Sunday 30 June 2013

Zoo Lates with Bordeaux wines

I am not entirely sure that mixing alcohol with dangerous predators is such a good idea. Nor am I in favour of capturing free-ranging wild animals and putting them in enclosures (no matter how large or high tech) just so we can gawp at them.

But, if you are looking for some good outdoor fun along with great food and drinks, you could do worse than a late night visit to the zoo. Until early August, London Zoo opens its doors every Friday evening from 7-10 pm for an evening of animals, comedy, great wine and streets of great food.

A highlight of Zoo Lates is the Bordeaux Jardin du Vin with some great wines by the glass or bottle and a lush garden setting in which to enjoy it. 

You can even get a tutored wine tasting with Master of Wine Laura Clay giving a brisk and informative tour of one of the most celebrated wine regions in the world.


And, if you prefer not to let the grass grow under your feet, you can walk around all the animal enclosures, peer at lions and tigers through (hopefully) reinforced glass and even enjoy some music, dancing and comedy. Or come dressed as a giraffe or a caterpillar - it all adds to the festival type atmosphere. 

Look out for the ravishing Bordeaux wine usherettes handing out free wine samples.


Platterform - summer fun with rooftop views


OK, so we are not talking the dizzying heights of the Shard or the city slicker extravagance of Sushi Samba. But, the vibe at Platterform's weekend rooftop pop-ups is special - sociable and relaxed and small enough to feel like a party. Add killer cocktails and some of the best roaming chefs around and this is a great way to round off a working week or kick off a party weekend.



Platterform, run by veteran event organisers and clubbers extraordinaire, have a summer residency at the Sky Room - the rooftop of the Architecture Foundation near London Bridge. With the Shard towering over it and glimpses of the river through More London, the rooftop is just the right scale for a fun evening. Julian and his partners have curated a great mix of food and drink events on a rotating schedule so you can enjoy a completely different experience each time you visit.

On Friday evenings Ayam Legend (is this pun good or not, I am not sure) is all about Indonesian street food, complete with an authentic ‘kaki lima’ cart (literally meaning ‘five legs’- 3 legs of the cart and 2 of the vendor).



The offerings are Indonesian chicken in a variety of styles from tender Chicken Satay in a smooth peanut sauce that packs a good chilli punch - not to be confused with the one dimensional, sweet sauces often poured straight out of a jar.


A more substantial dish is the Ayam Penyet - 'Smashed' Chicken which is a beautifully fried chicken leg served with a red chilli sauce which is deep and sharp and not as spicy as it looks.



Both dishes are served with Gado-Gado, crunchy mixed vegetables which taste as if they had been lightly pickled and Sambal Goreng Kentang, which are chilli-fried potato crisps as well as rice and prawn crackers.



The Platterform team have designed cocktails to match the food and have come up with some truly divine offerings. Ayam Legend Punch brings together Ketel One vodka with lychee, coconut, kaffir lime and lemongrass while the Wise Gai is Tequila Blanco muddled with pineapple, sage and home made Thai bitters.



Foghorn Leghorn is an interesting take on a Negroni with Mezcal, Cynar and Aperol (all my favourites in one). But the Gallo Roja was an inspiration. We are talking Tequila washed with chicken stock, people! Mixed with Mexican spices and coriander, it is unbelievably good. To read more about the science behind how this gets maximum flavour into a drink go here http://platterform.com/2013/2417/ 


Platterform's residency at the Sky Room also hosts The Hangover Club, creative Saturday brunches featuring wandering chef The Good Egg, among other interesting and delicious feasts. Cocktails are between £6 and £8 and meals start at £8.

To get a 20% discount and to beat the crowds at the door, book ahead through the Grub Club where you will also find a full event listing. http://www.grubclub.com/

The Sky Room is open until September so make the most of what summer we have and enjoy the views from this fun and sociable alfresco venue.

http://platterform.com/ 


Tuesday 25 June 2013

Polpo Venetian Banquet at Wilderness Festival



In a summer awash (often literally) with festivals up and down the country, Wilderness stands out for its combination of jaw dropping setting and the way it joyously celebrates all of our senses. Gorgeous, eye-popping acts, great music and some of the best food in the country all come together for a glorious weekend in the Cotswolds.


Where: Cornbury Park, Charlbury, Oxfordshire

When: 8th to 11th of August. Polpo banquet Lunch and Dinner on Saturday the 10th


During the day you can swim in the lakes, sip champagne in the lakeside spa, go horse riding or even attend a talk on astrophysics or visit the Museum of Charles Dickens.



