London Restaurant Festival talks to Tom Aikens, head chef/patron of Tom Aikens, about eating in London.

LRF: What was the last London restaurant you visited?
TA: China Tang

LRF: Which London restaurant is your favourite?
TA: The Wolseley because the food is always consistent, the atmosphere is fantastic and the service is impeccable.

LRF: Which restaurants do you rate in your neighbourhood?
TA: 101 Pimlico Road and Sophie’s Steak House.

LRF: Which restaurants would you recommend to a tourist with one day to spend in London?
TA: Petersham Nurseries; it’s one of the most beautiful restaurants I have been to. Also, Skye cooks beautiful food that is so tasty and just sublime.

LRF: Who has been the biggest influence on the way you cook?
TA: Pierre Koffmann and Joël Robuchon. Pierre made me a better and faster chef by teaching me how to work in an organised and consistent way. He also taught me how to watch the pennies – he was renowned for this. Joël was the master of detail – all of his dishes were perfectly executed.

LRF: What’s your signature dish?
TA: Roast langoustine with suckling pig belly, ginger and butternut puree, spiced honey.

LRF: What’s it like to work in your kitchen?
TA: Fun! You’ll learn a lot. I like to give chefs the knowledge of how the kitchen really runs and get them thinking more than just two yards in front of their faces. Working together as a team is so important.

LRF: What do you most like to cook in your spare time?
TA: Something that’s quick, easy and simple. Something braised like a classic beef stew, a classic chicken soup, or a simple warm salad of chicken livers and bacon with sherry vinegar on toast.

LRF: Who is your ideal dinner companion?
TA: Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

LRF: Which London farmers’ market, food shop or suppliers would you recommend?
TA: La Fromagerie, Frank Godfrey, Daylesford Organic,The Butcher & Grill, William Curley and Pimlico Farmers’ Market.

www.tomaikens.co.uk

BOILING POINT lifts the lid on London’s restaurant scene with regular interviews with London chefs, restaurant managers and restaurateurs.

London Restaurant Festival talks to Pierre Koffmann, head chef of Koffmann’s at The Berkeley, about eating in London.

LRF: What was the last London restaurant you went to?
PK: Texture.

LRF: Which London restaurant is your favourite and why?
PK: Bistrot Bruno Loubet, because he cooks the food I like to eat.

LRF: Who has been the biggest influence on the way you cook and why?
PK: My Grandmother – I loved spending time with her on the farm.

LRF: What is your signature dish?
PK: Pig’s trotters.

LRF: What’s it like to work in your kitchen?
PK: FUN and hard work!

LRF: What do you most like to cook in your spare time?
PK: Nothing! I love to be cooked for and I love my partner Claire’s salad.

LRF: Which restaurants do you rate in your neighbourhood?
PK: Raouls on Clifton Road, it has a lovely atmosphere.

LRF: Who is your ideal dinner companion?
PK: Daniel Chobert.

LRF: Which London farmers’ market, food shop or suppliers would you recommend?
PK: La Fromagerie.

Pierre Koffmann’s restaurant at The Berkeley will be opening on 15 July 2010.

www.the-berkeley.co.uk/koffmanns.aspx

BOILING POINT lifts the lid on London’s restaurant scene with regular interviews with London chefs, restaurant managers and restaurateurs.

I then joined Fay, and her husband Reg, and Wahaca‘s Tommi Miers and her husband Mark at Il Barreto on Blandford St. Such a great place and choc full on a Monday night. We look forward to seeing what they produce for their Festival Menu in October.

On the subject of which, the sign-up is now fully up and running on the website. Please do sign up as soon as you can to make the most of your involvement. It’s quite clear from last year’s LRF that the restaurants who signed up early and got engaged in the festival from the outset saw the greatest benefits from their involvement. It’s just £100 to sign up your restaurant. A very small price to pay for being involved in London’s only genuine restaurant festival designed to embrace all that is great and London’s restaurant industry.

All the very best,
Simon.

Reservations for one of our landmark events – Pierre Koffmann’s pop-up Restaurant on the Roof of Selfridges – have been so brisk that we have decided to extend his ‘run’ for not only one extra week but a fortnight so it will last for three weeks in total (ends 31 October).

The London Evening Standard ran a full page on the news this evening.

Starter for Ten

I’ve just been chatting to Bamber Gascoigne, the legendary former host of University Challenge, who will be our quizmaster for Starter For Ten. He’s having lunch with Fay on Friday and they are planning the questions. By the way, do please submit any questions you might have and if they’re deemed worthy we’ll incorporate them into the quiz. (comment on this blog post or email our Festival Contacts with “Starter for Ten Question” in the subject line)

In case you have not heard, Starter For Ten will be a quiz that pits Critics against Chefs with all the questions based on the subjects of food, restaurants, eating out and general foodie knowledge.

We’re thrilled to have Bamber on board as he very rarely gets involved in being a quiz host any longer. But he loved the idea so has come out of retirement for the London Restaurant Festival.

Starter For Ten will take place on Saturday 10 October at Vinopolis and the distinguished chef team is Angela Hartnett, Richard Corrigan, Rowley Leigh and Jeremy Lee while the critics – no less acclaimed – are Giles Coren, Toby Young, Tracey McLeod and Matthew Norman.

Get a ticket while you still can and join us for a drink and what promises to be a very entertaining evening. We’ve arranged the event so you can still go and have dinner afterwards so you can make a night of it.

Fay Maschler on Market Kitchen

Fay is off to film an episode of Market Kitchen today with Matthew Fort and Pierre Koffmann and I’m sure all talk will be of the festival. Don’t miss the screening that will be on 5 October.

London Eye Restaurant Capsules

For those of you who want to get the chance of the ultimate private pop-up make sure you get your bids in for the restaurants in the London Eye. All the details are on the site. I hard earlier that Zuma is getting some pretty hefty punting but all of them are generating interest.

We’ve got some extremely exciting news about the restaurants in the Eye that I’ll be able to reveal over the next few days so keep checking in.

Book a Table for Festival Menus

One last thing, do please start thinking about making your reservations for Festival Menus in whichever of our several hundred participating restaurants takes your fancy. I gather that over 1,500 bookings have already been made which is great news. The Festival Menus really are your opportunity to try new restaurants at an affordable price or see what inspired ideas your old favourites can offer.

Thanks to everyone for all your support and I’ll be back with a daily blog from now until the end of the festival.

Do let us have your comments below as these will be invaluable as we move forward both this year and in the years to come.