Aulis at Fera, Claridges

Have you ever exclaimed ‘How on earth do they do that’ whilst eating stunning food in a restaurant? Yep me too. Often when we eat out at places where chefs are at the top of their game I spend the evening not only enjoying every morsel of food but racking my brains trying to work out how it was achieved. I love the mystery and intrigue of well crafted food.

For Mr F’s birthday I decided to plan a special surprise. Mr F loves Simon Rogan’s philosophy of food and we still talk about the meal we had at Fera in 2014! Rather than book the same again I planned a special treat and booked in to Aulis, the development kitchen of Fera. This time not only would we eat skilfully crafted food but we would see it being cooked right in front of us.

We arrived and enjoyed a glass of Davenport at the bar. I mean why wouldn’t you? It’s a special occasion after all. I’d forgotten how stunning the dining room of Claridges is. The Art Deco design mixed with Simon Rogan’s ‘natural’ look is a sight to behold.

Once the other 4 guests arrived ( Aulis can only seat 6 people) we were guided through the working kitchen to the Aulis test kitchen. Just wasking through a bustling kitchen was excitement for me. I wanted to break free from the group and explore!

Our chefs for the evening explained how Aulis is used as a development kitchen and then got to work preparing the first of our dishes. The evening was typical of Rogan’s style with snacks, starters, fish, meat and desserts coming together to create a diverse tasting menu. It was fascinating watching the chefs at work, being able to ask questions about the ingredients and processes as well as having conversations with the chefs and other dining guests about the restaurant, food and life in general. We were completely immersed in a food bubble and fascinated by the range of kitchen technology on show.

The dishes:
Our first snack was buckwheat tart, mylar, almond, blackcurrant. I’ve never had mylar prawns before and they were wonderfully sweet alongside the sharpness of the blackcurrant.

Our second snack of Seaweed wafer, bergamot, smoked eel was a particular favourite of mine with the smoked eel really celebrated in the dish.

Next we had Goats cheese, Jerusalem artichoke, stout in a ceramic egg. I’m a huge fan of Jerusalem artichoke and this dish was bursting with flavour. The twice dehydrated artichoke crumb that topped the egg added a lovely texture to the dish.

The next dish was really creatively presented with raw scallop, barley koji, buttermilk on a ceramic dish with a red chicory and roe dish hidden underneath. It was fascinating to chat to the chef about the process of making the barley Koji and how this was used to marinade the Isle of Mull scallops.

The celeriac, cured yolk, creme fraiche taco style dish was one of my favourites of the evening. Surprising as it was one of the simpler dishes but the flavour and different textures of celeriac were delicious and the grated cured egg yolk added another dimension.

The Portland crab, oyster, carrots, black garlic, burnt chives was fascinating to watch being put together. The crab was delicious and the carrot juice consommé, made from barbecued carrots was a revelation.

The torched deer, semi dried beetroot, lovage dish was Mr F’s favourite of the evening. The saddle of roe deer was blowtorched to ensure it was still rare in the middle.

The mushroom, whey sauce, calcot onion, truffle was a fascinating dish. The Calcott onions were barbecued on the big green egg and the savoury mushroom custard was sublime. The addition of a little winter truffle really brought this dish to life.

For the monkfish, brown butter, baby leeks, coastal herbs dish the monkfish was cooked on the bone and the butter had some marmite added. The parsnip purée was the smoothest and silkiest purée I’ve had and added a lovely richness to the dish.

The lamb saddle, chervil root, quinoa, cocoa nibs used Cornish lamb and was served with a chervil root purée that had three types of quinoa running through it giving a lovely crunch to the dish. The 100% chocolate in the sauce gave a lovely richness and the barbecued white kale finished the dish beautifully.

For the last three dishes we moved to desserts.
The first of forced rhubarb, honeycomb, sheep’s yoghurt, rose looked fascinating. The large piece of what looked like white chocolate was actually aerated frozen sheep’s yoghurt and much lighter than expected and it was great to see Yorkshire forced rhubarb on the menu.

The chocolate, sweet clover, Jerusalem artichoke, earl grey dish was the biggest surprise of the evening and the flavour of the Jerusalem artichoke worked beautifully.