And, after all that exertion of body and mind, sit back and luxuriate in a Venetian banquet by Russell Norman and his talented gang at Polpo. A now legendary Soho restaurant serving authentic dishes from the Veneto in a laid back environment with killer cocktails, Polpo brought a new edgy, urban take on Italian food with its gritty styling and casual cichetti menu when it opened in London a few years ago. At Wilderness, Norman and his executive chef, Tom Oldroyd, will be bringing their popular cuisine to a decadent Venetian setting for both lunch and dinner. Complete with wine and Venetian masks for the highlight of the festival – the Midnight Masked Ball.



What we ate:
I enjoyed a taster of Polpo’s Venetian banquet recently and so, if you want the experience to be a culinary surprise, look away now. Over a lazy afternoon punctuated with Aperol Spritz we were treated to a feast of Venetian cooking.

We started with a brace of Crostini - Creamed Salt Cod and Rocket and Walnut Pesto. Both were creamy and bursting with flavour. Grissini wrapped with Fennel Salami and grilled Radicchio were the best way to eat dried bread sticks that anyone has ever come up with.



The Arancini that followed were golf-sized and perfectly crispy with just the right amount of gooey, melted mozzarella binding the risotto. The Fennel and Endive Salad was crunchy and packed a citrus punch – a real palate stunner.

I loved the Mackerel Tartare, lively and bright mackerel combined with a zesty dressing and served with paper thin Carta di Musica with which to scoop it up.


And then came the Venetian speciality – Risi e Bisi, served up by Russell Norman himself.


Risi e Bisi is a traditional feast served when the first of the fresh peas are out and Polpo will be making good use of fresh, local peas at the Wilderness banquet. Not to be confused with its cousin risotto, this rice dish is creamy and more soupy, flavoured with a good stock, parmesan and the peas.

The Lamb & Salsa Verde that followed was perfectly cooked with a tinglingly fresh and herby sauce.


Dishes were well balanced, with light and healthy mackerel cancelling out the carb-heavy rice – well, in my book, anyway. We finished with the lightest, airiest Tiramisu which did, indeed, pick us up.

The Polpo banquet is a very good reason to attend the Wilderness Festival but tickets are almost sold out, so hurry.

However, since Wilderness is all about pleasing and indulging the senses you can expect excellent cuisine from top chefs and brilliant new cooks as well as great drinks at every turn. And, of course, all the excitement of midnight circus acts, great bands, ballet, Shakespeare and even talks by Bonnie Greer and Damian Barr. I think it’s the best festival in the country, but I won’t be shouting too loud about it.





Simeen Kadi was a guest of Polpo restaurant, 41 Beak Street, London.



Monday 24 June 2013

La Hechicera Rum

Enchantment from Colombia

Latin America has been receiving a lot of British foodie love of late. What with the fact that you can't walk down a high street without tripping into a burrito van and restaurants like Lima (review coming soon) showcasing the finer end of the area's cuisine. And, of course, there's tequila, pisco and cachaca, a spirit which ten years ago entered our collective cocktail consciousness in the form of the caipirinha.

But Colombia has largely remained one corner of South America whose notorious reputation has not been softened by an introduction to its epicurean culture. That could be set to change with the launch of La Hechicera rum in the UK. La Hechicera (pronounced La Etch-i-say-ra) means The Enchantress and was founded by the Riascos family two decades ago; it is the only family owned and pirvately held spirits company in Colombia. And if the sensuous, sophisticated hedonism of the launch party last week was anything to go by, we will all be holding love-ins for Colombia before the year is out.


La Hechicera is a blended rum made in the tropical northern region of the country, a lush area nestled between the Magdalena river and the Caribbean near the industrial and shipping hub of Barranquilla. Aged from 12 to 21 years in Amerian white oak, the spirit is made in small quantities to exacting standards. Sourcing the finest sugarcane and aromatics from around the country this fine rum is carefully crafted and left 'unpolished', meaning it has not been finished off with sugar to round off the flavour of the wood in which it has matured. The result is a very smooth rum, either on its own or in a cocktail. The deep woodiness is sweetened with a note of toffee and a pleasing coffee aroma while hints of orange peel give it a liveliness that slips down very well.


La Hechicera retails at £38 but is still hard to find as the brand's owners get to know UK spirit retailers. However, it is slowly appearing in discerning bars. If you do manage to get hold of a bottle here are a couple of cocktails I tried at the launch, both of which were delectable.

