vadis and Barrafina and Atul Kotchar of Benares are appearing at our Airstream hub to sign copies of their latest books.
I hope you have all managed to book somewhere to try a festival menu this weekend. There are over 500 restaurants across London and dinner starts at £15 and lunch for a tenner.
Have fun.