Our final dish of Goldrush (Apple), caramel, hazelnut was accompanied by coffee prepared and served by a coffee sommelier in front of us. Served without milk it was interesting to taste the fruit notes in the coffee accompanying the apple ‘snack’

Being so immersed in the preparation, the ingredients and plating of the food really made us appreciate the skill and creativity of the Fera, even more that we had appreciated already. This was a unique experience, not one you would be able to do often, but definitely worth every penny. The memories of the evening will certainly last a long time.

(By the way if you go, make sure you visit the toilets. A thing of beauty. It’s not often I say that in a food blog but well, its good advice on this occasion.)

Dishoom

Before our latest trip to London, a few people recommended Dishoom to me and then I also spotted that they were listed in a top ten list of places to eat breakfast in London. So, the decision was made and I booked us in to the Dishoom in Shoreditch, near our hotel.

What a fantastic place it is! Dishoom is styled on the Irani cafes found in Bombay and it oozes charm. We opted for the famous bacon naan roll and Akuri. The bacon naan roll is made with The Ginger Pig’s bacon (dry-cured for five days with rock salt and Demerara sugar and absolutely delicious !!) It is served in a freshly made naan with cream cheese and a chilli jam. Honestly it was outrageously good. I’ll never look at a bacon roll in the same way again!

The Akuri, spicy scrambled eggs served with pau buns, was bursting with flavour and packed a punch.

Sharing both dishes was definitely the right decision. They went really well together. A challenge I often have when eating out is that I then see what other people are ordering and get food envy. I was intrigued by the Bun Maska and when someone on the next table ordered it I knew I had to give it a go.

It was delicious and we will just ignore the fact that it is basically a toasted bun with a slab of butter in the centre! It comes with chai to dip the bun in. I’ve not normally been a big fan of chai but this had a wonderful kick that balanced out against the sweetness. I’d definitely drink Dishoom’s chai on a regular basis if I could.

Dishoom is fantastic value with our bill coming in under £20. It’s something I love about London. You don’t need to have breakfast in the hotel because you know there are so many amazing places on the doorstep. We will definitely be back.

The Barbary

Ever since eating at the Palomar last year, I’ve been looking for an opportunity to go back. The news that The Palomar had opened a smaller, sister restaurant focused my plans to find an opportunity to get back down to London.

What excites me about the Barbary is how everyone gets a chance to watch what is going on in the kitchen. When we went to the Palomar I spent the evening jealous of those booked at the bar, here everyone has a seat at the bar. The only problem is that you see everything cooking and dishes being delivered to people around the bar and you get food envy. I desperately wanted to try everything.

I arrived early evening on the Friday. You can’t book a table at The Barbary and having travelled down from York I was keen to ensure a table. Waiting for Mr Frivolitea gave me chance to look at the drinks menu. Having spotted a Sauvignon Blanc from Israel, I ordered a glass. Wow. I usually choose Sauvignon Blanc but this was superb.

The menu is set out creatively with baking and grinding, land, sea, earth and heaven. We tried to choose something from every section and a special so that we could get a real feel for the type of food they were serving but ended up missing out the sea section as there was so much to choose from. The focus of the Barbary, as its name suggests, is food from the Barbary Coast and the placemat at your seat has a wonderful map to help you identify the places the food comes from.

The savoury dishes we had were: Naan e Barbari

Jerusalem Bagel ( with a little packet of Za’tar)

Tbecha roasted tomatoes

Zhug, harissa, burnt and pickled chilli

Goat Shishbarak

Cauliflower Jaffa style

Andalusian Pincho Maruno

Everything was packed full of flavour and the meat,cooked over grill, was so succulent. It is difficult to say which is my favourite as everything stood out in its own right. The Zhug (Yemenite hot sauce with coriander and parsley) was a real surprise and something I’m definitely going to learn how to make.

The dessert section had one of my favourite desserts knafeh. They call the dessert section heaven. It’s an accurate description. We also chose the halva ice cream to go with it. The perfect partnership!

One thing that really stood out for me was how much is achieved in such a small space. The staff are attentive and helpful and the chefs create stunning dishes whilst engaging with everyone around them. My advice is go to the Barbary and if you have to queue, queue. When we left the wait was two hours long but people waited. That’s a sign that somewhere is worth going.