CORIANDER, BASIL AND GINGER DAIQUIRI
Ingredients:
• 50ml Hechicera
• 20ml lime juice
• 20ml sugar syrup
• Handful of basil
• Muddled fresh ginger
Preparation:
Shake all ingredients over ice, double strain into a chilled cocktail glass


TAMARIND DAIQUIRI

Ingredients:
• 50ml Hechicera
• 20ml lime juice
• 20ml tamarind syrup
• Sprinkle of nutmeg
• Muddled fresh ginger

Preparation:
Shake all ingredients over ice, double strain into a chilled cocktail glass

Salud!

La Hechicera rum can be purchased from www.drinksdirect.co.uk  or www.drinkfinder.co.uk


Cocktails and Empanadas at Moo Grill


Moo Grill first became popular a few years ago as the best place in London for a lomito; big, delicious Argentinian sandwiches usually stuffed with meat and cheese. A few years on and it is still in the lomito lead. But while the original Moo Grill continues to satisfy the lunchtime cravings of legions of City workers, the owners have recently opened a larger, more stylish restaurant just around the corner for more after work drinking and dining, Argentine-style.
Now there are quite a few Argentinian grill restaurants in town. Some sadly, like A la Cruz, have been charred to extinction while others, like Gaucho, have become a black and white spotted rash across the posher postcodes of the city. The Argentinian beef is the main attraction, offered in a variety of cuts and cooked on the parilla while accompaniments such as chimichurri (a sublime sauce of peppers, garlic, parsley and chilli) and humitas (sweetcorn steamed in its husk) give an exotic twist.


And Moo Grill does all the above commendably, sourcing its grass fed beef from Argentina and neighbouring Uruguay. However, it was their cocktails and bar food that we were here to try. With more space in the new restaurant and a well-stocked bar, Moo Grill is as good an option for after work drinks as a meat feast. Cata, the cocktail maestro has created a cocktail list that celebrates the flavours and drinking culture of Argentina as well as giving the classic British G&T an Argie makeover, with variations involving rosemary, ginger and even grapes, all to good effect.


To give us a taste of cocktail hour in the hottest bars of Buenos Aires, despite the claggy London drizzle outside, Cata’s list draws on national staples such as Yerba maté and dulce de leche. Maté is a social tradition in Argentina with a ceremony not unlike tea ceremonies of the East; the leaves of this bitter herb are dried and crushed before being infused, sometimes with the addition of honey or sugar. Moo Maté was a long and refreshing cocktail, blending cognac with orange juice and fresh mint leaves to balance out the bitter, herby flavour of the maté infusion. Another Argentine obsession, dulce de leche is a thick, milk toffee with a name that sounds so much better than boiled condensed milk. At Moo Grill it was married with vanilla vodka and rum with a crumble of ground coffee on the top to add depth. Skip dessert and go for one of these instead.
One of the highlights of the evening was the Bloody Moo, an Argie riff on the brunch sharpener featuring what is possibly the country’s greatest culinary triumph, chimichurri sauce. This is one of those combinations which just makes so much sense you wonder how you will ever make do with boring old Worcestershire sauce and celery salt again.
To accompany the cocktail tasting session we were served some of the best empanadas I have ever eaten (I am no empanada aficionado but I have had a few in my time). Crunchy, crusty pockets with deeply satisfying, meaty, cheesy fillings, enlivened with some zippy chimichurri. They are the perfect accompaniment to a stylish cocktail evening and, if things get a little out of hand, you’ll be glad you had the good sense to line your stomach with this scrumptious alcohol soaker.



Other notable cocktails we tried included the Argentinian hipster’s drink of choice, Fernet Branca and Coke. Fernet is a European import, and its bitter, herby flavour gave a grown-up edge to the Coke. Cata also mixes a well-balanced rose martini, named Sandro after the country’s most famous ‘60’s popstar. Rose tinted and delicately flavoured, the rose works well to bring out the flavours of some very fine gin.




Try at home:
Here’s a recipe for Chimichurri sauce to go with meat, grilled vegetables, even a toasted cheese sandwich:
4 tablespoons lemon juice
60ml red wine vinegar
60ml red wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
50g chopped fresh oregano (or dried will do)
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
60ml extra-virgin olive oil
handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Combine the lemon juice, vinegar, wine, garlic, salt, black pepper, oregano, parsley and red pepper flakes in a bowl, stirring until ingredients have combined.  Mix well as you drizzle in the oil. 

Info: Moo Grill 40-42 Middlesex Street, E1 7EX
Tel.: 020 7650 7948
http://www.moogrill.co.uk

Likes: an unpretentious bar and restaurant run by genuinely nice people who create a relaxed and fun atmosphere. Go for cocktails and moreish empanadas, a glass of some excellent Argentinian wine, a hunk of grilled cow or even a lunchtime lomito – it is open from 11am during the week.

Dislikes: The beef may be out of this world but it has travelled extensively around it to get to our plates. Another example of the constant tension we face of loving the multi-cultured culinary scene of London but hating the environmental impact.


Monday 3 June 2013

Are you sitting comfortably? 'Cos this is one hell of a tale.

Story – Bermondsey


Where: 201 Tooley Street, London SE1 www.restaurantstory.co.uk

Cost: £45 for 6 courses, £65 for 10. Wines start at £6 by the glass.


About
It seems, in the last couple of months Tom Sellers has shot out of nowhere into foodie headlines. At 26, he already has an enviable cheffing cv, having worked at French Laundry and Noma – and I mean worked there properly, not doing a summer stint for free which has now become a rite of passage for any aspiring chef or obsessive foodie. He recently opened on his own, in a corner of Tooley Street that used to be a locked-up loo, now transformed into a bright, slatted wood and glass box with exceptional views of the Shard.

It is true that you can’t get a table for dinner at Story without waiting at least a month for the pleasure. But lunch, even for this Saturday, is still a possibility. And, as the atmosphere is relaxed and friendly, there is no need to brush up on your foraged food compendium beforehand – they may take their cooking seriously, but this is no temple to pretension.

What we ate:
If you have read anything about Story, you will have read about the Bread and Dripping, a small loaf of sourdough in a leather pouch comes alongside a light relish of veal tongue and veal jelly – I could have spooned up a lot more of those delicious, fatty morsels. Next to it is placed a candle. So far, so what. The candle however, is made of beef dripping and, as it melts and collects in its Wee Willie Winkie holder, you can dip your bread into the deep, meaty fat.



Then, with dizzying speed, came a riot of amuses bouche, or pre-starters. Bite-sized creations of real creativity and a great showcase of what this kitchen can do.


Crunchy Cod’s Skin with Smoked Cod Roe and crispy carrot tops was coated in Powdered Gin Botanicals which tasted like the best taramasalata you could ever have with fleeting moments of juniper and bergamot. The gin flavour had a very good reason to be there and was way beyond a gimmick.

Then came Nasturtiums stuffed with Oyster Cream 


Followed by Radishes with Seaweed Butter – and, suddenly, I understood the whole point of buttered radishes.


Oreo-look-a-likes were made from Squid Ink and filled with Eel Cream with a light dusting of Powdered Vinegar – first the creaminess of the fish and then you are puckering up like you’ve just popped a sour Haribo.


And, finally, a Rabbit Sandwich topped with thinly sliced Carrots pickled in Bergamot and Tarragon. Dense yet light, crisp and perfumed.


Then it was time for the meal to begin. Taking a break from the eye-popping food arriving at our table, I noticed two food critics, at separate tables. One, a household name, was basking in all the attention he had garnered from other diners and staff and didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the food. Lucky I’m here, I thought, to faithfully retell the adventure.


Burnt Onion, Apple, Gin and Thyme was all about the apple consommé flavoured with gin and a bright green thyme oil which carried the charred onion petals to another level.

And then, the freshest slivers of raw Scallop dressed in sweet vinegar and anointed with dill oil. The horseradish cream was too subtle for my over-used palate, as was the dill ash, but the cucumber balls provided a cleansing texture contrast. 


Ready for a smack of Mackerel, lightly soused, if you please, in Sloe blossom vinegar with thin slices of green strawberries standing guard and the most intense, tongue-tingling jelly made from unripe strawberries. When served like this, mackerel and strawberries is one of the all-time great food combinations – soon to be decimated at some gastro pub near you. My photographic skills were, once again, put to the test and, again, let me down badly.


And so to a pat of the best mash served anywhere, set atop a puddle of coal oil.


And then another sensational flavour combo – Beetroot and Raspberry with Horseradish. Cylinders of beetroot had been marinated in raspberry vinegar and came dressed with a rich reduction of the juices and horseradish snow. Earthy and zingy, with discs of sorrel and thinly sliced raspberries.


Pigeon breast was perfectly cooked and just pink served with a gravy that had been infused with Pine needles. The gorse flowers had been plucked on the way into work by one of the chefs. Best of all was the foraged Sea Broccoli, which was barbecued and tasted like an intense version of the common garden variety. The dish came covered with summer truffles – which are in abundance at restaurants this year and slightly pointless, in my opinion, as they don’t carry the heady aroma of their autumn cousins.



Lemon was a paean to the fruit and possibly the hardest thing I have ever had to photograph. A clear bowl held lemon posing as curd, balm, confit and snow and possibly the best milk ice cream I have ever tasted- not that this photo gives any of it justice. Sorry.