Smoking Goat Soho

Mr Frivolitea and I love Thai food so decided on this visit to London to try something new. I’d heard a bit about Smoking Goat and loved the idea of Thai barbecue so we rocked up on the Sunday lunchtime to enjoy some food before getting the train home.

I have to be honest that I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went through the door. At first glance Smoking Goat is dark and dingy and a bit surreal with dried puffer fish adorning the ceiling. However what it lacks in colour in the decor it certainly makes up for in the food on offer. The great thing about this place is you can order a selection of dishes to share. However as always with Mr Frivolitea and I that leads to difficult decisions when everything on the menu sounds great.
Mr Frivilotea chose a Tamarind soda to drink.

It was so good he then had another and we finally agreed on some dishes:

Khan Phot Ping smoked corn with salted coconut and chilli

grilled hispi cabbage with peanuts, chilli and soy

bavette waterfall beef Nahm Dtok with lemongrass and chilli

and some sticky rice to mop up all the tasty juices.

This is food with a seriously good kick. Every dish we had took us to our limit chilli wise, in a good way. None of that nasty burning heat that sticks around, this is the sort of heat that hits you hard and quick and then melts away with all the other amazing flavours in the dish leaving that lovely warm tingly feeling in your mouth. I’ m still trying to work out which I liked most and am struggling. Everything was delicious. I think the smoked corn might just have had the edge but then I am a sucker for sweetcorn and coconut.

I’m looking forward to another opportunity to try their food and I’m certainly inspired to try some of the flavours at home.

Lyle’s London

Lyle’s has been on the list for some time and our latest visit to London gave us the perfect opportunity to visit as we had arranged to stay in the Brick Lane area of London for the first time.
I was rather relieved to be able to book a table as days before the bookings opened it was placed in the top 10 at the National Restaurant Awards. I now know why!
The relaxed feel, the open kitchen, witty staff and music that was a continuum of classic hip hop and R&B through disco to 80’s electro in the background all adds to what makes this place appealing.

At Lyle’s the food offering is a set menu of an amuse bouche and 4 courses.

Our amuse bouche of dashi tomato with dehydrated tomato on top and some smoked mussels was a great sign of things to come. It never ceases to amaze me how someone can pack so much flavour in to something so small.

The first course of Beefsteak and hedgehog mushrooms, Lardo and egg had a wonderful hit of tarragon with buckwheat adding a lovely texture, the little bit of sauce packed a punch and sat alongside a perfectly cooked runny egg.

The second course of Monkfish, liver and crab apple was the dish that divided me. The combination of flavours absolutely worked together, the sharpness of the apple counterbalancing the richness of the monkfish liver. However the texture and flavour of the liver on its own was a bit too intense for me.

The third course of Dexter sirloin, onion and gherkin really summed up for me why Lyle’s is the place to go. Perfectly cooked meat, a rich sauce, velvety onion purée and the light pickle of the gherkin leading to a perfectly balanced dish. Simple in presentation but nowhere to hide.

The final course of blackcurrant and lemon verbena was my kind of dessert. The addition of blackcurrant vinegar to the meringue transformed the dish. I ate every mouthful with a big grin on my face.

We ended our meal with coffee, lemon thyme brown butter cakes and cherry chocolate ganache. The dessert and the lemon thyme butter cakes were so good that I felt compelled to go over and thank the pastry chef. Her name is Anna by the way.

Lyle’s highlights the best seasonal produce and lets the food speak for itself. It’s a great place to spend an evening.

The Palomar

You know the way I’ve mentioned before what Mr Frivolitea says about pink neon signs…….

Well this was, yet again, a sign of really really good things. I mean, I knew it was going to be good, Our friend JB has been telling us for months that we need to go and it has just won the people’s choice in the Observer Food Monthly awards. However it exceeded my expectations. I loved everything about it. It’s elegant, it’s vibrant. We were given a seat at a table in the back corner. It was away from the heart of the restaurant which at first I thought might mean I was disappointed but actually our little corner was great. The Palomar is all about sharing dishes, something I particularly love, and it’s my kind of food. Described by the restaurant as the food of modern day Jerusalem, the only problem with the menu is that it makes it really difficult to choose! At least the great thing about a menu of lots of sharing dishes is that you can try more things.

We started with Kubaneh. A Yemeni pot baked bread served with tahini and velvet tomatoes. The bread had a rich brioche quality about it and the tahini, well, I’d buy it by the litre. It was rich and intense and absolutely delicious.

We choose to have beetroot carpaccio from the raw bar. The beetroot came with burnt goats cheese, hazelnut brittle, lentil tuille and pomegranate molasses vinaigrette. My favourite dish of the night I think. A dish that looked simple but was packed full of little bursts of flavour and texture.

We chose a Mackerel fricassee from the specials menu. It was served with a Tunisian fried bun, potato, cured lemon, capers and quails egg. I liked this dish but it was my least favourite of the night. I didn’t feel it had the same excitement of flavour and texture that the other dishes had.

We chose 2 dishes from the josper menu. Cauliflower steak ‘josperized’ with cured lemon butter, homemade labneh and toasted almonds. This dish came close to the beetroot dish for me as favourite of the night. I love cauliflower and this dish was a revelation. The flames of the oven really intensified the cauliflower flavour and the accompaniments, particularly the chopped tomato, made for a really interesting dish.

Finally Shakshukit ( deconstructed kebab with minced meat, yoghurt, tahini and pita). You can’t really go wrong with minced lamb can you? No, good, we agree.

After a bit of a breather, and another glass of prosecco…. The prosecco glasses were so beautiful, we just had to….. We shared a dessert. Jerusalem mess – Labneh mousse, almond crumble, strawberries, lemon cream, elderflower and apple jelly and fresh sorrel. This was my kind of dessert. The sharpness of the lemon cream and the intense bursts of flavour in the elderflower and apple jelly cubes were a delight. It was a perfect end to the evening.

I want to visit The Palomar again. There is so much on the menu that intrigues me and that I want to eat. Next time I’m going to book to sit at the bar. I can’t think of anything better than the buzz of eating food that has been prepared right in front of me.

Blanchette, Soho

I really wanted to try somewhere new on this visit to London and so decided to ask Twitter where we should try. Well Twitter came up trumps, thanks to our friend Tom’s contacts.

What a great place! Tucked away in Soho, a small place with big personality.

We sat at the bar enjoyed a glass of wine and a selection of small plates of fantastic French food.

I loved the relaxed, yet vibrant feel of this place. The food was in many ways simple but packed a punch. Classic flavours in smaller dishes enabling us to try more. We will certainly be back. I mean who can resist a glass of wine with frites and bearnaise sauce!

Our dishes:

Pork, duck and fig terrine

Sautéed tiger prawns with glazed shallots, parsley, garlic and Pernod. Warm marinated rare breed beef with charred peppers and aioli. Frites with bearnaise sauce.

Poached pear with blackcurrant, champagne mousse

Sesame

Want to be able to get creative, fresh and interesting food on the run? Well go to Sesame. Sesame sits on Garrick Street a few steps from Leicester Square tube station. The layout reminds me a little of Pret but that’s where the similarities end (for those of you who were worried!)

The interior is vibrant and exciting.

Sesame is the latest venture by Yotam Ottolenghi. I’m a huge fan of his food. I’ve got the cookbooks, I’ve eaten in his restaurants and Sesame is a great next step. Why? Because it means that people like me who don’t live in London but who pass through for work can grab some tasty food at a good price.

I decided to try a couple of skewers from the flame grill in the shop. I chose the spiced lamb and the paprika and cardomom chicken.

Not the best photo of them! I loved the flavour the flames gave the meat. Though I didn’t get much cardomom flavour off the chicken.

I then bought a salad and dip to eat on the train home.

I love cauliflower and anytime I have eaten a cauliflower dish that Ottolenghi has created it really impresses me. So I chose the cauliflower, tahini and pomegranate salad. It was really delicious.

I also chose an aivar pepper, goats cheese and nigella seeds dip. It packed a punch and was lovely and creamy.

The great thing about Sesame is that they also have a small selection of sweets and snacks you can buy too. So Mr Frivolitea hasn’t missed out as some Soffle’s chilli and garlic pitta crisps, some sesame brittle and sweets are in the bag winding their way back to York.