  
Prune Tea, Lovage and Milk, I will warn you, comes encased in a thick, chewy milk skin – which I loved, but I am a bit odd like that. The lovage ice cream is a show stopper.


And so to the denouement. After so many courses of suspense, delight and awe, we were finally coming to the end of this amazing odyssey. Three Bears Porridge involves audience participation and had us rapt, wittering giddily to each other. A picture-book tray carrying three bowls and a sweet but completely un-ergonomic earthenware spoon. Yes, it was our Goldilocks moment. Cheese and shredded hazelnut porridge was perfect for me – salty and nutty. Condensed milk porridge came with burnt sugar and the last was creamy and lemony studded with cardamom.



Teacakes with pillow-soft meringue filling and rose and raspberry jelly were served along with pulled chocolate as petits fours.


Story is a great restaurant. The food is masterful and imaginative and the bright openness of the restaurant means you don’t come out blinking, slightly bilious after hours cloistered in starched napery, away from any natural light.

And, £45 is a very reasonable price to pay for this kind of skill and invention. It means that diners can return regularly to get the latest instalment of the Tom Sellers saga. I know I will be.



A fresh look at the Californian wine scene


When we think of wines from California, most of us will go straight to the well-known and much visited areas of Napa, Sonoma and even Mendocino. With over 200 wineries in Napa alone, not to mention countless restaurants, art galleries, wine tours and eye-popping architecture (not always good) the Northern Californian wine scene has become a commercially maximised tourist destination.


An hour or so south on the Central Coast, however, are small, family owned wineries perched high up in the Santa Cruz mountain range. While still considered an emerging wine region, grapes have been cultivated and vinified here since the mid 19th century and several of the family wineries have been going since – although the Prohibition years put paid to several foundering businesses in the area. The unique micro-climate here comes from the region’s location, receiving warm ocean winds from the Pacific but a cooling afternoon fog which results in a long growing season and a slow ripening of fruit.


What you won’t get here is the ostentation and pompousness of Napa, as most of the estates are fairly modest with a focus on the wines – although the views can sometimes offer strong competition. A drive along Skyline Boulevard scales the tops of the hills along the central spine of the range. With great views, this is also the best route to most of the wineries of the appellation. And, being so close to the heart of Silicon Valley (Sunnyvale and San Jose are minutes away from some wineries) you could easily add on a wine tour to a techy business trip.



Of the wineries we visited, David Bruce is probably the best known. Bruce planted his first vines at over 2,000 feet in the heart of the Santa Cruz mountains by hand in 1961. Today it is a large winery for the Santa Cruz region, producing 60,000 cases a year of mostly Pinot Noir and Chardonnay but also Petite Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. David Bruce’s 1973 Chardonnay was one of twelve Californian wines chosen to participate in the famous 1976 Judgment of Paris and ranked 10th in the blind tasting which finally put Californian wines on the Old World map. http://www.davidbrucewinery.com/

Ridge is another winery with an elevated estate which has been making single vineyard wines since 1962, having acquired an old vineyard which had been abandoned during the Prohibition. Ridge’s master winemaker has recently been crowned Winemakers’ Winemaker at the industry event Prowein in Dusseldorf. While Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are the main varieties here, the other Californian staples of Merlot and Zinfandel are also grown as well as some Petite Syrah - a notable wine is the Monte Bello Library. Their outdoor picnic area has fabulous views even though the large signs warning of rattle snakes might be somewhat distracting. http://www.ridgewine.com/



Burrell School winery is a more basic establishment housed in an old school, although the views from its terrace are amazing. Don’t be put off by their hokey website and their insistence on using school-based nomenclature for their wines – the wines here are superb, from the Principal’s Choice Pinot Noir to the Teacher’s Pet Chardonnay. http://www.burrellschool.com/



Other wineries worth a visit on a drive along the Skyline Boulevard are Thomas Fogarty in Woodside for its Pinot Noir (http://www.fogartywinery.com/) and Testarossa in Los Gatos, which is the oldest continuously operating winery in the region http://www.testarossa.com/.

And, lastly, if you happen to be on the East Coast of the US, you could explore the slowly emerging wine scene in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia. In the northern Georgia region, which we visited we found large vineyards and some pretty decent wines, such as Frogtown Cellars and Wolf Mountain Wineries. Here, vineyards of grape varieties from Viognier to Sangiovese abound and wines tend to be blended in a more traditional European style.


Most wineries charge $10 and up for a flight tasting, which is usually deducted against any wine purchased. It is best to check opening times as not all wineries operate a tasting room open to visitors.